“I need to get this down,” she says to herself.
Dance Board President Abby Lee takes a deep breath and watches her reflection in the mirror, correcting her pirouettes. She spent the past hour perfecting her turns for the spring showcase, titled “Kaleidoscope Hearts.”
The team only had sixth period and one day a week after school to hone their technique.
While Lee and the team struggled in navigating their limited rehearsal time, Lee’s excitement and enthusiasm about the dance shined through. She expresses her excitement about the changes in this year’s showcase. One of these changes is the incorporation of various dance styles such as jazz, ballet, lyrical and hip hop.
“Usually, we would show a lot of technique and Ms. Hula wanted pretty ballet dances that showcase our technical side, but this year, we have a lot more fun dances,” Lee said. “Our jazz dance is to a RuPaul song, which we’ve never done before, and I’ve been telling Ms. Hula to do that for years, so I’m really glad we’re doing that.”
With a deliberate focus on introspection, the dance routine curated by dance teacher Ms. Diane Hula takes a deep dive into the seniors’ personal growth and profound experiences in the realm of dance.
“Ms. Hula had been focusing on a reflective, very hype dance, especially on the seniors’ journey through dance,” Lee said. “It’s a mix of ‘look how far we’ve come,’ but also ‘we’re here to have fun.’”
She highlights a notable shift in the choreography, emphasizing the reduced emphasis on technicality.
“Our hip-hop dance was really fun and our ballet dance was in a contemporary lyrical style,” Lee said. “I feel like Ms. Hula shied away from being super technical and instead had more storytelling and opportunities for us to enjoy ourselves.”
According to Lee, there was a deeply emotional nature within the dances that were performed.
“The song ‘Vienna’ by Billy Joel had a really emotional choreography, and when I was planning and choreographing it, it just made me want to cry,” Lee said. “I feel like it’s marking the end of our few-year journey. It’s a tradition, something to look forward to.”
Lee has been dancing since she was seven, and always knew she wanted to dance in high school, so when she saw a booth for Dance Company at freshman orientation, she was hooked.
“They were really welcoming and just seemed like a really fun family,” Lee said.
Although Dance Company never had a team captain, Lee typically takes on the responsibility of a leader in Dance Company since she is President of the Dance Board. Her position as the unofficial captain entails ensuring that everyone is on task by leading dance practice and organizing choreography.
“If Ms. Hula has something that she needs to tell everyone else, she’ll text me and then I’ll tell everyone else what we’re doing,” Lee said.
Other Dance Company members like freshman Summer Chu first heard about Dance Company through her parents, who discovered the program while doing research on Van Nuys High School. When she met the senior members at her freshman orientation, she immediately wanted to be a part of it.
“I wanted to join because I’ve always wanted to incorporate dance into a school day, and I thought it would be a good idea,” Chu said.
Although the team is primarily made up of juniors and seniors, that doesn’t stop Chu from making friends and benefiting from the learning experience.
“I thought they might look down on me because I’m the youngest there, but everyone was super friendly,” Chu said. “I was intimidated at first, but one person, Nadia Gruhlke, who goes to the same ballet studio as me, was one person that I knew in Dance Company. It didn’t take that long to make friends and fit in.”
With a dance background spanning 14 years and seven years of pointe experience, junior Nadia Gruhlke brings a wealth of expertise to the team. Motivated by the desire to immerse herself in the complete dance experience, she enthusiastically embraces everything from the team’s productions to the extensive rehearsals, fostering a strong sense of camaraderie and family along the way.
“This is the highest level of dance at the school and having outside experience in dance, I wanted to present the best caliber for the school,” Gruhlke said.
The dancers have such a close relationship with each other that their performances benefit immensely from the community they’ve created.
“You’ll accumulate a lot of experiences that you’ll never forget,” Gruhlke said. “I’m so close to my Dance Company family. We’re an amazing group and I just love them.”
Lee has committed to Stanford for Human Biology, and plans to continue dancing with a dance team in the future.
Likewise, Gruhlke is looking forward to dancing in college. She idolizes the University of Minnesota Dance team, but she still has another year to weigh her options.
Chu offers some advice for curious dancers who might be willing to join the team next school year.
“Don’t be intimidated, everyone is super friendly and nice,” she said. “We’re just here to dance, share movement and express ourselves in a way that is different and unique to all of us.”
