Warrior Pride Hosts Day of Dance Master Class

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Mr. Jonas Verzia teaches his hip-hop choreography.

On Tuesday, Oct. 11, the JV dance team, Warrior Pride, held the Day of Dance Master Class, inviting students of all ages to learn from three choreographers. The money collected from this fundraiser will help provide Pride with more costumes and fun events for the team.

Every dancer paid $30, while a typical class with highly trained dancers would cost over $300. All Warrior Pride members attended, along with many other students from different level dance classes.

Contemporary choreographer Mr. Dane Burch started the class by first warming up the dancers with several stretches. The students then learned a minute combo that included several jumps and kicks in an hour.

“Contemporary is probably one of my favorite kinds of dancing because it is so stress-relieving,” Ady Chi ‘18 said. “The choreographer was so open-minded, kind and super chill, not judgmental at all about how people were dancing.”

To take over the second part of the class, the pom choreographer, Ms. Evan Anderson, further helped the dancers sweat by jogging around the big gym and doing a series of jumping jacks, squats, and sit-ups. She was able to teach a fast-paced routine that included a pompom routine.

“She was such an amazing teacher who taught everything very well,” Camille Houssay ‘19 said. “Pom routine was the best because it was so quick and different from what we usually dance to.”

To end the class, the dancers were able to train with the hip-hop choreographer, Mr. Jonas Vezia. He taught the dancers how to relax their muscles and then tighten them up to make the dance look powerful and strong. In the beginning, he took the routine slow, showing that hip-hop wasn’t only about popping and locking. He told the setting of the song, which helped the dancers have a visual of what their face should look like.

“All of the dances were so amazing and well choreographed,” Divya Nair ‘19 said. “It was great to see so many people come out and take a chance at trying to learn these dances. This was the first time trying something so different as a fundraiser and I’m glad that we held it.”