Long after the last buses pulled out of the Oval, Poly Prep dancers stayed, still at work, practicing and refining their pieces for the 29th annual Spring Dance Concert that took place on April 23 and April 24. The performance included students at Poly in grades five through twelve, whether they are in a dance class at Poly or participate in a dance extracurricular.
The Spring Dance Concert allowed students to showcase their months of hard work and dedication. The preparation for the concert is intensive, and as Dalia Golomb ’29, a mem-
Ber of DanceFIT, said, “most of [our] rehearsals are spent cleaning or just running the dance and making sure that everyone understands it. I have a technical face for dance, but [for] other people, it’s one of their first times doing dance, so they don’t know all the things.” She added, “we all dance really nicely together,” despite the difference in skill level.
As a freshman, “it’s the first time [we] are performing in high school. I feel like there are very different stakes,” said Golomb. “After a long day of school, sometimes it’s hard to
perform. But it also gives me motivation at the end of the day that I’m okay, I get to do something that I love,” Golomb added. Iman Jean-Baptiste ’28 performed an intermediate level dance piece and as they were nearing the performance, she said, “it’s time to put it on stage with lightning, and it’s been nice seeing it come to life. It’s been a really exciting process.”
Jean-Baptiste danced to a “high energy beat [with] a very bright neon colored outfit; it’s very fun,” said Jean-Baptiste. The dance incorporated “a lot of styles from different areas of dance, like jazz, hip hop, the rockettes,” according to Jean-Baptiste. Similar to Golomb, Jean-Baptiste’s dance class included students of different levels. “I get to socialize with people who are younger and older than myself, and it’s nice,” she said.
For the higher grades the commitment to the concert grows. Jenesis Bartholomew ’27 said that she has “been in every Spring Dance Concert since I was in seventh grade.” According to Bartholomew, “I am in five different numbers, so rehearsal is a little hectic,” and “I have committed a lot of time to dance.”
While the preparation for the performance can be hectic, “the hardest part of this was the snow days and schedule conflicts. The more practices where members of the dance are not there, the harder it is to progress or see if the dance embodies its original vision,” said Bartholomew.
Differing from Jean-Baptiste’s dance, Bartholomew’s advanced dance piece “Echoes” showcased how “the moments of life don’t disappear, yet they echo, creating a long lasting impact, while simultaneously showing a story of the passage of time, showing the past, present and future existing in one moment,” as Bartholomew put it.
Angelique Lopez ’26, a member of the advanced dance piece “Echoes,” said that it “turned from one solo into a huge group piece. With that, there were different timings people had to learn.” While there isn’t a singular theme for the showcase, according to Lopez, “it’s more of a free-for-all of what creativity and art is put out there.”
While students experience creative freedom on stage, faculty shapes much of the concert’s structure and vision behind the scenes. As a Middle School Dance Teacher and Performing Arts Department Chair Ashley Hacker helped both “to shape the overall vision of the concert while also working closely with my students in class and after school — refining technique, encouraging expression and leading the choreography process,” as she said in response to email questions. Since the performance spanned so many grade levels, “the US dance club pieces are entirely student choreography, whereas the MS dance club pieces are entirely faculty choreography. Class pieces and senior pieces are most faculty-led,” according to Hacker.
Performing Arts Faculty, Dance Sam Turner said, “the concert is primarily a curated repertoire of faculty choreography, but student contribution remains essential to the process.” Each year’s concert “reflects the unique group of students and the work developed through our Curriculum,” said Turner, “The concert offers the community a chance to witness the culmination of our students’ dedication, growth and creative exploration.”
“The Spring Dance Concert is a cornerstone event because it brings the community together to celebrate artistry and growth. It’s not just about performance — it’s about storytelling, expression and the culmination of months of dedication,” said Hacker. “For many students, it’s also a chance to share a part of themselves that isn’t always visible in the classroom. For the audience, it builds appreciation for the creativity and discipline behind dance,” said Hacker.
