Christmas Joy means more to me than I can express, and yet here I sit, trying to put it into words.
Like any masterpiece, many elements come together to make Christmas Joy each year. Among them, sacrifices and struggles, as well as laughter and wonderful memories. Christmas Joy is made of long Saturday rehearsals, late nights at the theater, plastered hair, millions of bobby pins, new make-up remover, marley burns, blisters, and sore muscles. Christmas Joy is made of Secret Sisters, body slamming front and center on opening night, using the “Amen” skirts as blankets, “Swimming” backstage before the second half, and laughing up at storm in the dressing room.
To me, this show means so many things. It means a new form of dedication each year, diligence, and rediscovering my passion for dance. It means life, bringing Him praise, and the purest form of joy I have ever experienced. Christmas Joy means the weekly reminder of the true meaning of Christmas, company prayer, and His love for us. To me, Christmas Joy means the highlight of my year.
My favorite part of our show, and the biggest thing I look forward to every year is the ‘He Was’ slideshow. No amount of meaningful songs, beautifully orchestrated choreography, or dances I am in will ever amount to the meaning of that slide show to me. The words in the ‘He Was’ slide show are the reason I do Christmas Joy. They’re the reason I live.
I have been looking forward to my senior year of Christmas Joy for as long as I can remember. The most challenging part of my senior year has been knowing that my fellow seniors, Julie Daffron and Emma Grazier, won’t be joining me in my final performance. I never thought that I’d be facing my senior year of Christmas Joy without them by my side during the finale or walking upstage at the end of ‘I Believe’ hand in hand. Those girls are some of the best people I have had the chance to meet, and will always mean more to me than they know. I wouldn’t know them without this beautiful production and the studio, and I cannot say thank you enough for the opportunity to meet them. Julie and Emma, please know that I love you and will be dancing my final show for you two. SENIOR PRIDE.
I think about Christmas Joy a lot in my life; how proud I am to be a part of it, how much I’m going to miss it, how much the cast and crew members mean to me, how I will show my kids the DVD every Christmas and take them to the National Hispanic Cultural Center to see it live. Christmas Joy has been such a big part of my life ,and will continue to be.
Written by Shanoah Ulibarri, Senior Dancer
