The junior varsity and varsity dance teams merged together for the first time ever to form the Harker Dance Company at the start of this school year. The choreographers, Karl Kuehn, who previously coached varsity, and Rachelle Haun, who coached junior varsity, decided that the timing was right to proceed to switch the school’s dance team system after years of discussion.

A variety of factors contributed to the change, the first being that this system eliminates placement issues.

“Sometimes, after we place students into teams, they think that they should be on one team rather than the other, so having one company completely gets rid of that,” Kuehn said.

Having one dance team also creates unity between all of the Harker dancers, instead of focusing on JV and varsity titles.

“We get to know each other as equal dancers and friends on the same team instead of being on a higher or lower team,” Nikki Kapadia (10), who was previously on the JV team, said.

The choreographers pick certain dancers to perform in shows based on both the style of dance and the performance type.

Currently, the team is rehearsing for their holiday performance. Despite reservations earlier on in the process, the teams continued their transition into one, and now most dancers on the team appreciate the new changes.

“I know that we were nervous during summer, but now it feels good,” said senior Emiko Armstrong, one of three captains who help organize the team, ensure team preparedness and promote team bonding.

This article was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on Nov. 18, 2019.