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Provided by Megan Wang

Wang, Seniors Sara Bangale and Naomi Roitershtein hold a pose. This was during their rehearsal before eMotion’s spring show.

Nervous. Scared. Tense.

When she steps on stage, all of these emotions fade away.

Music and muscle memory carry her.

Though senior Megan Wang has been dancing for 12 years, she still feels anxious before every performance and competition.

“Backstage, I am really nervous and scared I will forget the dance or not execute more technical parts well,” Wang said. “Performing feels like a hazy blur or like a dream that I vaguely remember.”

For Wang, starting dance at the age of 5 was a “rite of passage.” When her parents had her try a variety of sports and extracurricular activities, dance was the only one that fit her because it combined both athletic and artistic elements.

“I chose to stay in dance because it was a sport I was actually good at,” Wang said. “I tried soccer and face planted on the grass. I tried tennis and I managed to serve the ball behind me. However, I mainly chose to stay in dance because it was both a sport and an art.”

When she was 13, she began competitive dance at OAEC (Oriental Arts Education Center), her current dance studio. However, the switch wasn’t easy.

“[Dance and I] have had our ups and downs,” Wang said. “When I first started dancing, it was mainly for fun or a routine chore to be completed on the weekends. But everything changed when I decided to pursue competitive dance.”

Wang believes that OAEC is known for its “high standards, competitive level and really tough instructors.” The combination of all those factors led to this being the one of the hardest moments of her dance career.

“It wasn’t just a physical battle; it was a mental one too,’ Wang said. “There were many instances where I felt so completely out of place, not good enough and like I wanted to quit.”

Despite the challenges, Wang describes her relationship with dance as “rewarding” after seeing “the most growth” in her dance career.

In addition to dancing competitively outside school, Wang also dances for Bellaire High School’s eMotion Dance company, which she joined in her freshman year. According to Wang, eMotion provided a setting where she could not only dance but “express herself and exercise creativity.”

“I love how eMotion encouraged us to think outside the box in terms of choreography and creativity,” Wang said. “It allowed us to explore and hone our own unique styles rather than limiting us to be cookie-cutter dancers who all move the same way.”

In eMotion, students have the opportunity to choreograph dances for their fall and spring shows. The student choreographers also act as rehearsal directors. In Wang’s sophomore year, she became a rehearsal director (RD) for eMotion’s Modern team.

“I wanted to start choreographing because it was incredibly inspiring to be a part of someone else’s creative vision as a dancer, helping to bring ideas to life on stage,” Wang said. “I’ve always seen dance as a living, breathing form of art. Every small detail — the flick of a wrist, the furrow of an eyebrow, the lingering gaze toward the audience — matters. Witnessing how these small details amplify the storytelling of a dance is just so fascinating to me, and I wanted to be a creator of such art and experiment with different styles of dance.”

Outside of choreographing, rehearsal directors have a laundry list of tasks. They help lead rehearsals, pick costumes for the dances, create lighting directions for the shows and work behind the scenes. Luckily, Wang doesn’t have to do all of these responsibilities on her own. She has a rehearsal director partner to help her, sophomore Abigail Boyd.

“I really like being partners with [Wang] because she’s very organized and also very sweet,” Boyd said. “I was really scared to be an RD, and she makes it really easy to be one. She’s really fun to be around, not stressful.”

Last year, Boyd had the opportunity to perform in two dances choreographed by Wang.

“[Her choreography] is very fluid, and it feels good to dance,” Boyd said. “It feels like she’s put a lot of emotion and passion into dancing. Everything flows into each other and I love that.”

Every Sunday, Boyd and Wang go to the YMCA together to choreograph new parts for their dances. They decide on dance genres, pick songs and brainstorm ideas together.

“For me, choreographing a dance starts with the music,” Wang said. “I always stress that the music can sometimes make or break a dance. Choreography isn’t just about the movement; it is about becoming one with the music.”

When listening to the music, Wang listens for a song’s rhythm, melody, dynamics and texture. To her, an indicator of a good song is when she can “easily and freely improvise” to it.

“When I am listening to a song, there are moments where I just feel like a certain visual, movement or formation feels right,” Wang said.

But as with any creative endeavor, Wang still has moments of mental block.

“What I have found helps a lot when I am in this drought of creativity is to improvize to the music and just remove the pressure of having to actually choreograph something,” Wang said. “I love choreographing because it feels like a limitless form of expression and exploration of creativity.”

So far, Wang has choreographed four eMotion dances. However, she feels like she’s able to truly shine when choreographing solo and duet dances.

“Choreographing solos [and] duets holds a special place in my heart,” Wang said. “It creates an intimate moment between the performer and each individual person in the audience.”

Wang had the chance to perform a duet with junior Dylan Gan in eMotion’s 2025 spring show and competitions. Their duet “Apologize” was a combination of modern and breakdance moves.

“[Wang] works really hard at everything in general; she never really stops until something is done,” Gan said. “This was really apparent whenever we practiced, because she always kept me focused. We made a lot of progress every time even if we only practiced a little bit.”

Wang and Gan have only done one dance together thus far and hope to perform one more together before she graduates in the spring. Wang is currently choreographing her fifth dance for eMotion. In the spring, she’ll choreograph two more, including another duet with Gan.

“Working with [Wang] made me more efficient at choreography,” Gan said. “I feel like her work ethic kind of rubbed off on me because I have been working harder on making choreography and teaching it.”

In the future, Wang hopes to continue performing and choreographing dances in college. Dance is not only a passion she wants to bring into college but also into adulthood.

“Even as I grow older, I want to keep taking classes, exploring new styles and challenging myself creatively,” Wang said. “Through dance, I aspire to be a storyteller, creating and contributing to works that move people and allow them to feel seen and connected.”