After months of preparation and long practices, the day that Thousand Oaks High School dancers and dance instructors had been waiting for finally arrived: opening night for the winter concert.
As the lights dimmed, the curtains were drawn back, and the stage appeared, audience members were immediately captivated by the varsity dancers in their 80s-styled aerobics costumes. The theme song from the 1980 film, “Fame” came through the PAC’s speakers and so began the winter dance concert, “Let’s Go Dance to the Movies.” The dance department put on a total of four shows, one of which was during the school day on Fri., Dec. 1st. The first official performance was held that night, and the remaining two were on Sat., Dec. 2nd.
After spending many hours together preparing for the show, all of the dancers have grown together.
“The best part of performing with other dancers was that we all became much closer and stronger as a group,” freshman Arianna Perri said.
The concert included TOHS’s varsity and TFT dance teams, as well as Redwood Middle School’s beginning dance team. Around 30 performances were showcased, each based on a dance or musical movie. Some acknowledged movies were “Camp Rock,” “Bring It On,” “Grease,” “High School Musical,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Moulin Rouge,” “Dreamgirls,” and “La La Land,” among others. Every performance kept the audience engaged, whether it was with a lip-sync, a fun costume, or even a penguin dancing on stage.
Though putting together a 2-hour concert was hard work, the dancers didn’t forget to have fun. Between dressing room games and dress-up days for practices, dancer got to make plenty of fun memories, instructors included.
“[I enjoyed] playing games while waiting in the dressing room with the girls in my class,” freshman Marley Due said.
The ending of the last show was bittersweet. There was no doubt that the joy and adrenaline from the concert were still there, but a slight gloom came over the dancers at the thought of this being dance director, JaLeen Murphy’s, final winter concert. Murphy, who began the dance department at TOHS in 1991, will be retiring this year after spending 32 years with TOHS. Varsity officers and newer members of dance offered words of appreciation for Murphy in the last minutes of the concert.
“Murphy is an absolute legend and she is the strongest, most talented person that I know,” Perri said. “She is an inspiration and truly a dancer at heart.”
The show closed with bows from each dance group, accompanied by “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.” All dancers, sporting their holiday attire, walked down the aisles of the PAC and onto the stage, performing one final dance alongside their coaches. Once it was all said and done, the dancers celebrated on stage, jumping and cheering as the curtains closed.