Pin Oak Middle School’s annual Winter Dance Showcase brought its energy to a new stage this year, relocating to Bellaire High School due to gym floor renovations. For months, dancers, cheerleaders, hip-hop performers, and crew members had been rehearsing to showcase their dances on stage.

Bellaire High wasn’t available to hold the dance for two nights, so what is typically a two-night event was condensed into one night on Dec. 10. Alena Chaudhuri was a hip-hop dancer that performed in the showcase. She wants everyone that attended the showcase to recognize what goes into performing.

“What I want the audience to take away from the showcase, even with the venue change, is that it takes a lot of hard work to practice our dances,” Chaudhuri said. “Also, even though we couldn’t do it in the gym at Pin Oak, we still found a way to make it happen.”

Chaudhuri and many others were grateful for the opportunity to perform, even if it was just for one night. 

“If we didn’t get to perform at Bellaire, it would bring all the students down because we’ve worked so hard to showcase our dances and skills,” Chaudhuri said.

Ms. Cordero, who teaches both dance and cheerleading, faced a variety of strategic planning challenges throughout the process.

“The change of location impacted planning quite a bit due to logistical reasons like change of space, holding areas, dressing areas for kids in multiple routines, parent/student communication, and ensuring my classes were spaced according to Bellaire HS,” Cordero said. “This was an unprecedented challenge that we had to overcome, and we did all we could here at POMS to ensure it wouldn’t impact the show drastically.”

Preparing for an event poses many different complications, particularly with limited time for set-up. 

“The biggest obstacle was time for set-up. We typically set-up here at POMS days before the show. Since we are holding practices in the gym two days prior to the show,  I am setting up simultaneously,” Cordero said.

The Dance Winter Showcase was successfully executed, highlighting the hard work and commitment of both students and teachers involved in the event.

“Even though the showcase is happening at Bellaire, I believe we are still showcasing our pride for our school and our dancers,” Chaudhuri said.