Brentwoodian 2019

32 Dance Presentation This year has been an amazing year for the Dance department, and one of the highlights was the Dance Showcase Evening, a special recognition of the hard work, long hours, and commitment that the Dance Academy girls and boys put in. The Dance Presentation differentiates itself from the normal Dance Show in Memorial Hall as it is in the Boston Room, without any costumes. This highlights even more that we, as dancers, don’t rely on just the sparkle and glam of the costumes, or the dazzling lights, to bring to life Ms Herterich's choreography. It speaks for itself through the dance routines, and our love of performing shone through as we held our own on the night. Without Ms Herterich's choreography there would be no Presentation Evening so a massive thank you really goes to her; we are just the people who showcase her talent and her imaginative creations. Her ability as a dancer and choreographer is never ending as illustrated through the wide variety of dances in this year’s Presentation Evening. The dance routines ranged from the musical number from ‘Hamilton’, The Schuyler Sisters , my personal favourite, the fierce and fiery jazz number of Feel it Still and the hard hitting tap routine to Run Boy Run . However, the students were also allowed to showcase their talents with the winners and runners-up of the Choreographic Competition performing their pieces to the audience. Also the current Lower Sixth’s GCSE pieces were performed to show the level of talent at Brentwood School, and inspire future dancers as to what can be achieved. Everyone who is part of the dance community views it as being part of a family, enabling a strong bond to be made between the different age groups ranging from students in the First Year to Upper Sixth. This is enhanced by performances like that of the Presentation Evening, where academy classes from the different years are all able to demonstrate their talents to a wide audience. I know I speak for all of the academy students involved in the Dance Presentation when I say that we are all so very grateful for all Ms Herterich does for us, as without her this wouldn’t have been possible. Although an incredible amount of hard work is needed to produce an evening like this, it is completely outweighed by how much enjoyment each and everyone one of us gains from it, and we cannot wait to see what Ms Herterich has in store for us next year. By Grace Cannell Arabian Nights The senior production of Arabian Nights was a very rewarding experience. We were given the opportunity to open the play and set the scene for a night exploring the journeys of various characters learning different lessons from their mistakes. There is no specific, set music for this play, therefore we decided to use an instrumental version of a song from Aladdin . With Miss Choate directing us, we managed to explore this new style of dance together and created a stunning Kathak- inspired dance. The enchanting piece was also performed in the showcase evening, alongside the Third Year dancers. We really enjoyed this experience and found this new style of dance very interesting to explore. By Amiee Mayhew