Bringing the Dance Floor to the Basketball Court
Dance team and advanced dance class bonds through their performances.
By Maddie McMahon
Dance team and advanced dance class bonds through their performances.
By Maddie McMahon
As second semester shoots off, both the dance team and advanced dance prepare for more performances, specifically at basketball games.
During the 2023-24 basketball season, the dance team is set to perform at four games, two varsity boys’ and girls’ games and advanced dance is set to perform at one girls’ basketball game.
Last season, the dance team performed at every basketball game, but this year, dance and physical education teacher Emma Jahde decided to scale back the amount of performances.
“I just discovered (it was too much), because it was only my first year last year, and we figured out it was a lot, especially because we were trying to do a different dance at almost every single game, and that’s just a lot,” said Jahde.
Although advanced dance has performed at Christmas In The Park, as well as the Homecoming parade at the football game, they will only be performing at the varsity girls basketball game against Ann Sobrato on Feb. 6 which many dancers including Mia Bernardo, 9, feel there should be more opportunities for performances.
“For our level, I feel like more (games) would be better because we’ve only done one now, like two (would be better),” said Bernardo.
Creating choreography can be time consuming, and as of last year, Jahde choreographed the advanced dance routines. However this year, students have been wanting to choreograph more and it is now open for them to take on.
“It’s always fun to choreograph in my opinion. Sometimes the experience is a little stressful especially if there is a due date, but most of the time I think it’s enjoyable coming up with tricks and stuff, so I enjoy it,” said Bernardo.
Since choreographing dances that get performed isn’t something a lot of dancers typically get to do, it creates a fun unique experience for the students who want to do so.
“I’m really lucky that there’s a lot of student choreographers on this campus and that a lot of students in my class are like desperate to choreograph. I love choreographing. I would do it as well in a heartbeat but because there is so much enthusiasm, I love giving them the opportunity to do it,” said Jahde.
Both teams must overcome challenges that go along with the excitement of performing.
“The most challenging aspect is performing in front of people you know, because everyone has different reactions to dance and you never know how people will react,” said Amber Wittekind, 9.
Through community building activities such as discussing goals for the semester, and celebrating the hard work of the team, the dancers have gotten to know each other better.
“I do feel like we’re close because we all went from middle school to high school together so we were all kind of close already, so we all knew each other and also having dance kind of connecting us together is really nice,” said Jaedyn Walker, 9.
Even though challenges arise with anything, these dancers have created a support system that helps them get through it.
“I love dancing with all of my friends, it is my favorite thing to do. The dance team is like a family and I love all of them,” said Zeenia Bharucha, 9.
During the 2023-24 basketball season, the dance team is set to perform at four games, two varsity boys’ and girls’ games and advanced dance is set to perform at one girls’ basketball game.
Last season, the dance team performed at every basketball game, but this year, dance and physical education teacher Emma Jahde decided to scale back the amount of performances.
“I just discovered (it was too much), because it was only my first year last year, and we figured out it was a lot, especially because we were trying to do a different dance at almost every single game, and that’s just a lot,” said Jahde.
Although advanced dance has performed at Christmas In The Park, as well as the Homecoming parade at the football game, they will only be performing at the varsity girls basketball game against Ann Sobrato on Feb. 6 which many dancers including Mia Bernardo, 9, feel there should be more opportunities for performances.
“For our level, I feel like more (games) would be better because we’ve only done one now, like two (would be better),” said Bernardo.
Creating choreography can be time consuming, and as of last year, Jahde choreographed the advanced dance routines. However this year, students have been wanting to choreograph more and it is now open for them to take on.
“It’s always fun to choreograph in my opinion. Sometimes the experience is a little stressful especially if there is a due date, but most of the time I think it’s enjoyable coming up with tricks and stuff, so I enjoy it,” said Bernardo.
Since choreographing dances that get performed isn’t something a lot of dancers typically get to do, it creates a fun unique experience for the students who want to do so.
“I’m really lucky that there’s a lot of student choreographers on this campus and that a lot of students in my class are like desperate to choreograph. I love choreographing. I would do it as well in a heartbeat but because there is so much enthusiasm, I love giving them the opportunity to do it,” said Jahde.
Both teams must overcome challenges that go along with the excitement of performing.
“The most challenging aspect is performing in front of people you know, because everyone has different reactions to dance and you never know how people will react,” said Amber Wittekind, 9.
Through community building activities such as discussing goals for the semester, and celebrating the hard work of the team, the dancers have gotten to know each other better.
“I do feel like we’re close because we all went from middle school to high school together so we were all kind of close already, so we all knew each other and also having dance kind of connecting us together is really nice,” said Jaedyn Walker, 9.
Even though challenges arise with anything, these dancers have created a support system that helps them get through it.
“I love dancing with all of my friends, it is my favorite thing to do. The dance team is like a family and I love all of them,” said Zeenia Bharucha, 9.