Dance Troupe

Dance Troupe’s preparation for the Winter Show starts in mid-October, but for Rosemary Cabanban (10) and Cecilia Canty (10) it started Sept. 24 when they began choreographing their own routine to be featured in the s

how. The pair worked together outside of practice to pick the song, movements, and formations. 

The program consists of routines that are for their upcoming competition season and student-choreographed pieces. Members who choreograph their own routines start by going to auditions in hopes that their routines will be selected and taught to the teams. For this show, Cabanban and Canty created a jazz routine to “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.

“I thought it was really fun, not only to choreograph [but also] because [“Bad Romance”] is a really exciting, pumped up song, and it was so fun to do on stage,” Cabanban said.

However, student-choreographed dances aren’t the only dances that are auditioned; some members alsochoose to audition their own solos. Cabanban auditioned her solo to “I’m Kissing You” by Des’ree which was choreographed by a choreographer from her studio, Alex Blitstein, who has been composing routines for her for the past seven years. Once all the dances have been auditioned, the team holds a vote on which dances they want to feature and Pimentel makes the final decision on what is in the program. Dance Troupe member Jenna Wright (12) said she appreciated the fact that they can showcase their dances before their competition season.

“We get to be creative and choreograph as a team or individually, and then we get to perform and show

 off what we can do,” Wright said. “For football, it’s just one style, so for the show we get together to do whatever we want before the competition season.” 

For the guest performances, the team reached out to other groups on campus to perform in the show to give the program some diversity and help with costume changes.

“It’s really fun to see other [performers in the program],” Wright said. “They don’t have their own shows, so it’s fun to have them with us. We can all dance together,  we get to watch them, and they get to watch us.” 

Hip-Hop, Bayanihan

The stage went dark as the members of the Hip-Hop Dance Club and Bayanihan came onto the stage, and when the lights came back on, the beginning notes of “A Bay Bay” by Hurricane Chris came on. Rebecca Kim (12) was ready to show the crowd what the Hip-Hop Dance Club was about.

Kim is the president of the Hip-Hop Dance Club and reached out to Dance Troupe Coach Jamie Pimentel at the beginning of November to organize an audition for the club to be featured in the annual Winter Show. While Kim was in contact with Pimentel, several of the club’s members were also a part of Bayanihan and knew they would want to be 

a part of the dance. Kim has been dancing hip-hop for the past four years and has been choreographing routines for the past three. She said that being able to choreograph for others comes with experience.

“[Choreographing] is difficult, but I just try to go for fun, simple moves that look good as a crew and will make the audience hype as well,” Kim said.

Kim said she was really thankful that she made the first move to inquire about being a part of the show. The final night when there were more students in the audience, there was a big energy difference from the previous nights, and Kim said that it made this a truly valuable experience for them as a club because they were able to have the experience danc

ing on the stage for a show.

“I feel like the first night, we got the nerves out, and the second and third nights, we were just having fun with it,” Kim said.

Zeina Nicolas (12), the secretary of the Hip-Hop Dance club, said that the experience allowed her to get closer to not only members of her own club but also the people in Bayanihan.

“For me, I dance recreationally and competitively so it’s nice to have a performance where I can see the work I’ve put in practicing dance and culminate into something I can share with people,” Nicolas said.

Best Buddies Friendship Dance

Amelia Kane (12) remembered going to the Dance Troupe shows in middle school and loving the Friendship Dance between the students in Best Buddies and the girls on the team. That’s why, during Kane’s sophomore year, she restarted the tradition after it stopped because of COVID-19. 

“It’s my favorite part of the show, [and] probably one of my favorite parts of the year,” Kane said. “It’s a time that makes everyone smile. My partner is Joanne, and I never see her smile as much as I do when we’re in the friendship dance, and it just fills my heart.” 

This year, Kane trained Sam Pieffer (10) to teach her what goes into planning, choreographing, and putting it all together as smoothly as possible. 

“I think [doing the Friendship Dance] is really beautiful [because of] the connection that we’ve m

ade with our partners,” Pieffer said. “When we’re on stage before we go on stage, or after, it’s my favorite thing because it’s just such a happy, wholesome environment.” 

Most of their efforts go toward making sure that each person participating in the dance is comfortable on the stage. They choreograph fun moves that allow them to have enough freedom for everyone to have a moment on stage where each partner can come up with a unique dance for a few counts toward the end of the routine.

“If a buddy is in a wheelchair or if a buddy can’t jump, something like that, we have to take that into consideration, and we do the dance that way,” Kane said. “At the end of the day, not everyone’s doing the same dance because not everybody dances the same way. I think that’s kind of the beautiful part about it. We’re all just having fun and dancing together, and it doesn’t really matter where you’re standing or what you’re doing.”

Dance Troupe 2.0

Decked in green and red face paint and donning pajama pants, 21 boys take a stage illuminated by a sparkling tree and shimmering lights at the Dance Troupe’s Winter Show, Dec. 8. As “Jingle Bell Rocks” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” (the Trap Remix, of course) begin to play, WVDT 2.0 members enthusiastically leap, dance, and spin across the stage.

Met with thunderous cheers from the audience, the boys rounded up support for the dance 

show and grew as dancers and friends in the process. 

This was JJ Texeira’s (12) third show dancing with Boys Comedy.

“I really enjoy doing it with a bunch of my friends,” Texeira said. “I would never have gotten so close with some of these boys and the girls in Dance Troupe without it.”

In the months leading up to the show, the boys learned the routines from Dance Troupe choreographers at Wednesday morning practices and Wolverine Time rehearsals. By the time the shows came around, the boys were confident in their dances. 

Between cheering the rest of the Dance Troupe on in the audience and getting themselves pumped up in the wings, Boys Comedy is a community that embraces going outside of your comfort zone. 

Texeira can’t recommend joining Boys Comedy enough. 

“Getting involved helps to diversify your engagement in different disciplines at Westview,” Texeira said. “It creates a greater appreciation and understanding of different demographics and groups on campus. Plus, it’s really fun.”