Students are showing signs of melancholy and itching to being out of school the last week before Thanksgiving break.

Before that last day and the doors open and everyone rushes out, many dance groups have put their blood, sweat, and tears into practice for one big performance.

November 21st is scheduled for the annual Winter Showcase. The community can come after school to witness the result of hours of practice from the Fillies, dance classes, west dance crew, and the K dance group’s performances.

“It is fun but also nerve-racking; some days, it makes you want to have a panic attack,” junior Nikole Smejkal said.

The dance teams strive to deliver a stellar performance that makes the audience and their dance teachers proud. As the showcase slowly creeps up day by day, the stress levels continue to rise. Despite the stress, the dancers find ways to help focus on the mission.

“You just have to stay in the zone and focus on your steps and feel the music.” senior Elizabeth Wiley said.

With the girls’ working on their dances, the guys are practicing just as hard. Even though going onstage and being entirely crazy hype is ideal, they need to do the steps correctly, and focus is more critical, especially for new members, according to dance instructor Samantha Armstrong.

“It’s fascinating and a huge thrill, but you really have to focus on the task and making sure the newbies understand what’s going on.” member of west crew Logan Williams said.

According to Jacob Page, the most challenging part of learning a new dance for the show was memorization.

There are those individuals who put in extra effort behind the scenes, for instance, to program lights and make the sound come out just right. Senior Aidan Holt tasked with this job felt that everything done to the show is an average tech production; the only challenging aspect is programming the lights beforehand.

“As a former Fillie, the showcase was fun and stressful, especially as an officer,” junior Makayla Miller said. “As a group leader, we had to come up with the dance and try to teach other members. But overall it was a great show in the end. So I am excited to see how it goes this year.”

Going on stage can be intimidating when learning a new dance in just a couple of weeks. But behind the curtains is a ritual that proves everyone is a family and that they are in it together.

“Before we go on stage, we all make a pact that if we mess it up it is okay,” junior Kindra Hopkins said. “Then we have a prayer group; it doesn’t matter what religion you have or don’t have because at that moment we are a family and as a family, we pray together,” junior Kindra Hopkins.