Three dark silhouettes appeared on the stage of the Roberts-Dubbs Auditorium, backlit by a strong blue light. The Progressions performance had begun.
I was lucky enough to see the show on two nights—I watched the first half of the performance on the opening night, May 1, and watched the rest of the performance on its closing night, May 4. Both evenings enchanted me with the dancer’s impressive technical skills, the diverse choices of music and the captivating choreography.
The first performance of the program titled “Want It,” was performed by juniors Sora Egozy, Elena Mcginnis and Natalie Price. Clad in black, they performed impressive, synchronized and acrobatic moves to inspiring music by Todrick Hall. Throughout the show, I was quite impressed with the numbers featuring only a few dancers, like the third performance set to Hozier’s “Eat Your Young,” and the 6th performance, called “Princess Gone Digital” set to Amaarae’s flowy R&B beats. Despite not having the same group style of the other performances and having two very different moods, both of the routines had the auditorium whooping and cheering throughout their artistic displays.
Some of the most intriguing performances were the large group dances; they made up half of the program and were all different in their range of themes and energies. The first of the group dances was one aptly named ‘Nostalgia.’ True to its moniker, it included a medley of songs from throwback artists like the Backstreet Boys and Nelly Furtado, and the dancers were dressed in baggy jeans and sports jerseys. The second group performance, “Warp,” took a more techno turn, and included heavy strobe lights and industrial music. The third group, “Easy,” had a completely different vibe, with the dancers performing to a cheery K-Pop number featuring music from Le Sserafim. The last group dance, “All Night,” was set to Rihanna’s “Breakin’ Dishes” and the audience was served with a powerful, fiery show.
At the end of the program Mayra Hernandez, a dance teacher at the high school who choreographed various dances of the night, handed out potted plants to a select few dancers for their contribution to the production. Hernandez then asked the seniors to come forward and after a heartwarming acknowledgement, rewarded them with beautiful bouquets.
Along with the dances of the night, the light and sound production team worked together seamlessly to provide the audience with an amazing visual and aural experience. At the end of the night, the tech crew also received their respective (and very well deserved!) bouquets from Hernandez.
I left the 2024 Progressions performances awestruck by all aspects of the evening – visual, acoustic and technical. It left me feeling satisfied with my decision to witness the talent of our school’s dance crew, and excited to come back next year.
