On May 5-7 in the West High Performing Arts Center, the WHS Dance Department presented another breathtaking May Show. However, for the dancers, the show’s theme “Continue to Thrive” ironically reflected the obstacles of the show’s preparations. 

   With just a couple weeks until the show, the dance department ran into several challenges. Intermediate dancer and May Show choreographer Erika Fung (10) shared, “We had a few unexpected changes with the number of performers up on stage, so the choreographers had to accommodate with new formations.”  For choreographers, reorganizing entire dances has been stressful. “It’s been hard making and cleaning all of the dances with the new formations and making sure they will look good on stage,” Fung said. Still, Fung was optimistic about the show.

   Learning these new formations was a struggle for other dancers as well. “When we make these changes last minute, the choreography and counts of the music change for some people,” Intermediate dancer Rachel Yu (11) expressed. “It’s just more complicated because we have to learn different choreography when we’re so used to what we learned already.”

   However, Intermediate Dance continued their efforts to adapt to these changes. Yu added, “As a team, we drill the routines and run the dances multiple times and run through the sections until everyone does it correct and everything looks clean.” With rigorous practice, the team was determined to make this show another great one. “Other than that, the show production has been running smoothly… I think we’ll definitely have a great show!” Fung noted. Aside from her own choreography, Fung was most excited to perform the piece “LNA” choreographed by Ray Pham (11). 

   Preparations for Advanced Dance performances were troubling as well. In addition to complications from ineligibility and injury, dancers struggled to balance dance practice with studying for the AP season. May Show choreographer Misa Cohen (11) commented, “I have AP Psych and AP Lang before and after the show, so it [was] very important to balance my time well in order to perform well in the show and on my exams!”

   This year’s May Show preparations have proved to be quite a challenge. However, West’s dance teams persevered under the pressure, still perfecting choreography even in such stressful circumstances. In flashy costumes under bright lights, the troubling preparations of this year’s May Show were unseen behind the dancers’ amazing performances.