The 2021-2022 fall dance concert is right around the corner! This years theme is Disney and all the dancers from Advanced Dance and the Ayala Dance Production are working hard to prepare for their performance in front of their friends and families. 

The dedicated dancers are all split up into about 4 small groups, learning different choreography from each captain leader, as they practice the multiple types of dances that are going to be showcased at the performance.

“Right now in my group, we are utilizing all of our class time along with morning and after-school practices to make sure that we all look clean for our performance, ” said sophomore dancer Makayla Gonzalez.

The dancers that are part of the Ayala Dance Production are spending their first period practicing, Tuesdays after school, plus the extra 6:30 morning practices that are normally Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays depending on the week, to perfect their dances in under the 1 month time constraint that they have. 

Captain leaders must choreograph and find a dance that will fit into the overall Disney theme to teach to their group, even on top of their academic classes. In order to captivate their audience, their attention to detail must stand out in their performance. 

“I came up with the idea of having towels as props since the Princess and the Frog song was about a waitress and she uses items like towels, ” said dance captain Amber Liu.

Liu’s dance that she had choreographed with her partner, Delaney Hovey covers the Musical Theatre genre. So far, their group is doing well but also get behind in some areas of the dance. 

The behind the scenes of the fall dance concert can either be chaotic or easy going, all depending on the time.  Some captain leaders want to change their music since it doesn’t go best with the choreography but do not have enough time to do so. Depending on each leader they have their ways to try and make their group the best and cleanest as possible. 

“Our leader makes our dance cleaner by video taping it and showing it to us for corrections so we can apply them to our dance,” said Samantha Pavese. 

Pavese’s leader likes to video tape herself for the others to refer back to anytime they need. 

The fall dance concert is always an exciting time for the Ayala Dance Production but many people do not know all the hard work that is put into trying to perfect the show.

“Our dance is really good so far but it is still a work in progress for sure,” said Liu.