SDA 2024 was a show to remember.
This year’s theme was a Night at the Museum. Each dance represented a different exhibit at a museum including, Baseball Hall of Fame, Aviator Pilots, Shipwreck at Sea, Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, Mad Scientists, Crown Jewels, Ancient Egypt, and Outerspace. The show was one to remember, with some people even saying it was one of the best ones they’ve seen at Wayne Hills. We had the opportunity to talk to some of the leaders of this year’s production.
Sydney Helzter, the White Overall, explained what her favorite dances were and what it was like to win. She said, “My favorite dance was White Aero and Maroon Tap. The energy in each dance was unmatched and both were amazing to watch. Winning was great, I loved being able to share it with my best friends and truly feeling like we deserved it.” Sydney has been a captain of White Jazz since her sophomore year and is familiar with what it takes to pull off a win.
Chelsey Fernicola, one of the Maroon Aero captains, stated that one of her favorite dances was White Aero and explained her experience with placing first. “It was so good and so fun to watch! It made me want to get up and dance. Winning first place felt amazing, all the dances were really good this year and I know everything was really close but I was so proud of all the girls. Sophia Kalendowicz, my co-captain, and I worked our butts off and it paid off!”
Bella Mongillo, a first year captain of White Aero, placed second with her dance of Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. We asked her what one of her favorite dances was, she said, “My favorite dance was Maroon Aero. It was such an entertaining dance and there were so many powerful moves in it. I loved watching it.” Bella also said how she felt to place considering she is a first year captain, “It felt great knowing me and my co-captain Ava’s hard work paid off in the end and it was so amazing seeing the dance come together in the end and watching the girls work so hard”
An unexpected twist arose during awards while announcing the third place winners, a tie. White Jazz and White Pom both placed, leaving everyone in shock. When asked about how first year captains Kayla Marnick and Stella Vasolopoulous felt about it, they said “We were so shocked there was a tie, especially for third place, it was very unexpected. We didn’t know what to expect because all of the dances were so good, but we are so happy with the results.” We also asked Second year captain Bella Catania how she felt after she tied with her fellow White team member, “I was so shocked when they announced a tie of third place, but I was so happy, especially to be sharing it with Kayla and Stella”
The 2024 president, Ava Rewick, was able to enjoy both sides during the season from January to March. As an officer, she goot to sit and watch both sides of Maroon and White during practices. “Being able to sit on both teams’ practices from the very beginning and seeing it all come to life at the end was amazing. I really got to see the behind the scenes and how tirelessly the captains and overalls worked. Even the dancers too.” Rewick stated. The officers are the pink team and work extremely hard to make sure the show runs smoothly.
The White and Maroon team truly left the crowd in awe with their performances. It is incredible to see how these dances are able to come to life at night on the dance floor.
