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![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
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![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
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Rehearsals start for Upper School dance production
Praveen Bhatra
Students rehearse for the upcoming dance production. Rehearsals began this week for the upper school dance production, which premieres on Jan. 30.
Rehearsals for the Upper School dance show, themed “Welcome to the Jungle,” began last week.
“The first act will be Welcome to the Jungle, and the second act will be Animal Inhabitants, and all the songs will relate to jungle animals or creatures,” Kuehn said. “The theme shapes the costumes and the music selection and lighting, set design […] the jungle theme will influence choreography as well.”
A record 135 students will perform in the program.
“The concept of dance is actually really diverse, especially in the concept of hip hop,” first-time participant Linus Li (9) said.
Ryan Pachauri (12) is a student choreographer for the show. Choreography class is available to dance conservatory certificate candidates.
“It’ll be exciting. I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.
Rehearsals will continue weekly until January 26th, followed by a tech week.
“Our main goal is, of course, putting on a great production,” Kuehn said. “That’s our focus right now with our after-school rehearsals.”
After-school dance classes will continue once the dance show has completed.
“After the show we’ll have our after-school classes […] technique classes and specialty classes. So I’m hoping that the interest and […] excitement post-production will continue,” Kuehn said.
The dance production will premiere on Jan. 30, with a performance for the middle school on Friday afternoon, and shows open to the public on Friday and Saturday.
Praveen Batra (9) is a reporter for the Winged Post. He enjoys informative writing, design, and typography. In his spare time, he likes to write mobile...