A group of male juniors on the field form a straight line, dancing in choreographed strides, while three female juniors direct them in preparation for this year’s Powderpuff. The dance will take place Thursday, March 20 during halftime at the Student Teacher Basketball Game.

Almost two years earlier, the class of 2026 students learned they had been disqualified from the Powderpuff dance competition because a cheerleader was in their dance. In their sophomore year, they heard they had ranked last place, yet again for breaking the rules, this time having a human pyramid in the dance. 

“It (losing both years) felt a little troubling (and) angering because we worked so hard for two months before and we (got) disqualified both years,” three year Powderpuff participant and vocal junior Michael Nathanson said. “It’s not fair to us.”

This year, the group is under new leadership, with vocal juniors Ella Pierre, Gabrielle Williams, and Lena Powery choreographing the class of 2026’s powderpuff dance for the first time. 

“I’m glad I got to do it (choreographing) with them,” Powery said. “They’re the best people I could have done it with. We did it (the choreography), and the soundtrack (together) because we’re friends and we are able to work well together.”

The team started practicing multiple times per week during lunch around a month before Spirit Week and have learned a complete dance including several different stages and routines.

“We taught the dance in order, so each practice we started a new (part of the) dance (routine),” Powery said. “Usually, we finished two in each practice, so we got along pretty nicely in terms of time management.”

Dance junior Zackary Chodor, who went to Powderpuff practices for the last two years but never participated in the dance performances, said that the team has “stuck through it (the dance)” this year.

“Last year, I wasn’t in the show, but I went to some rehearsals, and I feel like everyone would mess around a lot, which caused a change in coaches who (have) handled it better overall, and we’ve been locked in and not messing around as much,” Chodor said.

Pierre mentioned difficulties with the boys paying attention, saying they can sometimes be “stubborn.”

“It’s been a very difficult process, (but) it’s been fun to work with my friends and choreograph (dances) together,” Pierre said. “It’s definitely testing my patience, but it’s good because I’m learning from this.”

Last year, multiple people who went to practices did not dance in the final event, but this year, Powderpuff participation in the junior class has grown from 10 people to 18.

“This year, we have more people (participating) than we had last year, so it (the dance) feels a lot fuller,” Nathanson said. “I also feel like we’re going to perform a lot better. It’s going to be a lot more fun since we have more people, and I feel like it’s going to be more entertaining for the audience.”