Choreography, competition, and community are three of the most important elements to a successful Theme Nights. In this year’s 2019 performances, each class brought everything they had. 

From September 9th to the 14th, each class united under one common goal: victory. Students came to school dressed as some of their favorite icons from the Emmy, Tony, Oscar, and Grammy awards to earn their class as many points as possible. Everyday, students flooded the check-in table for Student Government representatives and officers to check them in for the dress-up spirit event.

While the students of each class competed for the first crucial points of the competition, class officers and appointed students worked tirelessly to write their class’s script and choreograph their dances for the final performance at the end of the week. As the performance night came closer, each class came together to learn and perfect their acts. Late night dress rehearsals and endless hours of dance practice led up to an incredible Theme Nights performance that Saturday night. 

Shannon Uppal (‘21), VWS all-school vice president, said, “The amount of hard work and effort put into this event by student government was really evident, when looking at what came to be on the night of Theme Nights. It was exciting to see all the class officers really dedicating themselves to their class, determined to beat the class above them… I’m really happy with how theme nights went this year all the way from brainstorming theme ideas to watching the seniors give it their all.”

Every class brought the three “Cs” to their performances, creating some memorable moments throughout the night.

Choreography 

Every class went above and beyond the Theme Nights dance requirements by not only having a unity dance, but also incorporating a small group performance into their skit. One of the highlights of the night was when Ryan Bridges (‘20) dressed up and performed as Thanos with the Infinity Stones as his backup dancers. 

Earlier in the night, a group of WSC juniors performed a Michael Jackson-style dance to the song “Smooth Criminal.” The sophomores stole the show when Joanna Yap (‘22) sang the Grammy winning song, “Shallow” by Lady Gaga as Xander Kong (‘22) played along on the guitar. Lastly, the freshman class recreated different parts of musicals such as the opening Lion King scene and the first dance scene from Beauty and the Beast.

Xander said, “I was kind of nervous to perform, but it was fun working with my class.”

Competition 

The night began with the junior, sophomore, and freshman classes parading up to the gym, cheering and chanting to raise class spirit. They planned rhymes and songs to display their class spirit and fight for their class’s victory. It resulted in a surge of energy that the classes brought into their performances. In their iconic entrance, the seniors flooded the gym with balloons, streamers, and silly string, while London Tyck (‘20) rapped an original song. Music blaring, they ran through the gym chanting “20/20 perfect vision, we’re united no division!” 

Community 

The event of Theme Nights and the practices beforehand brought the classes together, individually and as a school. Students collaborated to write, practice, and learn scripts and performances, so they could compete to the best of their abilities. These practices meant using free time on weekends and after school to prepare. Student government and volunteers worked hard behind the scenes to create the incredible performances that students and faculty were able to wholeheartedly enjoy. 

Jake Sharifi (‘21), WSC all-school vice president, said, “I definitely saw the freshmen class bond and build class spirit. Theme Nights is one of my favorite Student Government events, and I really enjoyed it this year.”

Although the final performances were a great way to unite the school, some classes, particularly the seniors, faced unusual issues. The class of 2020 started the week strong, with high class participation scores pushing them to the first place spot. However, on Wednesday, it was announced that the seniors would be disqualified from Day 1, because they turned their script in late. 

Because their Student Government officers did not make the deadline, the entire class dealt with the consequences. Losing a day’s worth of points is a huge setback, especially because the class was doing very well before the incident. Along with this struggle, many seniors took the ACT the day of Theme Nights. Since they were preparing for the exam, some students could not show up to practices. The seniors went into Theme Nights with 100 less points than they had originally earned, and a significantly lesser amount of practice time, making their goal of victory seem more distant than ever.

The deadline mishap dropped the seniors from first down to second place, moving the juniors to first. Unable to come back throughout the week, the seniors remained in third place until Theme Nights, where their final performance brought them back up to second. 

Although the class dealt with some dissension, they were able to come together for their last Theme Nights performance. They overcame the obstacles, and put out the best work they could under the circumstances. 

Rebeca Castro (‘20) said, “I would say, despite some setbacks, our class really tried to bring it together and really united at the end.”

In the end, the sophomore class came back from low dress-up scores at the beginning of the week to secure a first place victory for the 2019 Theme Nights. Following them were the senior class, the juniors, and finally the freshmen. The event created a playful competitive spirit that united the Webb Schools through a fun week and one memorable night.

Jake also said, “Theme week this year was great. We had some difficulties, but I think that it was a great way to start off this year.”

Theme Week is a great way to start the school year by bringing the classes together through choreography, competition, and community. It is an energetic event that creates memories and bonds for the new school year and beyond.