Beautiful costumes, long practices, dancing heels and stage lights. These are the things that go into the WCHS junior varsity Spanish dance team, Xplosion, when getting ready for their performance. While getting ready for their upcoming 2025-2026 Annual Latin Dance Junior Division Competition, dancers are reflecting on how their last season went.
“Dancing on stage definitely felt like a fever dream,” WCHS junior Mariana Del Pino Chamorro said. “There were so many people looking at us, it was really hard to focus. I kept having to remind myself that I am supposed to be dancing right now and not looking at people’s faces. But I think that it was really fun to be this one entity with my whole team once I stopped thinking about everybody looking.”
Last year was Xplosion’s first time performing at any official competition. Before the team’s official debut at Seneca Valley high school last year, they had danced at a Governor’s Night at Thomas Edison High School and WCHS’ annual Noche Latina celebration, which helped prepare them for opening night. Over all these different occasions, the team was able to create a bond.
“I feel really good about the team,” Del Pino Chamorro said. “It is one of our first years, and our team is very different from last year because our seniors graduated, but everyone who is in it this year has a pure passion for it and really does enjoy dancing and is willing to try their hardest. I think we have a chance at doing better than last year.”
When getting ready for a competition, practices take a lot of time going over the choreography and reviewing every step to make sure that everything will look great on the night of performance, including ensuring that dancers and their partners have their timing and moves to the rhythm of the music.
“For me, it took me a while to memorize the choreography because it was my first time dancing in a while,” Valentina Solis, co-captain of Xplosion during the 2024-25 school year, said. “But at the end, I felt confident. Having my partner with me and a strong relationship with him made me feel more confident about my dancing. I performed bachata and salsa. Salsa was my favorite one with my partner because it was a very flowy, fun dance.”
Outside of just dancing, the team environment during practice can also have a big impact on how everything turns out in the end. Making sure that the team has good chemistry is a key factor in a brilliant performance.
“[Xplosion was] definitely a bit stressful at times,” Del Pino Chamorro said. “Especially the closer we got, but once we got all together, it was definitely a nice experience. We all had the same mindset that we needed to keep going with [practice]. A bit stressful, but one of the best parts, so that we can give each other feedback and grow as a team.”
After weeks and months of practice, competition day finally arrives. Everyone starts to get ready within their given dressing room at Seneca Valley HS. Although the teams are in different rooms, they share the sentiment of being hyped for their upcoming performance.
“Getting ready, honestly, was so much fun,” Del Pino Chamorro said. “Even though there was a lot happening in the changing rooms and we were practicing just to get rid of our last-minute nerves, it definitely brought us closer, and it was good that everyone was helping each other out. Getting ready with everybody as a team was great to get in a good mindset before getting on stage.”
Competition season is over, but not for long. Now Xplosion awaits the 2026 junior competition season. With new choreography and team members, practices are getting underway. Soon, opening night will come, and all practice efforts will be performed on stage.
“I am really happy to have been a part of the [Xplosion] team, especially since it is a new one,” Solis said. “We improved so quickly, and I know we will keep getting better each year.”
