Behind the scenes: Upper School students prepare for 2015 Dance Show

Aditya+Dhar+%2810%29%2C+Alexander+Lam+%2810%29%2C+and+David+Zhu+%2810%29+rehearse+for+their+dance.+This+years+dance+show+will+be+themed+Jungle.

Neil Bai

Aditya Dhar (10), Alexander Lam (10), and David Zhu (10) rehearse for their dance. This year’s dance show will be themed “Jungle”.

Donning sweatpants, a shirt with an animal face, and a gold beanie, Aditya Dhar (10), Alexander Lam (10) and David Zhu (10) are looking forward to as part of their dance “Animal Beats.”

The annual Upper School Dance Show will take place in the middle school on Friday and Saturday, with this year’s theme focusing on the “Jungle.”

This year’s dance show, partitioned into about 20 different dances, include many dancers involved in multiple dances. There will be 135 dancers participating, wearing 240 costumes in the show.

“[In] the first act, all the dances are based off of a jungle theme, whether it’s the environment, the temperature, [or] the sounds,” Upper School Dance Director Karl Kuehn said. “The second act is called ‘Animal Inhabitants’ and it’s all related to jungle animals.”

According to Kuehn, the show will be featuring a mix of some new songs, classic songs, and interesting instrumental music. With the theme centering on the jungle, Kuehn is excited for the variety of projects possible.

This theme really provides a lot of room for creativity. Our costumes and music will directly relate to the jungle. The choreographers – both student and professional choreographers – are given some freedom too.

— Karl Kuehn

Student choreographers of this year’s dances include Ryan Pachauri(12), Sindhu Ravuri (12), Darby Millard (12), Erika Olsen (12), Ashir Bansal (12), Andrew Zhang (12), Jacqui Villarreal (12), Noel Banerjee (12), Helena Dworak (11), Ankita Sharma (11), Allison Wang (11), and Emily Pan (11).

Senior Ryan Pachauri thinks that there will be many new dance styles stemming from the theme of the jungle.

“Since the theme is [the] Jungle, there’s going to be lots of different interpretations of what a Jungle is,” he said. “Mr. Karl and Mrs. Haun worked really hard to tie everyone around the theme. We have the most student choreographers ever, so there’s going to be lots of innovative styles along with some beautiful mixes of dance.”

Natasha Mayor (11), a performer in the Howl and Tribal Dance segments, is looking forward to the upcoming show and has enjoyed the practice thus far.

“I’m really glad I decided to be in the dance show this year,” Natasha (11) said. “The rehearsals have been fun; I met some new people, and I’m excited to perform in front of my friends.”

Jerry Chen (9) is performing in the “George of the Jungle Boogie” dance and believes that the Upper School productions have been an improvement over the middle school’s shows.

“There is better choreography, more grade diversity, and there is a theme to it.”

However, he thinks improvements can be made to the costumes.

“It’s a zebra slash leopard skin print tank top” he said. “It is interesting because it has animal prints and stuff and it reflects the theme.”

Showings for the Upper School Dance production start on Jan. 30 at the middle school and tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post.