Tonight is my Senior Night.
It’s the last time I’ll put on lipgloss in the dance room before stashing my bags in the closet. It’s the last time I’ll paint lines and handprints on my teammates. It’s the last time I’ll curl my lashes in the inconveniently diagonal mirror, the last time I’ll curl my hair there.
Even worse, tonight will be the last time I skip with my team down the ramp to the stadium. This is my last chance to soak in the Black Hole’s energy, to stand mesmerized before glittering signs, booming chants, and my peers dripping in black paint
Still, my favorite part of halftime performances, the part I’ll miss most, is the brief moment just after the clock beeps the end of the second quarter, just seconds before the Dance Troupe is announced on the loudspeaker. At that moment, I wait anxiously in front of the track, in a loving, excited cluster of dancers. We look to one another and jump, sing, dance, and jitter with shared excitement.
And when that loudspeaker does finally announce “Westview Dance Troupe!” we jog to our places. I look down at the white trackline centered beneath my feet, holding my first position, while the echo of cheers from the Black Hole surrounds me. I can’t hear what they’re saying, nor do I remember who’s watching. All I wait for is that first note of our song.
With that first beat, I snap a smile quickly at the students’ faces, blurred in my eyes into a black and gold mass of cheers. That performance, the result of weeks of practice after school, over nine hours of choreography in the nighttime dark of my garage, only lasts slightly over two minutes. But those two minutes are worth it. They remind me of why I love to perform, and they remind me of how proud I am to be a Wolverine.
Throughout my underclassman years, this has been the seemingly infinite routine. This is my second year choreographing the football halftime routines and rally performances alongside my co-officers. I remember a time when I felt there was never an end to the dances I’d learn. Then, in my junior year, I began to count them down. My count is finally over. This is my last one.
Although Dance Troupe always seemed an activity I very dedicatedly participated in, it was always more of a family, especially right before and during our performances together when we all shared the same fast-beating hearts and the same nervous smiles. More importantly, the members of Dance Troupe were there for me through every tough rehearsal, every injury, every exhausting dance camp, and every 16-hour-long competition. Dance Troupe is truly the strongest group of people I have ever met, and they always have been.
Today, I’m equally as amazed by these dancers’ incredible strength and discipline. I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned in my time with the team, for the friends I’ve made, and for the opportunity to lead talented artistic athletes.
I can only hope that I have made a fraction of the positive influence that former Dance Troupe seniors have made on me. And I hope to savor tonight with my second family. One last time.
