“Bop, bop, bop, bop to the top. Slip and slide to that rhythm…” This may not be a remake of High School Musical, but there are plenty of dancers around to show us just how to dance to that beat.
One of these dancers is Joshua Guerra, a choreographer and dancer for the senior Powderpuff dance team.
Traditionally, the girls choreograph the dance and the guys dance. Guerra is both, giving him a unique insight.
“I feel like it helped make us a better team and have a better dance,” Guerra said. “I was able to see both sides of the playing field and I’m able to offer insight that the other choreographers might not see otherwise.”
Despite being the only male, Guerra says he doesn’t feel out of place while working with the others.
“Being the only guy [choreographer] doesn’t quite make me feel any different, I just feel I am able to really help out while doing something I love,” Guerra explained.
Aside from helping come up with an original halftime routine, Guerra was also responsible for teaching the moves to his peers, which he found to be harder than expected.
“I would say that the most challenging part for me personally would be having patience with the other guys when teaching the dances,” Guerra said.
Details that came naturally for Guerra were more difficult for others to master. Guerra said he learned to slow down and go over everything.
“Even when I was young, I was always placed in the more advanced classes by my instructors, making me the youngest one in the classes,” Guerra said. “Then, when teaching there are little things that I skipped just because they are basics for me but I realized I have to go over every little detail with them.”
After all was said and done, Guerra’s work, both dancing and choreographing, helped to embody class pride through the theme, Supersenior Bros.
“It’s really about having fun and increasing class pride. I love dancing, which makes it fun,” Guerra said. “But since I’m VP I feel like it’s my job to be sure it’s the best it can be.”