Homecoming: Juniors awe the crowd with ingenious stunts and solos

Juniors celebrate after a successful quad day performance

Following a disappointing disqualification in last year’s homecoming quad day performance, the juniors were determined to avenge their loss with eye-catching stunts.

The iconic beat of late artist Pop Smoke’s “Get Back” thundered throughout the quad at the junior’s Homecoming quad day performance on Sept. 22. Cheers erupted from the crowd as juniors Avik Belenje, Pearson Chung and Raghav Rajan performed the popular “Get Sturdy” dance to the panel of judges.

Eager to avenge their last-place finish in last year’s quad day performance, a total of about fifty juniors participated in seven dances including K-pop, all-girls, stunt, all-boys, partners, Colorguard and the finale.

Highlights of the junior quad day performance included a variety of ingenious stunts and solos. Junior Raghav Chakravarthi’s all-boys stunt drew numerous cheers from the crowd as he was doused in a bucketload of water and proceeded to swagger towards the judges, emulating “Moto Moto” from the popular kid’s show “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.”

Junior choreographer Avik Belenje, who directed the all-boys dance, believes the performance went pretty smoothly. He said that although the performance was plagued with various audio issues, the participants managed to work around them and put on a stunning show.

“Our goal was to be original and have fun while we were at it,” Belenje said. “The stunts and solos went well and everyone enjoyed them.”

Given the rigorous workload associated with junior year, Belenje prioritized finishing the choreography for the all boys dance before the start of the school year. He began preparations before the end of his sophomore year, a move he believes significantly reduced stress.

In the lead-up to the performance, however, Belenje said that a particular challenge was determining positions for the participants, given the higher-than-expected turnout. As a result, positions for the all-boys dance were only determined the night before.

Junior Erika Andersson, who co-choreographed the all-girls performance, shared similar feelings to Belenje on the large numbers in practice turnout.

“Everyone’s schedule is different, so it was a nightmare scheduling practices that everyone could attend,” Andersson said.

Andersson and Belenje said that regardless of the judge rankings, they were both satisfied with the performance. Belenje described the final product as “simply elite,” while Andersson said she was relieved that the juniors performed at such a high caliber despite the hiccups encountered with the audio system.

Altogether, the majority of the junior class is looking forward to next year’s quad day performance, which will be the last quad day performance of their high school career.

“Who’s going to come in second place? Cause first is already reserved,” Belenje said.