14 Centerspread
www.thesmokesignal.org
Charity: 1st School Service: 1st Decorations: 1st Skit: 1st Airbands: 1st Overall: 1st
The Smoke Signal
Friday, October 30, 2009
“I really liked the seniors’ skit, and the car was really cool...” – Scott Havard, 9
By Tina Tseng & Vishal Yadav Centerspread Editor and Staff Writer “One thing we forgot about our past is that we have to work together in the end,” said Senior Trey Howell, as he encouraged the school to cheer as one during the skit. This message of unity, although somewhat contradictory to the seniors’ behavior, was a main feature in the Class of 2010’s performance. The senior class went all out for their last Homecoming with amazing decorations, breath-taking airbands and a solidly-performed skit. The myriad of red decorations around the school was staggering. From dices atop the bushes to paper plastered over all the classroom doors, the seniors did not squander their last chance to represent their class. Intricate ornaments in the quad emphasized the seniors’ attention to detail and their successful pursuit of both quantity and quality. The backdrop was arguably the best of the week, with its vivid and colorful depiction of Sin City merged with MSJ. However, some decorations were unnecessarily mean-spirited. A few posters proclaimed messages such as “Dorothy, make me a sandwich,” or “One one, you’re done.” While the Class of 2010 has the right to be proud of its seniority, it should have expressed its pride in a more positive way. The performance began with an original rap mixed with the theme song of Sin City, which hyped up the crowd despite the poor sound quality from the speakers. The skit brought back elements from the Class of 2010’s previous Homecoming themes and was undoubtedly nostalgic for the seniors. However, the other classes were barely represented in the skit. The focus was almost always on the seniors; thus, the rest of the classes had little personality. Some portrayals were disparaging: the freshmen were mostly presented as spineless and the sophomores as brainless.
Overall, the skit was well-performed but not amazingly so. The seniors also had to cope with unfortunate instances of bad luck. The beginning of the skit was marred by the poor quality of the speakers, which caused the sound to be grating and incoherent. During two airband performances, the sound was dropped completely for several seconds. Nevertheless, 2010’s performers faced their misfortune with admirable perseverance. One interrupted airband of jazz-dancing girls continued its dance as though unfazed. The crowd also kept cheering throughout these pauses to show support for the performers. In addition to their dedication and persistence, the seniors’ airbands also showed off their creative prowess. For example, one airband featured dancers clapping large wooden sticks together and beating on an overturned washtub. Another performance harkened to the dances of past years by bringing back memorable costumes such as the sumo suit, the banana costumes, and the crazy hat people. Two of the best airbands came at the end; both displayed impressive synchronization and techniques like tutting, popping, and locking. The boys’ booty dances were humorous despite their impropriety, but some parts were messily executed, and considering they had three of them, the moves quickly became redundant. Though seniors in the audience were generally spirited, the red crowd was regrettably not as loud as their amazing airbands, unparalleled decorations, and seniority warranted. Despite this, undoubtedly, the senior class made their final day memorable. From Freaky Freshmen to That 70’s Sophomores to Jedi Juniors, the Sin City Seniors have transformed remarkably throughout the years, and now they’re taking home the jackpot.
“The airbands were awesome! Seeing some skin once in a while never hurt anybody.” – Grant Huang, 11 PHOTOS BY STAFF WRITERS CASSIE HUANG, RAVNEET KAUR & SONIA DHAWAN