By Mackenzie Wallace
While many students use the weekend to catch up on sleep or spend time with friends and family, high school dancers and cheerleaders all over NEISD woke up this weekend with the anticipation of One Singular Sensation fresh on their mind.
One Singular Sensation is an event designed to bring together dance and cheer programs from all over NEISD and showcase the talents from each school. Performances from each varsity and junior varsity dance and cheer team, along with the school’s pep squad, were be able to exhibit a routine of their choice to an audience. However, this is no competition; teams get to spend the day doing what the love and enjoy watching others do the same without the competitive pressures thrown into the mix.
“OSS is definitely a different experience,” junior varsity cheerleader Reina Munoz said. “You get to see all the different schools in the district and instead of having rivalries, we get to cheer each other on.”
Routine styles varied from group to group. Some teams threw out an exciting jazz performance while others leaned towards a high energy hip-hop routine. Audience members were truly captivated by the unexpected dance variations scattered throughout the performances.
“I think the audience will be pleasantly surprised with everybody’s routine because nobody ever expects what we put out on the floor,” Munoz went on to say. “Everyone thinks that what they see on the sidelines is what we do, but it’s entirely different.”
The experience is more than just a performance to many, leaving many high school dancers and cheerleaders with positive memories to look back on. With nationals coming up, OSS is often used to fine tune the girls’ existing skills and prepare for the competitions ahead.
“I’m hoping to use this performance as a learning experience and gain more confidence as a performer and dancer in preparation for nationals,” sophomore Dollie Ashlin Corona said.
OSS proved to be a success, the performers heading home at the end of the weekend with renewed confidence, betterment of skills, and memories to last a lifetime.