The Kristie Wright School of Dance brings classes to McHale for an annual end of the school year recital. This year is no exception as classes push themselves to finish dances in time for their performances on the last weekend of May.
The beginning of the dance season usually starts the week that school begins in August and lasts the entire school year. For the first couple of months in class, dancers simply refresh their minds and bodies with past moves and try new things to improve their skills. Then, come late fall, teachers begin their dances for the recital.
“Usually, I start thinking about recital stuff in October,” dance teacher Amii McCord said. “And then I get going things with the dances and all that in November. By the time we get back from Christmas break, we have to speed it up. I call it, like, a train that goes faster and faster and faster. Come January, we need to really push it to get things done in time.”
McCord has been a dance teacher for a very long time, as well as the other teachers at Kristie Wright. However, they have a new, younger addition as well as being late in the year, freshman Molly Hunnicutt. Hunnicutt decided to step in for a teacher who was unfortunately not able to continue teaching through the end of the year.
“I decided to become a dance teacher because I feel like dance is my passion,” Hunnicutt said. “I’ve always wanted to be an elementary school teacher after I graduate high school and stuff, so I decided that this would be a good step towards doing that.”
Hunnicutt finds she loves being a teacher because she gets to be a great part in helping her kids grow as people.
“Even if it’s not in their dance,” Hunnicutt said. “They grow in, like, how shy they are, their personality and how close they get to their friends.”
She also shares her perspective as a dancer at the studio rather than just as a teacher, expressing her gratitude for her fellow students.
“My favorite part of dancing is really the friends and the experiences I’ve had,” Hunnicutt said. “I started dancing when I was three, so I don’t remember why I started, but I continue to do it because I feel like I’ve made so many close friends and it feels like just a big family and I don’t want to leave that family yet.”
However, Hunnicutt isn’t the only one who loves dancing at the studio because of all the people around her.
“My favorite part of recital is just being with my friends and performing on stage, everyone looks so pretty,” Pioneer senior Alaina Sanchez said. “I don’t really remember why I started doing it, but I know I wanted to keep coming back because it was fun.”
The studio’s recital is a week-long experience with two rehearsal nights and two nights performing for the public. The first night, students wear their normal class clothes and practice on the McHale stage, and on the second night they practice in their costumes. Then, they run the whole thing in costume for three shows.
“I enjoy the rush of the actual recital,” Hunnicutt said. “I feel like just going through all the dances is really fun, just feeling like you’re alive.”
