By The Husky Headline Staff
Best Music Goes To…
By Katie Johnson
Music, a vocal or instrumental combination of sounds that create a beauty, harmony, and expression of emotion. Tuscarora is full of beauty and harmony in our fine arts department including Choir, Band, Jazz Band, Guitar, and Orchestra. This winter and fall, each group performed many pieces for the students and families at Tuscarora High School. All the students in the music department connect with the sounds and elements creating a musical atmosphere. Every other day students practice to achieve their best, and come together for performances that are unforgettable. In the spring, they perform for judges to be assessed and graded on their performance hoping to get the highest rating of superior.
“Its around the clock work for those 90 minutes and we tend to break down our blending, breathing, facial expressions, and dynamics to achieve a superior rating,” said 10th grader Sara Linhart, a member of the Select Women’s Choir. Practice always makes perfect and for one student it changed the game with listening to music.
“Band has really affected my ears. I’m a low instrument, and I tend to focus on the low instruments in songs,” said 10th grader, Cole Francisco, a member of the Symphonic Band and Marching Band.
Best Choreography Goes To…
By Sara Koochagian
Even though we are living in the 21st century, the spirit of ballroom and swing dancing is still alive in the halls of Tuscarora High School. Run by math teacher Mr. Samuel Anderson and German teacher Frau Angela Deady, the Ballroom Dance Club meets every Friday in Mr. Anderson’s room. This club is fairly new to the list of Tuscarora clubs and was started by Anderson.
“The club used to be called “Swing Dance Club”, and was started and taught by my wife and I in 2013. At that time, not many people came to the lessons,” said Anderson. Even though Mrs. Anderson doesn’t go to the club meetings anymore, Deady has taken the role. With her, she brought the ballroom dancing; the most common one being waltz. By adding the ballroom style dancing, the number of students increased.
“This year [Deady] approached me about remaking the Swing Club into the “Ballroom Dance Club” to teach more dances besides swing, and now we both teach on Fridays after school with a much larger group then there was in previous years,” said Anderson.
The club consists of learning dances that aren’t timely, but with a mix of swing dance gives it an upbeat vibe. They do dances that are classic like waltzing, but then do things more upbeat like swing, salsa, charleston, polka, and cha-cha. Deady and Anderson pick the dances that they do each week, and based from the student’s reaction to the dance they will determine if they will continue the dance and learn new moves to bring it together. They will usually spend more than one Friday learning a dance based on the difficulty for the ‘leads’ and ‘follows’ of the dances. These roles are different for each dance, and are very important in what they do.
“My favorite part is meeting new people,” said junior Rosie Hackman, “as well as going through the process of learning new things with my friends every time we meet.”
The Ballroom Dance Club is continuing to grow, providing a great time for students who join them in room L601.
“My motto when I was learning was “If you’re having fun, then you’re doing it right”. To me, dancing is about having fun while looking good to music,” said Anderson.
Best Design Goes To…
By Lydia Stonerook
When most people think of a high school artist, they imagine a mediocre, artsy fartsy, Picasso wannabe that spends most of their time in the art room. Based on this stereotype, if you were to pass by senior Julia Hudack in the halls, you would have no idea she stayed up until 3 o’clock in the morning working on her latest AP Art piece. Julia is a reserved, dedicated student who has discovered an amazing artistic ability.
“My family always jokes about it; my mom says I got it from her but we really don’t know where it came from,” she said. Hudack began her love of art in elementary school when she went to art class. “It’s really rewarding to watch your piece evolve into the final product,” said Hudack.
Currently, Julia is working towards the AP Art exam in May, when she is required to send twenty-four pieces of artwork to be judged on several categories, including quality. “Twelve of [the pieces] are anything you want, and the second twelve is a series. All of mine are going to be in graphite,” said Hudack. Although Julia doesn’t plan on pursuing a career in art, she continues to create new pieces to be featured in local and school run showcases.
Best Performance Goes To…
By Emily Riley
It’s now January, and the winter play, A Christmas Carol, was a big success. Even though it was performed over a month ago, the cast and crew are still buzzing with anticipation for the arrival of Cappie nominations. The Cappies are an annual student led review and award ceremony recognizing the fabulous aspects of the productions put on by high schools in the area.
“Cappies is a whirlwind of a time. It’s just an honor to be nominated and to be around other creative, talented people, and to get to see the best of NOVA theatre is really just a memorable experience that I would never pass up.” said Shelby Haley, stage director of A Christmas Carol.
Every year, student critics from around the Northern Virginia area attend local high school productions and then write reviews highlighting that school’s performance, in which they receive points. They can then use those points to award each school for their outstanding content, whether it be for a specific actor/actress, or for the makeup crew. Tuscarora has been nominated 17 times, and has won four times, three for the spring of 2015 musical Cats, and once for the fall of 2013 production of Noises Off.
Even though winning a Cappie is an honor to the drama department, that’s not their main goal.
“Cappies doesn’t define what we are, our focus is actually on building a love for theatre and a strong inclusive family so everyone who participates in theatre feels like they belong and have a place.” said Justin Daniels, head of the drama department.
Even so, being nominated 17 times and winning four times is no small feat. Every person who helps to put together each production, whether they be a freshman, or someone who graduated years ago, worked hard to get the drama department to where it is now.
