Dance is one of the most skillful and time consuming sports, that also requires space in order to successfully learn or teach routines. This is a major advanced dance class (Dub. C) has recently been facing. With 20 new members, there are a total of 50 dancers in Dub. C which is exactly at capacity.
Dance department director Andrea Williams has seen some of the major obstacles her students faced this year. Not only is accidentally bumping into one another one of the most frequent inconveniences to the dancers, but other issues such as rug burns and not being able to properly learn choreographies together as a group.
“I need mirrors on the walls, and I need AC that is constantly on and running, and you know the carpet. It’s not a place to dance on, you know, like there’s a lot of rug burns and it’s very slippery,” Williams said.
Observing how challenging the circumstances are, Williams tries her best to accommodate the dancers to the best of her ability. Whenever Dub C. has the opportunity, they practice in the gym for an adequate dance environment. This, however, does not happen often, as the physical education (P.E.) classes utilize the gym often due to unstable weather conditions or testing sessions held at the gym, which then interferes with Dub C.’s opportunity to practice in a better area.
“I find if we’re able to move to another building in order for us to have more space, I do that if I know that the gym isn’t being occupied on a certain day or in a certain period, like ‘Hey guys, let’s go and have second period over at the gym’ you know, I try to give them and find the space that they need,” said Williams.
President of Dub. C. Jessie Guerrero has faced challenges choreographing and helping other dancers in such a small space. It is hard for her to keep track of everyone’s progress while all trying to dance together at the same time. Keeping all their stuff on the floor due to them not having lockers or a place to put their belongings makes the space even smaller.
“It is really difficult to use our creative minds and put it to our bodies and use space all around the room when the space is limited,” said Guerrero.
Although the amount of dancers in a small room is an issue, there have also been some benefits that have been brought from having a large dance class. Sophomore Isabella Lara, recently joined the class after being in dance 1 with Mrs. Williams last year and has been enjoying the overall experience of Dub C.
“The positive environment, like it’s very uplifting and the energy in there. It’s good that we have a lot of kids, to promote the dance department,” Lara said.
The main cause to the space issue Dub C. is dealing with is partially because of the constant postponing of the Performing Arts building. The first time the Performing Arts building was supposed to be complete was back in 2021. Fall is coming around and construction has been continuously delayed.
“I feel like it’s there and you know, it’s just a waiting game. My classes are growing and like I only have enough space and then the portables, it’s not a dance room,” said Williams.
