Becky Swig | Sports and Opinions Assistant Editor

This past weekend, Menlo held its 26th annual dance concert, showcasing a variety of dances performed by both the Middle School and Upper School. The concert consisted of four performances, each with its own energy and artistic expression. This year brought something new to the Dance Concert. This year, the concert had an overall theme, “The Architecture of Dance,” which was represented in the opening and closing dances of the shows.
The concert was filled with a diverse range of dances from senior solos to numbers with 30 dancers. In addition to having a theme to the concert, this year’s concert was designed to be shorter while still holding the same intensity as years past. “I think this year’s show had a different pacing than in previous years. We tried to keep each number relatively short, about two minutes, so that the audience would stay engaged,” senior Lillian Siegel said.
The preparation for the concert has been hectic yet fun for the dancers. Most of the dances seen in the concert are choreographed and heavily rehearsed during the latter half of the third quarter leaving the students with a few weeks to prepare. “We started working every free moment we could find: lunch, break, and after school. It’s definitely not a good idea to miss rehearsal because we learn almost an entire dance in one rehearsal,” junior Jessica Juan said. Senior Nicole Crisci agreed. “When the show got closer it ramped up. There were days where the [Knight Dancers] practiced for 5 hours,” Crisci said. The dancers spend so much time together that they really get to know each other and bond as a group. “The dance teams spend so much time together, and really form a bond through the countless (but always fun) hours of learning choreography,” Juan said.
For the dancers, the concert is there to showcase their work for the year and to share what they love to do. “My favorite thing about being in the dance concert is getting to do something I love, with people that share the same passion,” Juan said. As a participant in the concert, the dancers also enjoy being expressive with the dances that speak to the audience. “My favorite part of the dance concert is always those couple of dances that really touch me personally and that I feel privileged to dance in,” Crisci said. The Dance Concert is the main event for dancers, so their work of the year is exhibited during these four performances. “I think it does effectively show all of our hard work throughout the year,” Siegel said, “For a lot of us, dance is our main sport, so while most people get to play in numerous games throughout a season, we get this one weekend where we show everything we’ve been working on.”
This year’s performances riveted the audience with their execution on sharing the different styles and complexity of dance. The concert demonstrated the talent of the dancers as well as the emotional connected between the dancers and the audience.