One of the most highly anticipated events during Spirit Week is the Senior Boys’ Dance, a long-standing tradition in which the boys of the senior class perform a dance in front of the entire student body. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the dance. 25 years ago, when PCDS had its inaugural Boys’ Dance, no one could have imagined how far it would come. Not many know this, but the tradition initially began as a dance performed by the male members of the PCDS cheerleading team, when it had existed. It also wasn’t only performed by seniors, but by the boys of all grades. Over time, the dance evolved into what it is today.

After weeks of grueling lunch practices, my heart pounding, I stood before the PCDS student body and faculty in my tight gold shorts, hidden beneath tear-away pants, surrounded by my fellow senior boys, ready to dance our hearts out. Though it may not seem like it, the boys put in a lot of work throughout the first quarter of the school year in order to learn the dance. Almost every lunch since the beginning of the year has been dedicated to practicing. But it’s not just the boys who put in work; the choreography that goes along with it deserves recognition too. This year, our choreographers were Tallulah Sullivan, Cassidy Angst, and Natalia Gutkin. They began working on the dance before the school year even started, to make sure that when we began, everything was already planned out. In addition to this, they had to endure our antics during practice every day for over a month. This is not something I would wish on my worst enemy, but the choreographers prevailed.

On the day of the first practice, it was clear that the practices that remained were going to be rough. Seeing the group of boys in the senior class all in one place made it clear that there would probably not be one single day free of fooling around. As a matter of fact, Coach Lewis, who was present during most of the dance practices, had to frequently tell us to “lock in” or else we would be kicked off the dance entirely. After nearly half of the practices already taking place, we had only learned about one of the total six minutes that made up the dance, so maybe he had a point. Learning the rest of the dance within the remaining time we had left would need a miracle in order to work. But no miracle occurred; instead, we managed to pull it off with sheer grit and tenacity. 

And now, the fateful day finally arrived: Blue and Gold Day. Many hours of practicing were about to be represented with only a few minutes of performing. When we arrived at school that day, we showed up in normal clothing, in addition to the Blue and Gold Day t-shirt. During lunch, we made our way to Najafi Gym to change into our dance outfits and go through one final dress rehearsal. After lunch, we still had one more class to attend before the pep rally; for me, it was English. The tear-away pants I was wearing were missing several buttons on the side, so the golden shorts beneath it could clearly be seen. But regardless, I needed to go through English class trying my best to not reveal the shorts. After class ended, we all rushed to our seats in the gym, awaiting our cue. When the moment finally arrived, the senior boys leapt out of their seats to get ready. Propelled by the cheers of the crowd, we ran to our places one last time. The rest is history.