Riddled with nerves, Emily Squires, freshman, steps on stage for her show choir performance. However, as the lights hit her, the nerves melt away.

“I love the competition setting and dancing and singing on stage is so rewarding after so much hard work and hours put in to the team,” Squires said.

While show choir’s competition season is over, show choir, known as Center Stage, will perform their Spring Performance “Ice & Fire” in the theater tonight. Tickets are $8 and are available online. This is their final performance of the year.

Carl Taraporevala, junior, said “Fire & Ice” is about an ice queen that they eventually defeat.

“Then we transition into a song about hope and then into fire and love,” Taraporevala said.

Show choir is a co-curricular activity that combines of singing and dancing mixed with competition and performance led by choir teacher Jason Winter and a small group of students. In order to prepare for competition and performances, members meet during fourth hour and once a week after school for two hours in the choir room.

“Show choir competitions are usually very chill and laid back,” Squires said. “It’s very fun and you get to hang out with your friends the whole day.”

Throughout the year, the group competes against other choirs in the Missouri Area and against single sex groups or other small groups.

Earlier this semester, Center Stage placed as fourth runner-up at Glenwood The Event competition and third runner-up in the Platte County Showcase of Excellence. Kiki Leung, junior, was named Outstanding Performer for the entire event. Prior to that, they placed second in Division and third runner-up in finals at the Rockbridge Southside Showdown and second in the Franklin Community Showfest.

This year was only the second year in MHS history that the group has made finals at every competition during the season.

Losing is disappointing, but Center Stage members don’t let their losses get to them and instead cheers on the winning team at a competition. They use the feedback they receive from their performances to do better in the next competition.

Within Center Stage, students don’t compete against each other but instead work together to grow a sense of friendship among the team, allowing them to work better together.

“There is some competition with auditions for solos, but overall it is really not as big of a competitive atmosphere as most people would expect,” Payton Bonczek, freshman, said. “This year has been so much fun.”