The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

    Students mimic dance video game routines to celebrate end of school week

    Once the clock strikes 2:35 on Friday afternoons, not every classroom gets a full weekend’s rest. Instead, the English classrooms in the Rugby annex welcome students once more, but not for poring over great works of literature — for dancing.

    One day around Halloween, Perren Carrillo ’15 hooked up his laptop to Rugby 222’s projector, went on YouTube and found a video of a dance video game. He, Liane Capiral ’15 and Gwynn Pollard ’15 proceeded to mimic the virtual silhouettes’ dance moves to “Monster Mash.”

    Carrillo and friends dance to a variety of music that can be found in YouTube videos of the video games Just Dance and Dance Central, whose moves they imitate. However, they are not actually playing the video games, which usually consist of a motion-sensored element and require a proper game console.

    “We play all the different versions of dance games,” Carrillo said. “Anything we can find on YouTube.”

    Since that first Monster Mash, the group has grown, including about three to eight participants each time. One week, almost every member of the improv group Scene Monkeys came and danced to “Rasputin.”

    Although the group currently comprises a relatively small group of mostly juniors, Carrillo stressed that everyone is welcome to join.

    “It’s not about experience or being good,” Carrillo said. “It’s about just having fun and having a good time with people and laughing at ourselves because we completely mess up the moves.”

    Regular participant Lex Ladge ’15 enjoys the variety of songs to choose from, which range from songs by Elvis Presley to the Spice Girls. She also uses it as a time to reenergize while studying.

    “Some of the more intense ones are surprisingly difficult workouts, but they are still fun nonetheless,” Ladge said.

    Carrillo views it as a way to “relax and take a break from schoolwork.” He does not consider it a club, but both he and Ladge hope to make it more official next year.

    “[Performing arts teacher Ted] Walch seemed pretty enthusiastic about it,” Ladge said.

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    Students mimic dance video game routines to celebrate end of school week