With the new school year, there have been countless changes made to clubs at Middle College High School (MCHS). The dance team has experienced this firsthand as they switch advisors and are introduced to numerous concepts. The new co-advisors are Chyna Tran, an English and yearbook teacher, and Vanessa Villalpando, an AVID 9 teacher; together they work in promoting the team and creating an overall positive and friendly environment.
The dance team performs at every assembly, the football pep rally, and occasionally at festivals. Their current schedule is practicing three days a week after school for one hour. When the week of performance rolls around, their schedule changes to everyday practicing in the morning, during lunch, and after school. It is clear that this club requires a lot of time and commitment as they work tirelessly to ensure they can deliver a high quality and entertaining performance. Tran touches on the topic of commitment and explains her priorities for this school year.
“I am prioritizing more organization [and] ways where we can meet collectively as a group. I know that it’s challenging, especially due to the nature of our school and our students having college courses…That has been very challenging for us, so I’m trying to prioritize ways where we can meet and everybody can make it in one place at one time,” Tran said.
With dual enrollment at MCHS and the high academic standard, many students’ schedules conflict with practice times, making it difficult for the team to perfect the dance with missing members. This has been a struggle for many years and various members have unfortunately been unable to participate in performances due to their schedule. The dance team acknowledges this and prioritizes the members’ academics. They offer online tutorials and make-up practices for those who cannot attend normal practice times.
Some high schools, like Valley High School, have a class dedicated to sports, including dance. Because of this, the dance team has been searching for ways they can do something similar.
Furthermore, the dance team has introduced the new role of treasurer to the cabinet. In all the years the dance club has been active, the idea of fundraising had never been brought up. Tran shares her ideas of this new concept and how the dance team can benefit from it.
“Fundraising so our team can have new swag. We can have more gifts, maybe even banquets and team bonding activities where we can utilize that money [or] dance showcases where we invite other Dance Teams to come and perform with us and then make it a whole fundraiser,” Tran said.
The dance team has jerseys that they wear occasionally during assemblies or to simply show school spirit. However, raising money for them to purchase new clothing items can bring more diverse and fun outfits for performances. Villalpando also expands on the idea of dance showcases that Tran brought up.
“But if we had the money, if we had the funds and we had the opportunity, it would be really great to actually take you guys out there and maybe do some small competitions. It would be awesome,” Villalpando said.
In the past, the MCHS Dance Team had been invited to the Santa Ana Dance Festival. This opportunity is something that the new advisors are looking into so the team can get a chance to participate again. The idea of creating their own dance showcase to fundraise money also seems like a fun and promising event that the team can benefit from.
Overall, the dance team at MCHS has always been a more prominent student-led club. The cabinet runs dance practices and communicates with ASB or outside organizations for performances. With Ms. Tran and Ms. Villalpando, the future of the Dance Team has shifted as they expressed their commitment and dedication to support the Dance Team.
“I’m here to provide guidance, but they are amazing as they are already,” Tran said.
