Bravo Dancer Feature

In just a little more than a month Eastview High School will once again be putting on the school’s most anticipated performance, Bravo! The theme for the show this year is ”As Time Goes By,” and will feature music through the decades including Jazz, Rock, Hip Hop, Country, Blues, and more.
The show is comprised of students from the school’s choir, band, and dance department who all unite each spring to put on a performance that draws attention from all over the metro area. On stage the cast is a vision of perfection and dedication traced with passion for what they do. But is this all just part of the performance? For the dancers in the show, it is obvious to anyone willing to listen that their happiness on stage is genuine.
Eastview junior Renee Dahlberg’s eyes lit up when she was offered the chance to sit down and discuss her upcoming part in the show as a dancer. “Can I write you a novel?” she offered immediately displaying her enthusiasm for the show in the huge smile that spread across her face. She began by opening up and telling me the names of the six dances she will be participating in, "I am in Thriller, The Way You Make Me Feel, BAD, Come Together, Fame, and Bad Romance. Bad is definitely my favorite because it is hard core and fun to perform,” she gushed.
The enthusiasm exhibited by her is not unique, but reciprocated by it seems all the other dancers in the cast. Senior Erica Tramonte has been heard over the entire year broadcasting her anticipation for the show, beginning in September when she could be heard polling her studyhall table on “Who’s excited for Bravo?” which of course, they all were. Throughout the fall and winter, while participating on the school’s competition dance team she was constantly looking to simply make it through the season, and viewing Bravo as a reward at its end.
When February rolled around the team suffered a devastating set back in the state competition, but remained bright eyed the following week of school simply because the auditions had begun. During this period those were auditioning for the first time were constantly seeking advice on how to appeal to the directors, and the veteran dancers were encouraging them to sell themselves to the judges.
“The audition process is relaxed when we learn the dance and then we split up into groups and go into the studio one group at a time to try out. It is difficult because some of the judges have never seen you dance before so you really have to sell your dancing and personality. The judges look for performing when you dance and having a lot of energy,” Tramonte explained, then proceeding to show me exactly what they were looking for. “This,” she said smiling nicely with a warm expression on her face, “Is how you look for LDT.” Clearing the expression from her face she transformed it into an ecstatic smile and her eyes lighting up, “This is how you have to look for Bravo. You sell yourself, or you don’t get in.” This proved to be true as several varsity dancers from the past season were regrettably cut, “They didn’t realize how critical the judges can be.”
Those who did make it were soon talking about practices and which dancer was in what dance turned into the new gossip infiltrating Eastview’s hallways. Senior and Lightning Dance Team Captain Katie Scheidler announced proudly that she was “In the lyrical ‘Imagine,’ contemporary ‘Bad Romance,’ the kick, ‘One’ a jazz, ‘Flash Dance’ and Michael Jackson’s, ‘Thriller.’” Katie continued on to say that the dance she was most excited to be performing on stage is ”Bad Romance, because it is filled with a ton of choreography and its just a few dancers along with a violin player, who is amazing. It’s fun to just dance and just have fun with it.”
This attitude is exactly what characterizes the dancers who choose to perform in Bravo, which include several boys. Even these students anticipate their performances all year, such as Zach Johnson who when asked last summer if he’d be participating in any sports laughed for a moment before saying, “No, I’m strictly Bravo.” According to Katie the boys are a key part of the show as they bring diversity and interest to the stage within the dances, “There are about ten boy dancers in Bravo,” she began, “They are in many of the numbers because since there aren’t many of them they need to put them in many and really utilize their abilities. They don’t have the technical abilities that the girl dancers have, since they haven’t had the same training but they are good at hip hop and some other styles. Dancers that really stick out are Zach Johnson, Joe Peterson, and Deandre.”
The rehearsals for each dance are unlike anything the girls encounter during their competition season, Katie explained that “Bravo practices are very different than LDT for the time and energy. LDT is everyday for a couple hours and just full of sweat and working really hard. Bravo is a lot more relaxed and is not as often until the end when we start doing shows and everything else. It’s a lot less strenuous and more on the fun side.” Renee continued that the process of preparing for performances differs again from her competition season with that “We only practice each dance two times and then we don’t meet again for about a month or so. You are responsible to remember choreography given to you.” It is clear that with the time between practices the dancers all take the performances with a high regard of responsibility and dedication. In addition to that is shows just how high their skill level is and their immense ability to pull everything together and perform a tremendous show.
With all the time and stress generated by the show with its large workload one may wonder why the girls do it, but they all have their reasons. For Renee “I am always motivated to come to practice because everyone gets along so well, we move at a fast pace, there is never a dull moment! If they give the cast a time to be there before rehearsal or a show… we’ll show up three hours before call to hang out.” Erica confided that “I am motivated to take on the challenge of Bravo because it is such a fun time being with all my friends and doing something that I love.” She continued that for her, “The reward is memories that I will never have anywhere else.” Lastly, Katie excitedly explained “What motivates me to perform is the enjoyment I get out of it. It is very fun to go out there and just do something that I love and to see how the audience reacts to different dances and performances, it’s a great feeling. The rewards are just the feeling and the fun that comes with it. Bravo is my favorite part of the year!”