Annual Holiday Show performed at all three campuses

Annual+Holiday+Show+performed+at+all+three+campuses

by Kacey Fang & Urvi Gupta

On December 9, students and faculty at Bucknall, Blackford, and Saratoga gathered to enjoy the annual Holiday Show, put together by performing arts groups from all three campuses.

The show kicked off with the Upper School Orchestra’s cheery rendition of Sleigh Ride, adding some instrumental quirks, such as twirling their cellos and knocking their bows together. Next, the fourth and fifth grade choir took their place on the bleachers in front of the stage, keeping the audience laughing throughout their entire performance of 12 Days of Christmas.

Stephanie Chen’s (10), “favorite part [of the whole show] was the kids singing 12 Days of Christmas because they were so cute and funny, especially the boy who [represented] the partridge in a pear tree.”

Clad in shiny silver costumes, the Showstoppers Dance Troupe consisting of 7th and 8th grade girls, took their spots at center stage, jazzing their way through Jingle Bells. Bel Canto then filed onto the bleachers, and they sung a remix of a variety of holiday songs.

Next was the traditional singing group, Cantilena, with the five upperclassmen arranged in a v-formation. Their second song featured xylophones of different pitches, using it to add depth to the roll-offs that littered their performance. The boys from High Voltage next grooved to Electric Santa Claus.

Camerata then commemorated the more traditional side of the holiday season with slower, foreign songs. Vivace, a middle school choir, picked up where Camerata left off with a sweet song in a different language as well. The second song incorporated a drum while the singers clapped along to the faster beat of the music.

Varsity Dance and Junior Varsity dance was on next in red and white to celebrate the holiday cheer.

Nephele Troullinos (9), who has performed in the Holiday Show many times before, thought the performance was a success despite the challenges of the different stage sizes. “We got the most acknowledgment from definitely the Saratoga campus because our friends were cheering us on, and that makes it more fun,” she said, adding later that the other two campuses were also “happy to see them.”

Dynamics, the 6th grade choir, also successfully added to the holiday cheer, followed by Downbeat, singing Deck the Halls and It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.

The last two performances were Harmonics and Dance Fusion, from the middle and lower schools, respectively. Harmonics did a performance of Louis Armstrong’s ‘Zat You, Santa Claus?.

To close out the show, students from the Bucknall campus filled the stage.

Most students believe that the Holiday Show is a entertaining reprieve from studying for finals or filling out college applications.

Muralikrishna Joshi (12) “[looks] forward to it [every year] because it really brings the holiday cheer to Harker and gets you in the mood for break.”

Another aspect of the Holiday show is that students get to experience the performance side of school, not only from their campus, but the other two as well.

“It [fosters] unity between all three campuses,” Srikar Pyda (10) says.

Ultimately, many students appreciate relaxing for one afternoon, enjoying listening and watching the various performing arts groups present of their talent.