The Wykehamist
As we moved closer to my GCSEs, it was confirmed that I would be leaving the school next year. I ultimately felt it was appropriate to do what I had wanted to do since the first day of Pop Soc— on June 13 2026, Wykeham Day, at 11am, Winchester College will have its first modern dance performance. It is a performance I will look back at and be proud of for a very long time.
My heart is filled with gratitude for Kai( from St. Swithun’ s), Cassian and Johnny Wyatt( C, 21-) for helping execute my choreography, as well as to my biggest supporters Eli Northey-Johnson( Coll:, 25-) and Noah Funnell( I, 24-) for being there every session.
Now, it seems the story is over. In September, I will be in a new school, striving for a different dance community halfway across the planet.
Yet, whilst my time here may be at its end, dance at Winchester is only just beginning. Here, dance is still not a respected art form or sport. Despite running for three straight years with a strong membership and more consistent
meeting times than most other societies, we are still not technically recognised as an official society, even though we have been on SOCS for two years. This proves that dance has yet to be taken seriously, which disappoints me, but ultimately is not surprising. With the rising importance of fuelling creative drive in today’ s world dominated by regularity, it seems obvious that the school must start making changes to accommodate this community.
I am elated to be leaving Dance Society in the hands of one of my closest friends, the awesome dancer Cassian Hoare. If there’ s one thing I wish for, it is to be able to hear in a decade that my original dance society still exists in some shape or form in the school, and that effort has been made to push for its expansion, with the integration of people of different cultural backgrounds, sexualities and personalities. But, even if we, as a community, end up continuing to be in the shadows, I am sure that my initial values for the society will prevail— that we can always thrive even if the whole world tries to push us down.
Solutions to this issue’ s cryptic crossword: Across 5a. VERIFY; 6a CRAFTILY; 9a. MILLS ABOUT; 10a. MAGE; 11a. SPYWARES; 13a. LIED TO; 14a. INITIAL REAC- TION; 16a. COMEDY; 17a. SUBPLOTS; 19a. OINK; 20a. TAILOR-MADE; 22a. YEARLONG; 23a. EM DASH. Down 1d. QEII; 2d. WILLOW; 3d. MY FAIR LADY; 4d. WATT; 6d. CROSS-DRESSING; 7d. TEMPEST; 8d. LIGHTS OUT; 12d. PANTOMIME; 13d. LEAF BLOWER; 15d. TREKKER; 18d. LAMBDA; 20d. THOU; 21d. DUSK.
22