2017 Dancing with the Teachers. Photo Submitted by Chon Huynh.
Dancing with the Teachers is the popular annual show hosted in the Jenkins Auditorium, showcasing Malden High’s students’ and teachers’ dancing abilities.
Class of 2018 Advisor and Chemistry teacher, Kate Haskell first introduced the idea of Dancing with the Teachers to Malden High three years ago. She explained that she “knew [the show] would do well here,” and the year she became advisor she hosted the first Dancing with the Teachers.
When asked about running the show and performing in one of the acts, Haskell stated that “it’s really stressful to do both at the same time.” She added that she luckily “had really great officers who would help out with things, while [she] learned how to dance.”
Haskell said that one of the most challenging part of running the show was getting students and teachers to participate, since it took up a lot of time, effort, and dedication. She stated that “last year, it was really difficult because [her] students got older and they had jobs and had all [these] other things going on.”
Class of 2019 Advisor and U.S. History teacher, Rebecca Corcoran said that “the senior class last year layed out a great framework for [them].” She explained that they are most likely going to have Dancing with the Teachers “last week of October, first week of November, right before the quarter ends.”
Corcoran encourages people to go, stating that they will likely discuss Dancing with the Teachers on the morning announcements, post flyers around the school, and have teachers advertise to their students. She added that “people love watching their teachers make fools of themselves.”
Senior Class of 2019 President, Mattheus De Oliveira Farias stated that both Dancing with the Teachers and JVs are very similar in that they both have a set time and quick stage work that needs to be done.” He added that “with the experience [their] class has, […] [they] are feeling confident in [their] ability to host [the event].”
Farias explained that he expects that Dancing with the Teachers will have “a good atmosphere, teachers and students alike having fun and building connections through the event.” He added that this was a great opportunity to “[allow] the culture at [Malden High] to not only be about the students, but the teachers as well.”
Seniors Vincent Truong, Chon Huynh, and others will be dancing with Math teacher Chris Giordano in a Korean-Pop number this year. Huynh mentioned that their group chose Giordano because they knew it would be a fun time and since “he was interested in doing Korean-pop dances.”
Truong stated that he and his team “plan on trying very hard,” since it will be their last Dancing with the Teachers. He explained that the most challenging part of practicing with his group was the timing and their skills as individuals. He added that “performing in general as a group is hard because [they] need to be in sync with the music and each other.”
Unlike many other groups who will be performing, Truong and his group got an early start to their rehearsals, he said that his team started practicing on the last week of September. Huynh stated that they chose to get a head start on rehearsals since “the dance [they] are doing is relatively hard.”
Haskell said that the Class of 2019 “had a lot of success from JVs,” last year and since “they know how to run a live show,” she believes that Dancing with the Teacher 2018 will also be a success.
