As the music came to an end and the dancers ran off the stage, they were nothing but proud of their performance. This past weekend, Center Stage had their first show choir competition in Danville, Ill. and placed third in their division.

David Pisoni, junior, was pleased with his team’s performance. One of his favorite memories from the trip was leaving the stage after they performed because he said in that moment, he knew they did well.

“One of the best parts of the trip was getting off the stage because everyone knew it was awesome run and we were all really happy with it,” Pisoni said.

While Pisoni was proud of his team, he said the layout and scheduling of the competition made it hard for him to gage his team’s placing throughout the weekend.

“The hard thing about show choir is that groups are scheduled throughout the day in the same theater but your team is warming up before hand and taking down after so you don’t get to see all the groups that go before and after you so it’s hard to gage your competition,” Pisoni said.

He enjoyed the practices that occured the week leading up to the competition and said they were crucial towards the team’s success.

“It was very nice to have separated rehearsals and I think those rehearsals were the key to placing third,” Pisoni said.

Miranda Thein, senior, enjoyed the trip. 

“I definitely got closer to my teammates,” Thein said. “We have back-to-back tournaments coming up which will help us bond more.”

Thein is proud of the effort she and her teammates put into the routine. She said third place is a good starting point for the team and she is excited to see her team grow from there.

“In the past we have always gone to finals but it’s still a big accomplishment,” Thein said. Jason Winter, choir director, is happy with his students’ performance. Winter said his students are always working hard to improve their routine and it is very apparent.

“Over the last 13 years, we have continued to improve and grow,” Winter said. “Within the last couple years, we have made finals consistently.”

Winter said his students have been preparing this routine since October. Along with working hard in class, they have stayed after school and have even came in on their snow days for extra practice. To prepare for the performance, show choir hosted a home-base preview performance in January.

In preparation for their competition this upcoming weekend, the team will work hard to improve their performance.

“We will review the judge’s notes and we will listen through those, pull notes and watch our video to improve our show or set just to see if it needs to be tweaked,” Winter said.