All District Dance Festival Combines Middle, High School Talent

In celebration of the All District Dance Festival’s 20th anniversary, dancers from high schools joined one another on stage for the final number at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday.

It was the first time a combined high school dance was incorporated into the festival.

“I was just really touched,” said Diane Weigel, the director who created the festival—then a mentor project—in 1991. “It meant so much to me because this has just been so important to me. It’s been a vision that’s just developed into this amazing event.”

This year, students from five high schools and five middle schools participated. The annual event included talent from middle schools Bernardo Heights, Meadowbrook, Mesa Verde, Oak Valley and Twin Peaks; and high schools Del Norte, Mount Carmel, Poway, Rancho Bernardo,  and Westview.

The program consisted of 38 performances. High schools performed five routines and middle schools performed two or three routines. Every school participated in both the first and second half of the show.

Dance teams performed a variety of styles, including contemporary, hip-hop, lyrical, jazz and tap.

Sadie Ismay, a Meadowbrook Middle School eighth grader, performed in two routines. Her mother, who is a professional dancer, choreographed one of the routines titled, “Leader of the Pack.”

“I really liked it because dancing is my passion,” said Sadie, who is the captain of Meadowbrook's dance team. “This is what I love to do, so being out there is just like home.”

Family and friends filled the theater and supported the performers with loud cheers throughout the show.

Rudena Christopher arrived to watch her granddaughter, Katie Christopher, perform along with the Rancho Bernardo High School dance team.

“I love their dances, and I love the choreography,” Christopher said. “I think they’ve done very well.”

Some attendees arrived not to support a specific dancer or dance team, but dance in general. Joy Fodor attended the festival after reading about it in a newspaper earlier in the day. 

“I love dance; I just love it,” said Fodor, a substitute teacher and former dancer.

Before the closing performance, one dancer from each high school dedicated the “This Moment” routine to Weigel.

“There’s been one person behind this amazing show for the past 20 years and that’s Ms. Diane Weigel,” said Callie Merritt, a junior at Rancho Bernardo High School. “It has been her vision to bring together dancers from all the troupes to dance as one. I’m so glad to be a part of it and so is everyone else.”

After the show, Merritt said the final number was “the coolest dance experience” she has ever had. The 12 performers, who were dressed in shorts that represented their high school colors, danced across the stage with their high school teammates to form one group.

“I absolutely loved it,” said Merritt, who began dancing when she was four years old. “It was one of those dances that while you’re dancing, you get the happiest feeling ever. I love when I get that.”

Weigel, who wasn’t aware the routine would be dedicated to her before the evening, said the moment brought tears to her eyes.

“It’s just such a good feeling that dance has stayed alive in Poway,” Weigel said. “Through all the budget cuts, we still have such a successful program.

“All of the instructors, students and parents have kept it alive. It’s still one of the strongest districts in the whole state of California.”