On Wednesday, November 22, the Spirit Week Dance Competition took place, resulting in a surprising outcome regarding the victory placement. The seniors earned their first-place ranking with their classic Super Mario Brothers theme.  The sophomores followed behind them in second place, resembling Pokemon. In third place, the juniors performed a Donkey-Kong related dance. Finally, the freshmen Space Invaders earned fourth place.

The competition began with the freshman dance. The class dressed accordingly to their theme; wearing green and red, many wearing alien antennas. They included songs illustrating an outer space ambience, such as Extraterrestrial by Katy Perry and Written in the Stars by Tinie Tempah. They utilized special props including inflatable aliens and a smoke machine to enhance the mood.

“The aliens were definitely a huge [contribution] to our dance,” said Dayna Wachman (’15), choreographer of freshman dance.

Shortly after the freshman performance, the sophomore class began its energetic dance, starting with an enthusiastic step routine. The entire class was wearing identical costumes, consisting of black pants and bright yellow Pikachu t-shirts. A major factor in the sophomore victory was the break-dancing involved.

“The whole dance depends on energy,” said Samantha Elkan (’14), sophomore dance choreographer. “The break-dancing and gymnastics definitely pumped the audience up.”

During the sophomore performance, the selected songs were based off of typical missions that could be experience in the videogame. Such songs included Fireman by Lil Wayne and Great Balls of Fire and It’s Raining Men by The Weather Girls (relating to the renown character Squirtle). The combination of the costumes, song choices, organization, and choreographers secured the sophomore’s second placement in the competition.

The juniors scored just below the sophomores, yet incorporated many impressive techniques. Primarily, the juniors entered into their initial stance, carrying inflatable bananas and palm trees. This was extremely similar to the freshmen’s prop incorporation with the inflatable aliens. The juniors were clad in red t-shirts with a brown monkey torso on them. They topped off their ape-look with a red neck-tie. This dance included an interesting storyline, creating a videogame-like mission. The juniors portrayed Donkey-Kong as an obstacle for Mario to overcome. Several students intimidated the Mario character by tripping him and making him stumble, showing their victory triumph over Mario. Many people agreed that this also symbolized the predicted defeat over the seniors. The dance included various stunts and gymnastics.

“I think we [performed well] even though the practices were rushed,” said Emmy Silverman (’13), junior dance choreographer.

The dance competition progressed with the senior performance, depicting a Super Mario Brothers theme. This class dominated the competition with the incorporation of the marching band and an appealing finale. There were several props that were utilized, such as green pits used for transportation in the videogame and a castle. The signs and music explained that the mission demonstrated in the dance was to find the missing Princesses: Princess Peach and Princess Daisy. Contrary to previously performed routines, the seniors portrayed actual tasks incorporated in the Super Mario Brothers videogame. Using the songs Fire Burning by Sean Kingston and Burning up by the Jonas Brothers, the seniors explained that Mario is capable of many challenging tasks including fighting fire. They also demonstrated the Mario swimming challenges and Mario Kart, using car-themed songs. The choreography concluded with a miraculous sight; the lights simultaneously powered off and a small spotlight was the only source of light. In the same moment, each senior held up colorful glow sticks, which also helped illuminate the scene. To top it all of, the dancers stood in a unique placement, forming lines spelling out “2012”.

“It was the prefect ending to our last spirit week,” said Alana Kopelson (’12), senior dance choreographer.

To many students, the dance competition served as the ideal conclusion to spirit week. While the choreography and practices consumed a great amount of time, it is well agreed that all the hard work paid off.