By Leonard COUTIN

It was standing room only at the Crescenta Valley High School Spring Showcase dance recital held on May 3 at the school’s auditorium. Director Yana Karibyan oversaw the recital that featured 30 acts, including two guest performances by the Glendale High dance team, two guest performances by the CVHS pep squad and one by Karibyan’s daughter Layla.

The audience enjoyed a variety of routines and music styles, including hip-hop, jazz funk, Latin, jazz, lyrical, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics (Layla), short flags (pep squad), that added depth to the program. A highlight was a special performance by director Karibyan.

The senior class melded returning and new dancers and, after donating many long hours working on each routine, the captains received praise by Karibyan. This year’s captains included Logan Liu, Kaitlyn Ng, Jane Lee and Yoona Lee. Participating seniors recognized for their efforts were Sophia Hwang, Noel Hwang, Gwen Soriano, Russell Garcia, Sienna Zamlich, Junhee Kim and Justin Bang.

The CV dance program has taken on a new direction and has already established itself as strong rivals in dance competitions. Facing a large group of talent from other schools at the regionals, the Falcons impressed both judges and other performers with their routines.

“The team experienced its first competition season this year,” said Karibyan. “We competed in six divisions (small all-female hip hop, medium all-female hip hop, large all-female hip hop, small all-male, small-lyrical, a duet and three solos). After competition season we have about a month to choreograph additional numbers for the show including an opening and finale and class routines, which are self choreographed by each class. This year the seniors choreographed a hip-hop routine, along with a jazz section and a slideshow at the end of the routine highlighting each senior and the college they will be attending. It was a truly special moment in the show.”

CV attended six competitions this season and qualified to attend West Coast Elite Nationals at Long Beach. The dancers placed in almost all of their divisions in every competition.

Spending long hours with the dancers, director Karibyan said, “I wanted my dancers to experience competition this year because they are too talented not to. They were focused and excited to show the competitive world of dance how hard they’ve worked. It allowed them to develop a good work ethic, helped them see what it takes to have a successful season and allowed them to realize that they too can achieve that … and they did. The whole experience really brought them together as a family and that’s so important. They’ve grown tremendously and are excited for next year.”

Karibyan also extended a note of thanks to Faith Elliot, Jared Singzon and Alyssa Cancilla for their contributions and assistance all year long in helping to develop the Falcon dance program.