Ms. Warfel Sandler, Director of Dance at County Prep, presented three pieces of choreography for adjudication. With this year’s inception of the 407 Moves Dance Company offered an opportunity to send 7 of the most advanced dancers as a group to perform Looking On, choreographed by Guest Artist and teacher Meagan Woods. Dancers Gianna Diaz, Brendaliz Torres, Emmy Sepa, Malichi Morris, Alyssa Acciavatti, Tamir Rios, and Diana Uribe earned the highest award of Top Honors in the Dance Large Group Category. The 6 male dancers of the program: Devin Rodriguez, Dino Principe, Joshua Cordova, Malichi Morris, Tamir Rios, and Michael Romero, also won Top Honors in the Dance Small Group category for a piece they choreographed in collaboration with professional dancer Alex Biegelson. “We are thrilled and grateful for the recognition, and also appreciate the opportunity to share what we do with the community at large,” says Ms.Warfel Sandler.This year’s production of In The Heights, directed by theater instructor Ms. Shields along with Ms.Warfel Sandler & Mr.Contreras, brought an excerpt from the show for the Large Group Musical Theater category. Devin Rodriguez, Alexia Velazquez , Martha Wachulec, Juan Ferreira , Ryan Wares, Scarlett Melendez, Valerie O’Higgins, and Juarez Henriquez earned the Judges Award from theater professionals Marc Dalio and Adria Firestone. The performance was specifically commended for its strong, full vocals, diction, and choreography.
Additionally, Ms.Shields also presented two humorous physical comedy scenes in the Small Group Drama category. Wally Villanueva & Chris Gawron performed Laughter on 23rd Floor by Neil Simon, and Joshua Dunn & Christine Bacuyag performed from Anniversary by Conrad Bishop. Also in the Solo Dance category, senior Stephanie Ramos performed Untold Emotion, choreographed for her by fellow senior Destiny Hernandez. The piece included a video background, also devised and edited by the students.
Principal Barbara Mendolla along with Ms. Shields and Ms. Warfel are very proud of all of the young performing artists and look forward to the continued growth of the Theater and Dance programs at County Prep.
