Faculty, family, and students gathered on May 4 at the Downey Civic Theater for the annual Dance Review.  The event, planned by Mrs. Patterson, Mrs. Foley and alumni, featured the dancing talents from Downey.

Since 2003, Mrs. Patterson and willing aids have been hosting the fabrication with full effect. Every year the plans begin since before the start of school. Over the summer, alumni and Patterson worked together to decide on the type of genres and choreographies that would be showcased.

“In the early months we map out the show and figure out what types of dance genres we are going to include and what groups are going to perform what,” Patterson said.

Facilitating the process, alumni coaches Traci Bunn and Ashley Williams have impacted the development as well.

The hard work began the day before, as the talent practiced for eight hours at the Downey Civic Theater, perfecting every detail of the day. The entire cast worked with the stage crew and familiarized themselves with the environment.

On the day of the show, audience members walked through the entrance of the theater to a display of dance team photographs taken by the Advanced Photography class. Future Teachers of America also helped in the day’s schedule by selling refreshments and programs.

Throughout the first showing, ROP Dance 1& 2 and the dance team displayed a variety of choreographies of numerous genres. These included, samba, Latin, contemporary, tap, jazz, and hip-hop.

“It felt really good to perform. It wasn’t like being at a competition where you feel stressed,” Ackerman said, “It was fun. “

Solo performances by the seniors of the dance team attracted more attention from the audience. They encouraged dancers to exhibit genre they are most comfortable with. Mrs. Patterson wanted them to have the opportunity to shine on their own.

“Both the dance team and ROP dance were beautiful. The solos had me all teary eyed,” senior Jackie Flot said, “Hands down to all of the dancers.”

Both showings received great reviews from attendees. From solo performances to an estimating thirty group performance, the Dance Review was a captivating success.