On February 24th, the Edison High School Dance program put on a showcase to highlight the stories of their students. Eight dancers from Dance 3 and Dance 4 choreographed pieces that narrated the tales of their lives about their life. Each dancer shared their story through beautiful displays of movement, specifically from Dance 3 Honors, Jhoselyn Varon ‘23, Janaa Smallwood ‘23, Chey Wimberley ‘23, and from Dance 4 Honors, Emily Rodriguez ‘23.

The show features a Latin American inspired dance by Varon. The group dance was a captivating way to open up the show. Extremely inspirational, the second dance by Smallwood put the audience in her shoes, expressing her pain in an intimate manner. Her creative display of emotion allowed me to connect with her on a deeper level.
“I love seeing other people’s dances and performances,” said Smallwood when asked what her favorite part about the showcase was.
As the night continued and the dancers continued to share pieces of their lives through dance, the audience was continuously introduced to the creativity of these students. Another beautiful display of such creative expressions was the tribute of Charriez to her grandmother. With a visual slideshow of pictures of her grandmother displayed alongside her dance, she paid homage to her grandmother in a moving way.
“My dance was about my grandmother. I lost her to cancer and the concept of the show is to tell my story. She made me who I am today and she can’t be here to see me perform so I am doing everything for her,” said Charriez
Another piece performed by Rodriguez to a popular song by Lucky Daye was a mix of contemporary and modern. This particular style is called the Laban movement. “I love spending as much time as possible in a studio. The vibes, the people. Doing it at home and having everything created at home and then bringing it to the studio,” said Emily.

My favorite dance of the night was choreographed and performed by Wimberley. A dance about the loneliness she felt with her mother’s passing, her performance was a beautiful display of grief.
“It was me starting off in a bad place trying to come out of it, which I eventually did, but towards the end, that ‘place’ comes back and I chose to not start over again. It was me not being completely over it but it was me wanting to never go back to how bad it was in the beginning,” said Wimberly. Not only could you hear the pain in the song choice, but you could also see it in the way she performed the dance. The audience could connect through her facial expressions and feel exactly what she was trying to convey.
The final number, a Latin jazz dance, was a group performance choreographed by Charriez that closed the show with excitement and enthusiasm.
Overall, the showcase was beautifully performed and was a great way for each dancer to share a piece of themselves with the audience. I personally cannot wait to see what they put on next.