The lights go on, brightening up the stage, welcoming a familiar show once again. But it’s not the same. It’s a new stage, a new school, a new era. And the show persists.
Dance Theatre is back once more!
Dance Theatre (DT) has become a staple at Waltham High School. The program was started in 1985 by former WHS educator, Deb Finnell, this being the 40th anniversary. Finnell retired last year, and the program was taken over by WHS teacher Jesse Bastarche who also directs the school musicals. Not only did DT have a new director, but it also took place in a new building, our new school at 554 Lexington street. The inaugural DT performance at this new building.
So what is DT?
The show consists of dance numbers performed by amazing students from WHS across grades 9-12. This year’s show consisted of 90 students and 19 songs, some being mashups and mixes, along with a video package played during the show with pictures from rehearsals and a special message to all who came and were involved.
“It’s very different from a dance recital where you have been working the whole year. This is a more quick kind of style of concert as opposed to a recital. Even as opposed to like a musical or even like a revue, which has a throughline to it and a theme, this one didn’t have so much of a theme,” says Bastarache. “Every piece is a little bit different. With the style, with the music, and trying to have something from different genres, trying to have different decades of music so that everything’s not just a brand new hot piece. I guess I would describe it as a dance concert.”
“DT is the high school’s biggest production, of which many dance talents are shown, and all forms of dance,” said one of this year’s dance captains, Renee Cormier. “It’s a time where individuals who share the same love for dance, come together, and take the choreography given to them by incredible choreographers, and share it with the Waltham community.”
The new space proved a bit of a challenge for DT. The new building is a marvel, a huge auditorium with a lot of headspace onstage making the stage appear bigger.
However, appearances can be deceiving. There is not as much backstage space in this new building as at the old high school, and while the stage is wider, it has less depth than the old stage. For DT a stage extender was put on in front of the stage. This stage extender was essentially a large platform that expanded the stage forward. This allowed for more room on stage and made the show easier to do.
“I’m actually starting to really like the space,” said Bastarache, “It’s got its issues. But I’m starting to really like it.” Cormier agrees that she is starting to enjoy the space too, “Knowing that we were the first production on the stage makes it even more memorable.” Shows going forward at the new school will find ways to use this amazing, if not a bit challenging, space.
The location was not the only thing that changed this year. Jesse Bastarache came into the show with two goals. “I wanted to make sure everybody has the opportunity and also is having fun and can be doing something that they are proud of,” said Bastarache. “I also wanted to make sure it all happened in a way that was holding on to tradition while making it new and special and different, without completely turning it on its head.”
In addition to learning the new space, and a new director getting the hang of things, the show took a lot of hard work to get up and running in a short amount of time. Before auditions, Bastarache and the choreographers had to figure out a lot of logistics, thinking through which choreographers were going to do what style of piece, trying to find a variety of music, and trying to have that all laid out before auditions even happened so that they knew what they were looking for.
Auditions took place in December where Bastarache, with the assistance of the choreographers, examined each student. The audition process was more like a true dance call this year where people got numbers and the choreographers and Bastarache had scoring sheets to make it really fair and to ensure that they were truly looking at everybody.
Then, once they made cuts, the choreographers figured out who was going to be in what pieces. This required a lot of critical thinking and hard decisions to make sure, again, that it was fair, and making sure that nobody is in too many dance numbers that it’s going to be back to back to back and then there’s going to be a lot of time in between because people have to change.
After auditions rehearsals started, and each student learned the dances they were a part of. These rehearsals sometimes focused on specific dances, while other times went through a couple dances during a rehearsal, eventually putting all the dances together. These rehearsals prepared the students for a great show. Bastarache and the choreographers were impressed with the students work ethic and their willingness to work with the sometimes grueling rehearsals.
“I enjoyed watching the students really step up and take on the challenge. Honestly there were so few complaints about timing, and how much time we were spending, and how many rehearsals we were doing,” Bastarche said. “Everybody was just so ready to work and ready to be here and really because they were having so much fun I think that really elevated their performance so much.”
After rehearsing for five weeks, tech week began. Tech week is when all the technical aspects of a show come in, in this case primarily the lighting and sound. This is when the show got spruced up and made audience ready. After teching the group had dress rehearsals, which was one of Cormier’s favorite parts of the show.
“My favorite part of DT overall, is not only the performances, because we get to show everyone all of our hard work but also what the cast knows as ‘run throughs’,” said Cormier. “This is a time of which for two days we run all the numbers in DT for each other. This is very important because it brings the cast together, and allows us to cheer one another on, before we perform these dances.”
After run throughs it was then time for the shows, which took place on January 29, 30, and 31st. The shows were amazing with so many people from the Waltham community coming to see family, friends, and classmates. To support their school, and to support their community, and some even just coming to see a wonderful show. An estimated 2,500 tickets were sold between the three nights.
There are so many things to love about Dance Theatre. And so many people have their favorite parts about the experience.
“I love seeing so many different people come together that might not perform together in general. Someone who maybe is a classically trained dancer is dancing beside someone who’s never taken a dance class in their life, but just has the natural talent and kind of raw ability for dancing,” said Bastarache, “And then next to those kids are kids that are musical theatre kids, and next to them is someone who is maybe in technical crew, people that are backstage. And watching that all come together to form one cohesive beautiful piece of theatre I think is my favorite part overall.”
In a form conducted about DT, students expressed their love for the show and what the show really means to them. One student said that: “DT is a wonderful expression of so many different types of art and culture” and “a chance for Waltham students to come together as a community.” Another said: “It is a space to do what you love and show your passion for dance.”
For me, Dance Theatre ’25 was an amazing learning experience. As stage manager for the show I learned how to call a show with more lighting cues compared to this year’s musical, Mamma Mia, which I also called.
Calling a show is an important job as the stage manager controls all the lighting and sound cues for the show. This means that I had to control the light and sound to match up with the dances and keep the show running. I called the cues telling the tech director what cue to be on and when to go.
This meant I got to work with the amazing Lori Baruch, who designed the lighting for DT and is the tech director for productions at WHS. I also got to see a different side of technical theatre through doing a dance show compared to a musical or play.
On the last night I called my last cue for the show and directed my eyes to the stage. As we all watched the dancers cheering their way out of the show, yelling “Ahh DT!”, we felt a sense of accomplishment and relief. Another great show complete, a job well done.
“That was just kinda my favorite part, watching it come together at the end and seeing the complete and total joy onstage and backstage,” said Bastarache, “Just feeling that in the room, it made it really special,”
Students are already excited for next year’s show. However, a bit of a melancholy feeling settled in for the seniors. Their final Dance Theatre show at WHS, for many the realization that their time at WHS is almost up settling in.
“DT holds a very special place in my heart because I have met so many amazing people and got to experience learning from incredible choreographers that we have so close by in the Waltham Community. It’s sad knowing that this was my last year as a part of DT, but I will cherish the memories that it has brought me,” said Cormier, “My favorite part of this year’s show was finding every moment special. As sad as it was, I was able to cherish every moment, whether this be at rehearsal, or run throughs, or even at auditions. This production has allowed me to share with the community what I love to do, and be alongside some of my best friends, which wouldn’t have been possible without DT.”
The show will stay not only in Comier’s heart and memories but in the hearts and minds of all of the seniors. The show was an experience that they will never forget, and will always be able to cherish.
And as the lights go out on this year’s Dance Theatre, we are excited for the 41st show and seeing the show continue through the years. Until next year: Ahh DT!!
