Dance instructor Amber Corriston is also the owner of her own dance studio, Corriston Movement and Dance (CMAD). Corriston puts on a yearly CMAD show where all of her studio classes perform in addition to the HHS dance classes. Due to the pandemic, the CMAD show was canceled in 2020 and virtual in 2021. This year was the first year the show was back in front of a live audience. 

The show opened with a piece from Dance Company, the most advanced dance class at HHS. Junior Kate Nichols is a student in this class and performed in ‘Tidal Wave’.

“For this year’s CMAD show, I was really excited to perform our piece titled ‘Tidal Wave’. It is very fast and constantly moving which really pushes me as a dancer. It allows me to play around with faster and slower movements while also connecting with my fellow dancers on the stage with me,” Nichols said.

Nichols also volunteered as a “big kid”, meaning she assisted the younger CMAD dancers backstage and during rehearsals. 

“Making sure [the younger dancers] have the best experience and as much fun as possible is just as important to me as my own performances,” Nichols said.

Sophomore Soraya Kaussler used to dance with CMAD. She also assisted as a “big kid”. 

“[Being around them] made me think back to being in [the] CMAD show only a few years ago. I remember being so scared to dance with all the highschool students because they were so much bigger than me. It was really cool to have switched roles and I really enjoyed getting to interact with them and watch them dance.” Kaussler said.

Eighth grader Annie Snow is also a CMAD student. Snow plans on taking dance classes at the high school next year. 

“Because of the positive environment that CMAD brought me, I will definitely be dancing in high school and I look forward to collaborating and working with all of those really awesome dancers that performed on stage,” Snow said.

Snow’s favorite part of show day is performing the dance itself.

“When there’s an audience out there, you get this completely new energy that you didn’t have before and it gets you really excited to perform on stage,” Snow said.

Freshman Macy Waid is both a student in CMAD and part of the dance program at HHS. Waid has to learn double the choreography, memorization and deal with more pressure. 

“When you only have two classes a week, it can get stressful trying to finish all our dances. I [had] three dances with CMAD and an additional two for school. Five dances in a short show is a ton, but everyone worked hard to pull it together,” Waid said.

Senior Laura Gonzalez Dutor got to perform in one of the pieces after being injured and having to miss dance for a couple months. 

“It’s emotional because I’ve been out of dance for two months. I’m grateful that I got to stand on stage with my friends and watch them in my last year of HHS dance,” Gonzalez Dutor said.