SDA Update: Is It Happening?

Student Dance Association (SDA) is a big deal at Wayne Valley High School, as a tradition passed on for 69 years. During the three-day event of SDA, two teams, the blue team and the white team, create four dances each and perform them in front of an audience of peers, family, friends, and dance judges. This year, after having last year’s performance was cancelled due to COVID-19, the question currently on everyone’s minds is, “Is SDA happening?” The answer to this is YES! The captains and themes for each dance were chosen for the year, and practices began recently. The overall theme of 2021’s SDA performance is “Road Trip USA”!

 

This year’s white overall is Emily Krassowski. The white team’s themes and captains are as follows: 

  • Jazz: Salem, Massachusetts, with captains Ariana Gencarelli and Chloe Menzel
  • Pom: Hollywood, California, with captains Jessica Fedo and Darla Zisa
  • Tap: New York City, New York, with captains Aparna Jayanth and Natalie Ritacco 
  • Aerobics: San Diego, California (San Diego Zoo), with captains Claudia Greczek and Haley MacMullen

 

This year’s blue overall is Chloe Ray. The blue team’s themes and captains are as follows: 

  • Jazz: New Orleans, Louisiana (Mardi Gras), with captains Delila Aktan and Victoria Paylo
  • Pom: Cleveland, Ohio (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), with captains Liyana Munoz and Alexa Maher
  • Tap: Orlando, Florida (Disney), with captains Julia LaSala and Olivia Westervelt
  • Aerobics: Washington, D.C., with captains Brooke Engler and Maya Gallo

Due to the pandemic, many changes will be made to this year’s season. For instance, girls can only join one dance, whereas in prior years, they could join only one, all four, or anything in between. Additionally, a full dance will have twenty-five members as opposed to the normal maximum of fifty. Clearly, this is a significant difference. So what will practices look like?  

Practices began on March 1st, and the first week of practices were virtual. This is very different from the usual start, which is typically during the beginning of February, with all in-person practices. Another change to this season will be the length of each dance; while they are usually six to six and a half minutes long, this year they will only be about four minutes each.

In 2020, the girls had worked hard in practices; they were in-person from February to mid-March, and sent daily practice videos to their captains from the end of March through May. Both teams were devastated when the season was abruptly cancelled, and they had no opportunity to perform their dances and show off all of their hard work. After this heartbreaking cancellation of the 2020 SDA performances, the students are more than ready to get back to their dances and their teams. This year is a new chance to showcase the program that they adore. While the show might be very different this year than the past, we can expect both sides to have more team spirit than ever before.