RHS dancers lit up the high school auditorium stage in their 17th annual Dance Showcase, held on Wed. June 4 and Thursday, June 5.
The show included pieces ranging in artistic style, including hip hop, jazz and contemporary.
Dance Teacher Michele Adriano opened the show with a film that included takeaways from senior dancers and an overview of the dance program and its dance outreach initiatives.
The dance performances followed, starting with an upbeat jazz routine, “Don’t Cha,” choreographed and performed by Ella Peretz Gonzalez, Liv Bua and Alexa Capriglione.
“I like how sassy this dance was, and I really liked the attitude and music,” spectator and RHS senior Carly Ellermeyer said. “I feel like it opened the night well, and it made me excited for what was in store for the audience.”
Next up was “Cosmic Love,” a lyrical routine performed by the introductory dance students, which seemed to resonate with audience members based on the resounding applause afterward.
“Gaga,” arranged by guest choreographer Kiara Williams along with Adriano, was an impressive mix of Lady Gaga songs and featured both intermediate and advanced dance students. “My favorite piece to watch is ‘Gaga’ because the visual effects make it really pop for the audience,” junior dance student Lily Colasante said.
Following “Gaga” was “Toybox,” one of the most creative pieces of the show. “I really liked working on ‘Toybox,’ Adriano said. “The students were definitely apprehensive at first and pretty much thought I was crazy with the idea of dolls sort of coming to life after being stuck on a shelf for so long. I was worried that they wouldn’t fully commit to the character and acting component of the choreography, but by the time we got to tech week, they were all in.”
Other notable pieces included “Rescue,” choreographed and performed by Sadie Freeman and Navya Agrawal. “I loved the choreography of this dance and how emotional it was,” junior dancer Adena Saltus said. “Friday,” featuring a solo performed by freshman Danica Barros, was a spirited jazz piece that amped up audience members. And the intermediate dancers performed “Stay,” an expressive contemporary dance.
Following that was an upbeat hip hop duo, “1,2, Step” performed and choregraphed by Caylie Aguado and Abby Gwozdowski.
“Vienna,” a trio performed by Saltus, Colasante and Agrawal came next. This contemporary piece, performed to the iconic Billy Joel song, seemed to move a lot of seniors in the audience. “This piece was very touching, as this song reminds me of leaving for college this summer,” graduating senior and audience member Darren Laqui said.
“My favorite piece to perform was ‘Work,’ junior dancer Rayna Emdur said. “There was so much energy on the stage and everybody was hyping each other up. The crowd really got into it.”
Shelsyn Vasquez performed a memorable self-choregraphed solo, which the audience seemed to love. “It brought a new style of dance to the show that we rarely see,” Bua said.
“Salute” was a fun military-inspired dance that was performed to ‘Salute’ by Little Mix, which added a light twist to the show.
Another fan favorite was “Swing,” performed by the advanced dancers. “This dance blends so many different styles of dance, and the choreography is so unique,” Emdur said. “There’s always something new to notice every time you see it.”
The greatly anticipated “Finale” dance was performed to a mix of party anthems that amped up the crowd and featured each dancers from each class level. It culminated with a final department dance, “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
The Thursday night show concluded with awards being given out by class, to seniors and for choreography, which seemed the perfect ending to the show.
“I enjoyed the showcase so much; the crowd’s energy was amazing, and I love the feeling of performing, Peretz Gonzalez said. “It was a great bonding experience for the dance department.”
