Growing up, we all heard the story of Peter Pan: the boy who never grows up. Our dreams were filled with taking a trip to Neverland to join in on the adventures, whether fighting Captain Hook or flying with Tinkerbell’s pixie dust. On December 5 and 6, the Davie High Dance Department captured that desire for adventure and brought the story of Peter Pan to life, making childhood dreams come true.
Dance teacher Caitie Reece decided to step outside of her and her students’ norms and chose to tell a story through movements and expressions at this year’s Winter Dance Concert. Previous concerts Reece produced at Davie had broad themes like “Movies,” “Broadway,” or “Emotions.” This year, Reece wanted to not only have a theme but to tell a story. Reece presented 21 dances with the 90 students she teaches.
“All of my students did really well with character development and the narration, which really helped this show come to life,” Reece said. “You could really see it on stage when they performed., This different approach focused on the process of putting the show together. “It was really beneficial because they were able to see how dance can be created in a different way.”
At the start of the performance, the main characters were introduced by the Darling parents, who were hosting a party. The company dance class told the story of the chaotic party scene using dance tools taught throughout the semester. The party scene entrapped the audience, but soon after it started, Wendy (Olivia Mixon), John (Avery Fussell), and Michael (Raegan Kruel) Darling were sent to bed after causing a disturbance with the guests.
As the Darling children slept at the edge of the stage, Wendy was woken up by a commotion. Wendy quickly saw Peter Pan (Andrea Keller), Peter’s Shadow (Paisley Broadus), and Tinkerbell (Meredith Harpe) as they appeared on the stage. Peter Pan woke Wendy up while frantically searching for his shadow. Wendy decides to help Peter Pan and sew him and his shadow back together, which leads to Peter Pan and Peter’s Shadow dancing in perfect unison.
Once Wendy finally finishes sewing them back together, she learns about Peter Pan and where he is from. But while this happened, Tinkerbell became jealous because Wendy was stealing Peter Pan away from her. This envy started the fight between them, which would be broken up by Peter Pan.
After Wendy and Tinkerbell put their differences aside for Peter Pan, the Darling children flew from their town in London to Neverland, a place where no one ever grows up. Not only did they make the flight across London, but the rest of the Composition class joined them. The dancers followed the second star to the right to Neverland, a place where kids never grow up, as they were ready to continue to tell the story of Peter Pan.
When the Davie High Dance Department arrived in Neverland, Peter, Shadow, Tinkerbell, and the Darling children saw everything that everyone was doing. The first group that was seen was the lost boys playing and fighting with each other, which made John and Michael easily ready to join. The next group to be seen was the pirates, specifically Captain Hook (Brily Moore) and his first mate, Smee (Amber Lynde). As they continue to view the beauties of Neverland, they see the Indians and their princess and noble leader, Tiger Lily (Clara Phelps).
Right as the Darling boys met the lost boys, they began playing a new game together. The children loved to play make-believe because they could turn their stories into amusing realities, so they pretended to be strong, fearless Indians and played with Tiger Lily. However, this led to the pirates chasing and capturing Tiger Lily. Freshman Emma Downey, who was in her first year dancing with the Davie Dance Department, was one of the pirates who had the opportunity to dance with Tiger Lily.
“It was a very unique experience for us and was something that we’ve never really done before,” Downey said.
During the daytime in Neverland, the mermaids are joyful and make the day beautiful for everyone to see. Once the sun goes down, the mermaids change into mysterious creatures. These mermaids tried to drown Peter by lifting him up above their heads then bringing him low to the ground and leaving him in the corner of the stage, which represented the water. Peter was all alone but the never birds saved him after finding him in the water. One of the never birds from the nest was sophomore Renna Margaret Wellborn. This was her second year with the dance department, and she felt that this year was different from the previous year.
“This year I was more confident and worked harder because I knew what to expect,” Welborn said.
Following Peter’s dip in the water he returns to the lost boys while the pirates are preparing for the battle between the Indians. But when the lost boys intrude with Captain Hooks and Smee’s plan they decide to capture the Darling children and all of the lost boys with them. With this complex fight, Senior Amber Lynde had to learn to play the role of a villain, which she had never done before. Lynde shares how she has seen growth in her fellow dancers and the department as a whole throughout her past four years, but especially this year since the theme had a storyline and characters.
“I’ve seen people grow within our own dance department, learning how to choreograph more for a storyline and characters and being able to portray that through movement,” Lynde said.
As Smee and Captain Hook were ready to make Wendy walk the plank, Peter Pan, Peter’s Shadow, and Tinkerbell arrived at the perfect moment, going down the middle of the stage to save Wendy. This rescue leads to the final battle on the deck of Captain Hook’s ship, the Jolly Roger. This ferocious battle was full of ups and downs for both parties but when Captain Hook crawled away after Peter Pan and Peter’s Shadow jumped over him this marked the end of the battle and a victory for Peter Pan, Peter’s Shadow, Tinkerbell, and the Darling children.
The end of the battle made the Darling children realize that it was time to return home to London. But this flight home was much more than a return home; it represented choosing to grow up, which two seniors had to reflect on when choreographing the beginning of this dance.
“It is really sad because this was my last dance concert since I’m graduating early,” Senior Eden Ijames said.
Growing up is a hard thing to accept, but everyone will have to face it. The Darling children returned home from Neverland and learned that growing up isn’t as scary as it seems when people let it happen.