Advanced Dance I and II students performed solos, duets and group pieces in the annual end-of-year showcase in the dance studio May 3.
To open the show, the juniors of Advanced Dance II danced to “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley to commemorate the fun times they experienced this year, choreographer and Advanced Dance II student Rileigh Goldsmith ’20 said.
“My favorite part of the performance was getting to watch the other dances and seeing the other dancers watch me,” Joe Lesher-Liao ’20 said. “Just being able to perform while feeling like part of a community was wonderful. I gained genuine friends from dancing with them this year that I hope will last even after we graduate.”
Advanced Dance I students also participated in the show. In class, students received an assignment to choreograph solos that reflected their self-identify, performing arts teacher Cynthia Winter said. While many students performed their original pieces, others with similar ideas chose to merge their choreography to create a duet. Advanced Dance II students danced individually and with partners as well.
As the closing number, the seniors of Advanced Dance II performed a group piece to honor their time spent together in the school dance program. Winter also presented the seniors with roses and plaques as tokens of appreciation and a way to remember their experience as a group.
“I really enjoyed watching the seniors in [Advanced Dance II] perform for the last time at Harvard-Westlake,” Advanced Dance II student Jenna Kronenberg ’20 said. “I got to know them over the course of this year, and it was truly amazing getting to see them dance one last time.”
