The best live dance, tap, aero, and pom cannot be seen anywhere else but Wayne Hills High School SDA. SDA is a student dance association and one of the biggest events Wayne Hills has. There are two teams, white and maroon, that compete every year in a heated dance competition, but only one team claims the victory after three nights of eight total dances. One of the most competitive and one of the hardest dances is tap. To have an amazing tap dance, you need amazing captions and a great overall. This year’s white and maroon tap had both, and on top of that, the white tap broke a ten-year drought of not placing since 2016.
Maroon has placed tap 4 times in the past ten years, once in 2023, placing third, placing second in 2019 and 2018, and finally placing third in 2016. Maroon Tap, led by Samantha Storzillo, Samantha Carmona, and Julia Basilicato, was a very memorable dance using known Descendants songs to get Disney fans excited and showing a story of a picture captain leading their crew. The music and moves were amazing and definitely memorable. In all of this white has not placed a tap dance since 2016 where they won first place. This all changed this year when Ali De Blieck, Gillian Baccaro, and Audrey Hinchman broke that with Michael Jackson.
People are still talking about both tap dance this SDA season, and that is an accomplishment on both ends. Everyone loved MJ live, and seeing a clean and great dance by tap is amazing. So much hard work goes into making a dance and teaching it to everyone, but things get especially hard when dealing with new tappers, and when someone can not only make a dance but execute it and teach it with perfection, everyone knows it’s a first-place dance. Both white and maroon had captions that held up this idea and deserved every award and every good thing said. On both teams and throughout all eight dances, everyone has something to be proud of, but white tap broke a ten-year record with dedication and hard work, just like maroon has done not only this year but in past years as well, placing tap 4 times.
These girls made this year amazing and also made so many new friends and inspired so many new people to join SDA just by hearing or seeing white tap this year, as well as all the other dances that put in the work and dedication. Now let’s look at what one of the captions, Gillian Baccaro, has to say about her first-place win! ¨ I had the most amazing season being a captain, and it ended on the best note. I am so beyond proud of the girls of white tap for giving this dance their all. Most of them had never tapped before, and they worked so hard, you would never even know it! I truly have never been so proud of anyone as I am of the girls who were a part of the most memorable experience.¨
This shows just how much all the SDA captions care and love the show and their dances. Gillian shows us how much she loved SDA and had a great experience with being a caption. Everyone is so proud of her and Ali for putting this dance together and getting that first-place trophy. All the girls on Maroon and White have something to be proud of this season because of how many people loved the show this year and are still talking about all eight dances. This year was so many things and a season for breaking a losing streak, trying new things, and most importantly, being proud and having fun on the floor!
