As the lights dim and stage curtains pull back, students erupt in cheers for the beginning of North High’s 2018 Fashion Show.

The highly anticipated event featured participants from all school grades, and showed off their stunning outfits, impressive coordination, and honed dance skills through a series of themed dances.

The night began with a video preview made by the hosts of the show. The clip showed the hosts acting out a skit that got the audience laughing and loose. It even elicited some cheers from the audience as recognizable individuals were included in the video, such as Mr. Holtzman and Phil the security guard.

Following the video, Fashion Show advisor Mr. Henriquez appeared onstage to give a brief introduction to the hosts and the MCs. The hosts this year were Randy Aziz and Dustin Kamali. The MCs were Ashley Chaman, Vanessa Anderson, Sage Sherry, Lauren Seidman, Shoshanna Toker and Natasha Hakim.

This year, the dances were inspired by a Disney theme. The crew featured Disney princess outfits for the first act of the show, and dedicated the second act to Disney villain outfits.

Act one included themed dances around some favorite childhood movies, which included Cars, Aladdin, The Lion King, Hercules, and the Prince of Egypt. Performers wore clothes that creatively resembled aspects of the movie, and danced to music taken from the films. For instance, students wore loose, light blue pants that resembled Princess Jasmine’s attire during the Aladdin dance, and played arabic music.

Act two took inspiration from the villains in movies such as Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland, The Princess and the Frog, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. One of the most notable dances was the Star Wars performance, as the students donned Stormtrooper print leggings, face masks, and light-sabers.

Besides the themed dances, there are several other types of groups that perform.

This includes an exclusive MC dance, a senior showcase, and a model walk.

The MCs of Fashion Show play a huge role in the event, as they choreograph the dances and make major decisions during production. They received one dance with just the six of them to show off their expertise.

The senior showcase included the senior class advisor Mrs. Mac, as she read off comical titles for certain groups of seniors such as “Most Likely to be found in Miami” and “Most Likely to drop out of school.”

The seniors walked out onstage in themed outfits and matching props to their received title.

The model walk showcased select students in fashionable and daring outfits.

The models wore everything from fur coats to rompers, and strutted onstage before posing for pictures.

Junior Emily Kagan, a model and dancer for Fashion Show, explained what it feels like to be onstage.

“It’s like an adrenaline rush,” Kagan said. “I try to just stay in my zone and pretend like there’s no one in the seats. I just look at the clock in the back of the auditorium and make sure to smile!”

This year’s Fashion Show was overall successful, despite the fact that there was less time given to organize the event.

Audience members got to their feet for every single performance, cheering and dancing right along with their peers onstage.

The excitement and energy from the performers were contagious, and could be felt vibrating through the entire auditorium.

“I think the students did very well.” Henriquez said. “I feel the show was entertaining, appropriate, successful and exciting. They all worked very hard to make this show happen and the feedback that I received from everyone was very positive. I am very proud of all of them.”

As for the future, it is currently unclear whether there will be more school fashion shows.

According to the MCs, next year’s Fashion Show is probable, but not guaranteed. Therefore next year’s MCs were not announced after the 2018 Fashion Show.

Regardless, student participants have faith in the continuation of the performance.

“I can confidently say that this program has brought me closer to different people of different friend groups and of different grades.” Chaman said. “I can definitely see this amazing tradition continuing in the future since the 2018 Fashion Show has put on an amazing, appropriate, professional production for our school.”