On April 24, Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) hosted its annual All-County Dance recital to showcase the county’s best dancers.
Members of the All-County Dance Team gathered at Governor Thomas Johnson High School (GTJHS) to prepare for the concert later in the evening.
Students were selected for this ensemble based on their superior dance technique and execution of challenging choreography. A limited numbers of dancers were chosen from each high school in Frederick County.
Linganore High School (LHS) senior Lily Godette was one of the few selected dancers that had the opportunity to perform with students all over the county. She reported that this experience was very rewarding and informative.
“It was a very fun experience; I got to meet a lot of new people,” said Godette.
Though it was challenging, Godette enjoyed working with well-known choreographers and learning difficult choreography. When she first auditioned, she was not fully aware of what this recital would entail. By the end of the recital, Godette was honored to be included in this opportunity.
Students chosen for this recital rehearsed and learned choreography at GTJHS all day on April 24, prior to the performance.
Besides the students chosen for the All-County performance, dance groups from each high school around the county were asked to showcase what they have been working on in their dance classes. Linganore was able to perform three of their student-choreographed dances.
Linganore sophomore Caleb Conway is a part of the dance concentration at the Academy for the Fine Arts (AFA) at GTJHS. AFA offers students the opportunity to take challenging courses in their focus area and build their expertise while still in high school.
Conway, as well as the other AFA dancers, had been preparing for the performance since October. He felt that everyone tried their best to make the performance as clean as possible.
“It was fun to meet new people and see people from all around the state come together and dance,” said Conway.
Another Linganore representative, senior Vanessa Linton, reported that she enjoyed the encouraging environment that the dancers from other schools provided. She explained that everyone cheered one another on and was overall uplifting to the performers.
“It was super fun, and I met a lot of new people,” Linton said. “It was fun to see everyone and their talent throughout the recital.”
