Sophie Leung-Lieu, design and visuals editor
Sophie Leung-Lieu is a senior and second-year design editor of the Shield. Throughout her four years on MacJ, she is excited to spend her senior year bringing new aspects of design to the print newspaper. Outside of journalism, Leung-Lieu is also captain of Blue Brigade and vice president of Key Club. Her hobbies also include watching TV shows and trying new beverages.
![MAXWELL’S MASTERPIECE: Members of Zoe Maxwell’s choreographed dance for the spring student directed show 'Perennial' form a group pose.
For both the choreographers and directors the performance was an opportunity to show off their unique style of dance and bring together the dancers, the theme, and music to create a dance that resembled them.
For junior Zoe Maxwell the performance was unique because while it was her third year performing in the show, it was her first time getting the chance to choreograph a dance and have a more hands-on role with the show.
“It was my last show with all of my senior friends and it was the first student directed show that I got to contribute to choreographically [which was special],” Maxwell said. “My favorite part of the experience was getting to showcase my creativity and seeing that come to life.”
Maxwell said her song choice inspired her choreography.
“Since I heard the song 'MOVE' by Beyonce I knew I wanted to choreograph it,” Maxwell said. “The tricky part was matching it to the themes of the dance show, but luckily the song mentions fire so I connected it to the element theme of the show,”
The role as choreographer proved to be a learning experience for Maxwell because the process of creating a dance differed from just performing in one.
“The biggest challenge was managing the rehearsal time we were given and planning accordingly so that our dances would be finished in time for the show,” Maxwell said. “I took some inspiration from videos and choreography online, but other than that I just kind of improved to the song until I found moves I liked.”](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/53719496826_a8b6b35cb8_o-1200x678.jpg)
![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![FIVE-STAR CAPTAIN: In "One Night Only," the opening number of the spring show on Saturday night, Blue Brigade captain Charli Cevallos is front and center setting the mood and tempo for the number and entire show. Cevallos said the opening number of the spring show is always upbeat and fun and this year’s edition was no exception. Cevallos said she remembers the moment as one of pure adrenaline. “Since opener is the first dance, the excitement is running high and it’s such a great feeling to be performing our hard work for an audience.” As the photo suggests, the team was able to perform the number in sync even though it was a new dance choreographed exclusively for the spring show by first lieutenant Annabel Winter (left) and senior lieutenant Emily Garza. “Opener was our first spring show dance we learned,” Cevallos said, “and it came together super well. … [It was] definitely a team favorite.” Cevallos said her favorite part of the number was the very beginning when Winter (left) woke her up stage left from a deep sleep to start the show. “It’s so fun,” she said, “and the audience loved it.” For the first time in three years, that audience was in the MAC and at full capacity without pandemic restrictions.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/dsc04748_52025488192_o-900x600.jpg)
![The McCallum archery team walks with head coach Nick Kalakanis toward the venue where it competed at the National Archery in Schools Program state archery tournament in Belton on March 22. The high school venue was a converted equestrian arena with a dirt floor. “We all ended up a few grams heavier after shooting for an hour from the dirt in our shoes," Coach Kalakanis said, "but it was still way better than I had initially thought [it would be].”](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/walking-in-900x600.jpeg)
