First Steps to Stardom: Intro’s Debut in the Upcoming Dance Show

By Cecilia Rodriguez

With the upcoming dance shows on April 25th to 27th, there were many behind the scenes things that are unbeknownst to the crowd watching. Ms. Lapp, as well as some of her teacher aide and a student from second period, intro to dance, share their opinions and the process they went through creating the dance.

Lapp shares that the dance show theme is ‘Icons.’ For Intro To Dance in second period, it is Taylor Swift. “Mrs. Bardonnex and I brainstormed all different kinds of icons, and Taylor Swift is definitely an icon for this year, so we thought we’d definitely needed to include her in our show.”

“Specifically why we chose Taylor Swift, I think she has been very popular this year, to say the least. We felt like we couldn’t really exclude her from this show. She also has a lot of entertaining music so the intro dance class is using a medley of her songs depicting different types of moods and styles.”

The process of preparing the show must have been a very tedious process for all people involved. Lapp shares some insight on the process behind making the dance, as well as the execution.

“First is picking the theme, and then the next step would be selecting the music and then downloading it and editing it, then deciding what sequence it should go into. Once you do that, you can start working on the choreography and picking what style of dance you want it to be. “

“From there, it’s costuming, staging, lighting, and then perfecting and working on the performance quality.”

When working on such a big project such as the dance show, there are bound to be problems, some minor and some major. Lapp shares some of her experiences working on the show.

Lapp says, “I think initially I was having trouble picking songs because there’s so many so I leaned on one of my teacher aides, Piper Lambert, who’s a huge Taylor Swift fan.”

“I normally cut my own music, but I had her select the songs this year because I felt since she’s such a fan of Taylor Swift, she would be the right person for this task. She did an amazing job selecting the music.”

She adds, “We’re just really excited for the show and I was excited to see what the intros do  because they always surprise us with their performance because they haven’t had a lot of experience on stage. Some of them have had no experience on stage, but their dances always end up being really entertaining and that’s very important to us, that every dance is entertaining.”

Piper Lambert, ‘24, is in Dance Force, and is a teacher aide for both Hip Hop and Intro to Dance, and she was a major help in helping and executing the show. 

She says, “I have been dancing for 15 years of my life and I have been in the Redwood Dance Force for 3 years.”

Many people had inspirations as to why they joined the dance community. For Lambert, it was her sister.

“She was here before me and she was on Dance Force. I’ve always wanted to be just like her.” 

Lambert was an essential part of helping create second period’s dance choreography and music.

“I help make up the choreography and then I teach it. I help kids learn to be the performer that everyone is by telling them that they’re going to be great on stage.”

Similarly to Lapp, Lambert had her own share of struggles with the preparation of the dance show.

“I think definitely trying to motivate kids and doing well under pressure because everything seems so last minute.” 

Apart from the struggles, she’s also had her memorable moments. “My favorite part is always finishing a dance and running it for the first time and knowing that the dance show is here.”

Another key person that was helpful in creating the new upcoming dance choreography was Alejandra Gutierrez, ‘24.

Similar to Lambert, Gutierrez is also involved with dance in all aspects. “Right now, I’m a teacher aide for Ms. Lapp, second period, I’m in International Dance and Hip Hop Dance.”

She says, “I joined dance my sophomore year, starting with the intermediate classes and I built up from there.”

She originally joined dance for the credits, but she eventually fell in love with dancing and came back every year. “It’s a great experience, it’s really fun. It’s stressful but it’s very exhilarating. You feel a lot of adrenaline having everyone watching you.”

“We try to prepare students, especially newcomers for the show. It’s definitely overwhelming so I just try and help out wherever I can with the teachers. For example, running the formations with them to ensure that they build on their performance.”

“It’s hard sometimes to get some students to really go full out and build their confidence. There’s a lot of fear behind that, so it’s a challenge. But over time, the people get better and they learn.”

A key part for Gutierrez while working on the show’s production is the execution. And she believes the best thing is opening night.

“You go out on the stage for the first time and you just feel the adrenaline going through your whole body. The whole LJ theatre is full and I think that’s a really great feeling, and I’m really going to miss that. “

She adds, “Dance shows and just dance classes are super fun. You make a lot of great friendships and you learn to express yourself in a different way and in a different art. I think that if you’re interested, you should definitely try it.”

Haley Madsen, who is in the Graduating Class of 2027, also has a great interest in dance and she is currently enrolled in Intro to Dance.

“I’ve been dancing for 11 years, and I just kind of wanted to do another dance class, besides what I do extracurricular wise.”

Related to many people who join dance, Madsen also has a history of dancing when she was younger.

“I’ve just been doing it since I was 5. I used to do gymnastics and then I just switched over to dance.”

For Madsen, the environment in which dance puts you in is a very important aspect.

“Everyone cheering at practice in the LJ Theatre is so much fun. It was a lot more welcoming than I thought it would be. I’ve made a lot of good friends through dance.”

The entirety of the dance show has been a long and complex one, but like always, they will come out with a memorable dance.

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