beat holiday

As vibrant lights shone all around the dancers, they lined up as they tilted towards their sides during their performance, “Mary Magdalene,” at the dance holiday show on Dec. 10 at the Miller Drive campus.

“It was a really good chance to bond and grow as dancers,” senior Melanie Pozo, who co-choreographed this piece.

The show consisted of various styles of dance, shifting from ballet and lyrical to tap and hip-hop. Many of the dances were choreographed by dance teacher Gerri Barreras, Dance Composition, IB SL Dance students, and two guest choreographers.

“It was great to create my own dance and use my own creativity with my partner to produce something that we can compete with. We went through the whole creative process, and it was very educational,” senior Alessandra Pena said, who co-choreographed a dance called

“Brother.”

Dance students enjoyed the show and got a chance to interact with their peers from other classes.

“It brought us together not only in our own classes, but in the rest of the levels as well, because we got to see each other practice, encourage each other, and do what we love to do,” junior Constanza Prato said.

This year’s theme was “Kaleidoscope,” and was born from the idea that every dancer is different and unique and should be accepted the way that they are. With just a little bit of a shift in perspective, another beautiful image appears, just like a kaleidoscope.

“If you look through a kaleidoscope, there is always a beautiful pattern, but with just a little shift of color and light, it creates a whole different pattern. That is how I see dancers,” Barreras said.

The seniors from all dance levels performed together at their last high school holiday show. “Since it was our last holiday show, I enjoyed the moment while it lasted,” senior Isabela Lanfranchi said. The dance united them as a grade, and gave them the opportunity to perform with some of their peers with whom they had not performed with previously. “There are some dance team dancers and others in lower levels that my level and I do not get to dance with, so I think it is cool that we mixed some levels. That was my favorite part of the senior dance,” senior Theodore Ciperski said. Photos by Fox Mar