From the spectacular lighting and transition dialogue, to the diverse costumes, to the inspirational dancing and choreography, Window Dance’s 2009 performances proved to be unforgettable.

This year, the performance was based on Disney’s The Lion King. However, there are often misconceptions about how Window performs a story.

“We don’t have specific dancers playing specific characters. We tell the story of Lion King differently than a play or musical would,” explains senior director Lauren Spagnuolo. “We name each dance with significant characters and events, and all together the dances tell the story. For example, there are dances named after characters like ‘Rafiki,’ but there are also dances named to fill in major plot details like ‘Nala and Simba Reunite.’”

The Window girls rehearsed up to five hours a day the week prior to the show to ensure a clean performance. During that week, each dance’s spacing was figured out on stage, costumes were finalized and handed out, and numerous practice runs of the show were made so that come show time, all the dancers would be used to the quick costume changes and the flow of the show.

After seeing a sold out Friday show, junior Whitney Fletcher was astonished by the performance: “I just couldn’t believe how well the performance came together, since it is entirely student choreographed and run. My favorite dances were the one with the glowsticks [‘Return to Pride Rock’] and the one with the sticks [‘Rafiki’] because of how creative they were. The dancers looked so happy, and you could tell everyone on stage loved to dance,” she added.

With the performances behind them, Window Dance’s season is over. The dancers are looking forward to next year, and are anticipating that the production will be as strong as this year’s Lion King.