Salma Ortega, a senior, has been attending The Village School since she was in preschool. “I watched the high school get built.” Ortega said. The Village School has been a key factor in her path to becoming the current captain of the Elite Spirit Team. Ortega began her dance journey when she was 4, inspired by her mother’s own interest. She didn’t become serious about dance until she was 11. What inspired her? Watching the Elite Spirit team members dance.
In her high school years, Ortega has fully committed to the complex art of dance. During the difficult times of adolescence, dance served as her outlet for self expression. “It’s a time where my mind … can not focus on schoolwork and social stuff … and just focus on getting the dance right,” Ortega said. She has suffered from mental blocks and injuries in the past due to dance. She got through these hazard times with advice from her most influential teacher Andrea Sealy. Ortega, who also has a strong interest in business, met Sealy as her teacher on the Entrepreneurship Diploma track. “ [She] taught me how not everything can be picture perfect,” Ortega said. This helps her remember that failure isn’t always bad.
Over time, Ortega has not only been shaped into a confident person, but also a confident leader. As Captain of the Elite Spirit team, she strives to guide her teammates down the right path. “Sometimes you show up and wonder: ‘why am I here?’,” Ortega said. She is proud of her teammates because they always show up for the team and collaborate with each other. Ortega has also collaborated with others while choreographing and teaching jazz dance for her IB[International Baccalaureate] dance class. Unlike the Elite Spirit team tryouts, joining IB Dance doesn’t require background training or certain skills to join. Ortega, a seasoned dancer, had to adjust her choreography to match with the group she was working with. “I had to know … people’s strengths and weaknesses, and see what fit everyone,” Ortega said.
If Ortega could go back and view any of her dances it would be one of her dances from middle school, so she could reminisce on how far she’s come. “I thought I was really good,” Ortega said with a laugh. With her time at The Village School coming to a bittersweet end, she hopes she left a mark on the school with her leadership, and that people look up to her work ethic and drive. While she doesn’t know if she will continue dancing in the future, the lessons she has learned through every practice, failure, and success will stick with her forever. “As long as you put some work in you’ll get a good outcome,” Ortega said.
