<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3VBoTM_0wFG7A1S00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3VBoTM_0wFG7A1S00" width="1200" height="800" ></figure>The sophomores’ lunchtime quad day performance on Oct. 16, centered around the murder mystery board game “Clue,” had more than 40 participants this year, a big increase from the 23 students who performed last year. Their performance consisted of the typically themed skit, with four sets of dances: all-boys, all-girls, K-Pop, and group. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3w74lw_0wFG7A1S00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3w74lw_0wFG7A1S00" width="2001" height="1334" ><figcaption>Photo by Bryan Zhao Benjamin Bolger prepares to dunk a basketball in a hoop, held by sophomore Ian Hu.</figcaption></figure>The skit opened with commotion from the characters when Colonel Mustard — played by sophomore Aradita Singh — spotted Miss Peach — played by sophomore Preksha Jain — lying dead. From there, the actors erupted into humorous arguments trying to catch the culprit of the “crime,” while also pausing to incorporate the dances into their skit.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4Q3sJ5_0wFG7A1S00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4Q3sJ5_0wFG7A1S00" width="2001" height="1334" ><figcaption>Photo by Bryan Zhao Saachi Saraaf, Evangelina Stepanchenko, Arahdita Singh, Norah Heller, and Devika Nair perform the skit.</figcaption></figure>Seven choreographers created portions of each dance, choosing songs like “Crank That” by Soulja Boy and “Ayy Ladies” by Travis Porter. Since many of the choreographers competitively danced outside of school or were part of the school team, they could create dances that took inspiration from previous competitions, making them easy to perform for beginners. Because of this, students felt the performance went relatively well.“I feel like the dunks and the overall steps at the beginning could have gone better and the synchronization was a little bit off as well, but we were still able to put on a pretty good show,” choreographer Arian Lotfizadeh said. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3uHN6N_0wFG7A1S00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3uHN6N_0wFG7A1S00" width="2001" height="1334" ><figcaption>Photo by Bryan Zhao Sophomore Joseph Zhao dances to “How Sweet” by NewJeans during the K-Pop dance.</figcaption></figure>While the final quad-day dance turned out to be a satisfactory performance, the sophomore class suffered numerous issues when it came to scheduling practices. “[Next year, we have to work on] not procrastinating. We promised that we wouldn’t do that this year… but it didn’t end up working out because people didn’t prioritize [practices] til the very end,” choreographer Hannah Hwang said. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=33SMCt_0wFG7A1S00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=33SMCt_0wFG7A1S00" width="2001" height="1334" ><figcaption>Photo by Bryan Zhao Chloe and Lauren Nguyen perform in the all-girls dance.</figcaption></figure>Most members interviewed by The Falcon said that they plan to participate in quad day again next year, describing it as a healthy environment where even struggling dancers can perform well with individualized support from the choreographers. “Now that I’ve performed it, I think it was worth taking the time [during tutorials] to attend rehearsals,” Yassna Rastergar Panah said. “It definitely [helped me make new friends]. I got closer to a lot of people that I didn’t expect to get close to.”</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Sophomore quad day thrives with a boost in participation

The sophomores’ lunchtime quad day performance on Oct. 16, centered around the murder mystery board game “Clue,” had more than 40 participants this year, a big increase from the 23 students who performed last year. Their performance consisted of the typically themed skit, with four sets of...