On March 18, Burlingame High School hosted the annual district wide talent show performances, featuring three acts from each school district.
Aragon senior and student body president Anahita Ghajarrahimi says, “The talent show is a district wide talent show that is held annually, in which every school must present three acts to represent their school. We have held auditions in early February, and our acts that are performing in the talent show include an acapella group called September, Marley Collins, and [one half of] our dance team combined with Mills High School.”
A returning member of the September acapella group, Jerome Vincent discusses September’s second consecutive appearance in the talent show, saying, “We did it last year, and we wanted to represent Aragon and show that men can sing. A lot of men or guys do not like to sing. We just want to show that singing is fun and that it is nice for a men to do.”
Aragon sophomore Marley Collins performed an original song, saying, “I wrote the song myself, so the song premise is around the fact that I do not have to rely on other people to make me happy. The song is not really based on a personal experience.”
Aragon Dance Team collaborated with dancers from Mills. Senior captain Bianca Garcia says, “This was the first time we did the collaboration, and was the first time Aragon was in the district talent show too. Mills approached us first, and we were really excited. We go back and forth Mills and Aragon and we practiced for 2-3 hours every time.”
Garcia also described how the Aragon dance team “picked up a few moves” from the Mills dance squad, saying “From Mills, we have definitely learned how to become a lot closer as a team. We also have learned a lot of techniques and their style is really intricate and they have a lot of people on the team so we learned how to work in a really big number.”
September vocal director Justin Privitera takes pride in September’s performance, saying, “Last year, we did not really have that much energy, and we were not really that solid on our parts. I think there were the same number of us there though. I thought [this year] it went very well. I thought we did a good job. I thought the energy was really good. I really thought we brought the energy like we were supposed to. The intonation and balance were very good. We did not really rushed. We did not get out of key or out of tune. It was good.”
Aragon Student Body Secretary and Treasurer Nicoletta Della Bordella discussed the preparations made for the district wide talent show. She says, “There were a lot of preparation for the talent show. UASB meetings were held once a month on a Thursday at San Mateo High School for a district wide meeting. We would discuss about fundraising. Each school is responsible for a part of the talent show. Aragon is responsible for ushering, Hillsdale is responsible for flowers, and Burlingame High School was responsible for hosting the event and making the theater nice. Other schools must focus on concessions, flyers, food backstage for the performers, pamphlets, or pretty much doing their assigned roles for the talent show.”
UASB President Jasmine Samsami explains the preparations made for the performance. She says, “It took an entire year to prepare for this event. There were many factors involved in preparing for this event. Each school must select three acts to represent, and thus there were many changes of the variety of talents show acts, since some of them dropped out in the middle of the school year. Also, we have to consider about ticket prices, food, lighting, and the location. It was a big responsibility.”
Bordella participated in the selection process for choosing which three Aragon acts would participate in the talent show. She says, “We choose the acts that would represent what it takes to be a Don. The acts must be spirited, have pride in our schools, and want to represent Aragon to the best of their abilities and are committed in the Don Pride.”
September member and junior Aaron Kranzler believes that the talent show granted September further exposure. He says, “We joined the talent show because we want to sing on as many different venues as possible. There would be a lot of people watching us on the talent show, and it would be a great opportunity to showcase our talent and progress we have made as a group.”
Ghajarrahimi believes that the talent show not only recognizes talent but allows schools from across the district to familiarize as a community. She concludes, “The purpose of this talent is to make everyone who is performing to get recognized for their talent that people do not normally see and has the opportunity to be able to see. There are six schools that are participating in this event, and it is more of a unifying component, not at all of a competition of which school has the best moves.”
