Lipstick was applied, choreography was refined and high kicks graced the stage for the final time of the 2020 school year. Although school is out for most students, one team sacrificed a portion of their summer for one more moment in the spotlight.

The Highsteppers’ Spring Show was held at the Sullivan Performing Arts Center on June 27 at 4 p.m. The event is usually before summer, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We [had] been talking about still trying to have [a show], but I was surprised that [we were allowed to] have an audience,” freshman Lydia Horton said. “We were worried we would have to record it on stage and not let anybody in.”

Due to the school closure, the team learned some dances through videos as opposed to in person. This posed challenges when it came to memorizing choreography.    

“Learning the dance, we didn’t know our formations yet, because we didn’t know who all was gonna be in the dance,” sophomore Helen Clark Hays said. “We had to learn every single part and be ready to perform it wherever we got placed the day of practice. We couldn’t ask questions if we didn’t understand what a move was.”

When the team eventually gathered in the PAC for rehearsals, they followed sanitation rules to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

“Every time we had a water break, we had to use hand sanitizer or wash our hands,” Horton said. “If we weren’t on stage running a dance, then we had to stay as spread out as we could. We felt safe doing that, because the last thing we want is anyone to get sick.”

Concerns over the pandemic cancelled the Highsteppers’ trip to Disneyland. Spring Show’s theme was Disney, with dancers rocking along to songs including “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” and “Zero to Hero” from “Hercules.” 

“Everybody’s always wanted to do Disney, but Mrs. Reynolds told us that when we went to [Disneyland], we’d get to do Disney as our theme,” Hays said. “This Spring Break, we were supposed to go to Disneyland. [The trip] got cancelled, but [we] still [had] Spring Show Disney [themed].” 

Despite unfortunate events, the Highsteppers were grateful to end the year with intricate dances and overwhelming applause.  

“It’s good to have closure for the school year,” Horton said. “We’re used to seeing each other every day, and then we went to not seeing each other at all. It was good to have this to come back together and finish off the school year.”