Reflection Paper On Dance Team

I stopped mid-step and millions of thoughts rushed through my head. What was she going to say to me? Was she going to yell at me for not being able to do the turn? Was she going to take me out of the dance? I had never been so nervous at dance before and I felt a sense of uneasiness come over my whole body as I walked towards her.

I had just moved to Washington state and I auditioned for the local dance studio’s competition team for fun. I had no idea how talented they were. And I was just an untrained recreational dancer…Not surprisingly, I didn’t earn a coveted spot on the team it the first time I auditioned. That didn’t stop me from training seriously and auditioning for the team each year until I made it. And here I stand, now starting on my sixth year on the team and as one of the last people from my original team who decided not to quit when they started high school. Dance isn’t just twirling around in pretty pink tutus. What the general population doesn’t picture when they think of dance is the tremendous amount of strenuous work and the blood and sweat and tears that goes into every performance and competition. Certain dancers can’t handle it and quit when they realize they don’t have the passion. My passion keeps me living and breathing and most importantly, dancing, when times get

Those girls were a division higher than my team; so, as I watched their arms gracefully swing from side to side; their legs kicking into the air in a beautiful battement; and, the nearly flawless transitions, I wondered how much hard work and how many rehearsal hours they put in to achieve those movements with such ease. The spotlight highlighting their every move had me in awe. The song slowly started to fade out and the loud, obnoxious thumping in my chest resurfaced. With shaky legs and uneven breathing I hesitantly made my way onto the stage and got into position. Looking into the crowd, I could see hundreds of faces staring back at me; some familiar, some I had never seen in my life. This gave me a feeling of nostalgia taking me back to that first day of dance class when all eyes were on me. I could not hear anything around me except my heartbeat in my chest. I remembered how aesthetically pleasing the dancers prior presented themselves on stage and told myself to get it together. I had to give it my all and not let my team down, but most importantly I could not let myself down. I looked at my friend, who posed just to the left of me, for reassurance and she gave me such a genuine smile. I could see it in her eyes that she believed in me. I looked at my surrounding and thought “This is what I’ve been working towards. This is where I want to be.” All the negative thoughts that previously invaded my mind faded. My breathing began to even out as the lights dim signaling that the song would start any

Since I have been in this class I have gotten the opportunity to hear about many different directing styles and team philosophies. This semester I got a chance to listen to Abby Payne, Tracey Anderson, and Kellie Jackson-Jandt. From listening to their experiences and drawing back on my own experiences I have learned a lot about how I would want to lead my team.

The Chino Hills High School Dance Team performed in their first competition at Esperanza High School. The competition started off with the Freshmen Solos, from Natalie Garcia, Scarlette Esparza, Zachary Ramos, and Simone Carrillo. Sophomore Solos, from Hayley Dyer and Megan Glaudini. Junior Solos, from Brooke Wendel, Rheana Tumang, and Mia Roberts, and Senior Solos, from Emily Ha and Florrie Ku. The sophomore, junior, and senior solos took first place!

Marie and I had just left her house and were walking to the tryouts. It was a really quick walk because she lives only 2 houses away from the studio. This was back in August 2017, a few days after dance camp ended for the summer. We hurried down the stairs to go inside and kept talking about how nervous and excited we were the whole way down. Once we got inside of Bleker’s, we started talking to the other girls. After just a few minutes we were all taken into the dance room and together we all learned a hip hop, jazz, and tap routine. We only had about 30 minutes to learn all of the routines so we were all feeling a little rushed. Before we knew it, the dance teachers put us into groups of 3-5 girls. These groups were the people we would perform our dance routines with. My group was Meghan S, Grace, and I.

My mouth hung open as I watched the gorgeous, graceful girls leap and twirl across the gym floor during their annual summer mini-camp. From that point forward, I knew that I wanted to be a Chiefette. I studied up on the history of the team, watched every one of their public performances, and enrolled in dance team preparation classes. Each year, the Chiefettes got better and better, and during each dance, their pirouettes and jetes grabbed my heart and carried me with them through their emotional journey. Their movement quality astounded me; I wasn’t exactly sure how a team of so many girls could dance in unison with seemingly effortless grace. I knew from talking to the girls on the elite team that they maintained excellent grades, participated in other school activities and sports, and volunteered within the community. These girls were my idols, and I thought that the only way to have a positive high school experience was to join the dance team. There was no question in my mind that I would be on the team all four years of high school, and because I had prior dance experience, that I would be one of the better dancers on the team. Throughout middle school, I dreamed about the day when I would finally be able to call myself a Chiefette, but I soon realized that I had no idea the amount of hard work and talent that it took to earn that

Since my sophomore year in high school I have been a part of a very unique dance group. This group is known as Alma Folklorica de Oklahoma, which translates to Fokloric soul of Oklahoma. We are a dance group that performs traditional dances from the country of Mexico. In my hometown there is strong Hispanic population, but more predominantly from Mexico. It first started as a community group, but eventually it became a school program. When it began people in the community still were apprehensive of newcomers in the community, mostly to the new coming Hispanic population. It began as a transitional program, mostly to show the beautiful culture of the newcomers. After a couple of years it eventually became a high school class. In the early years of it as a class at the high

On Wednesday, November 18th, I had the pleasure to attend and watch the Dance Plus’s Fall show. The Dance Plus was performed at the Douglass Theatre, Victoria Mastrobuno Theater. When I entered the show the theatre seemed a little small for such big crowed. I immediately thought there would not be enough seats for all the audience, but somehow it fitted everyone. As everyone got settled down, the dance performance had started. I chose to write about the first performance that was choreographed by the amazing director, Jessica Lange her work was simply wonderful! I loved every little piece of the play. It put a smile on my face watching this amazing work of art. So with that said, I would now like to talk about the dance performance. There were

Mister Chan called us, We went near him and he told us that “Don’t be nervous or be scared, Just think about how hard all of you practice to perfect these performance. You guys can do it, Some of you are first timers and might think that you can’t do it but YOU CAN because YOU WILL” We did a group hug and went up to the stage. Thanks to My dance instructor Mister Chan and to Eleanor Roosevelt because that quote made me what I am

The day of my tryout comes, and I’m nervous because it’s a totally different style of dance than I’m used to. I know nothing about it, and all the girls have been at it for over a month! Despite that, I’m still excited and I eagerly walk in the front doors of my high school. 30 heads turn to look up at me. My dirty, worn out shoes, and messily pulled-up hair didn’t seem too appealing to them, to say the least. Some of the girls looked confused and whispered quietly with the person to their side. The two captains of the team come walking up to me with a huge smile on their face. The kind that’s kind of forced.

After I’m dressed the singers start singing and a little after the drum beat follows once the drums start we start dancing to it. We take a break eat but not too much that I have to go to the bathroom during the dance, rest a little then in the evening we do another dance around a big fire that kind of burned my skin. The next morning I woke up at five, rushed to eat my breakfast so I could go dance. Later, towards afternoon the crown dancers came and danced with me. On the third day I got up early again danced, I then had to run in four directions once I start running everyone follows. The first time I ran, I fell; humiliated and wanting to disappear a family member picked me up. She patted me down took my shoulders and looked me in my eyes. They were soft eyes that seemed to have infinite wisdom, in which she shared with me, saying that: Life is full of struggles. Some day, somewhere in the distant future, you will get hurt, you will be in so much pain and you might trip and fall, but the most important

I am Shanna Woods, a dancer, mother, life and college student, dance instructor and aspiring choreographer. I have dance before I could walk. I decided I wanted to dance after watching a video of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Giselle in the 5th grade. At that time, I didn’t know becoming a dancer was a possible career. It was just something we all did in the community; shaking our non-hips, doing the tootsie roll, and whatever we saw on the music videos. I remember making up dances for my friends and forcing my cousins to learn routines for family reunions and other gatherings. You can say, I was always a choreographer at heart. I began serious training at Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, FL. I also studied chorus. I became a dance major at Dreyfoos School of the Arts also in West Palm Beach, FL. Through Dreyfoos I was exposed to Graham with Jan Goetz, contemporary modern with Gina Buntz, ballet with Jeff Satinoff, as well as guest artists like Ben Vereen and Reginald Yates. I also trained at Southern Dance Theatre in Boynton Beach where I studied ballet, jazz, and gained my love for Bob Fosse through Dancer’s Edge Dance Company.

Ever wondered what it would be like to leap through life, twirl right through, as if the world has completely stopped around you? To be able to pause everything in a silence that allows you to hear your own heartbeat? The silence on stage as you perform is a sense of peace within your inner body that is being channeled through a movement of effortless motion. In European history, dance was considered to be a way of celebration for many cultures. Although it was said that dance did require physical agility, dancers were never considered athletes because the movement was not taken seriously. Dance did not become popular in a more skillful way until later on. The debate of dance as a sport is very

On December 1, 2017, in the University Theatre at California State University, Dominguez Hills, I observed the fall dance concert Rise. It was choreographed by Amy Michelle Allen, Marco A, Carreon, Sarah Cashmore, Jeff Hendrix, Erin Landry, Doris Ressl Acosta, and Kenneth Walker, with the long cast of dancers. The production was pleasing, and would not have been believable without the work from production designers, Frederick Depontee and Cheryl Sheldon. Rise is played out in eight different dance routines, which were Xtra Xtra, Scar Tissue, Hart Broken, Things Are A Stirrin’, and the rest are intermissions such as Female Energy, Women, Exotica, Strength In Numbers, and Makina.