“The best feeling [in dance] is when you’re on stage and the lights come on,” dance ensemble member junior Audi Ryan said. “You look out and you see darkness, but you know people are there. When you finish and the curtains close, you hear the applause and you’re just like ‘I did it.’”
Northwood’s dance department and teachers Kristen Oakes and Ebony Delgado are hosting the annual Winter Dance Concert Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11 and 12. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and the show begins at 7 p.m. On Saturday, concerts run at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Admission is $5.
This year, the concert will feature 15 performances with five solos and duets. Sophomore Mairead Maley has taught and will perform a piece for dance ensemble. Oakes and Delgado will participate in the finale with all members of the dance department. There is a total of 163 students in the concert that have been preparing since the beginning of September.
“I’m excited about all of [the pieces] because this is the first time I’ve had this experience,” Delgado said. “I stepped in as a substitute teacher for Mrs. [Leah] Wilhelm, and the whole experience is completely new to me. I’m used to working with three year olds, so I’m excited to see all of my class pieces hit the stage,” said Delgado.
Delgado owns a dance studio called Chatham Dance Connection. She teaches students ranging from two years old to high school age. The program was started in 2008, and Delgado opened her own studio in 2012 with over 100 students involved.
“The majority of my students are younger, so working with only high school students has been really fun and different for me,” Delgado said. “Having a class of 30 as opposed to five to ten students is a big challenge.”
Oakes offers vital information to those who have never attended a dance concert before.
“Everyone has this preconceived notion of what a dance concert looks like,” Oakes said. “I think that when you come here to see our dance concerts, it’s never what you expect. We have such a wide variety of students. We have people who excel in math, science, english and on the fields. To take them out of that and see them in an environment that you’d never put them in is really cool.”
– By Lara Summers
