On the heels of the recent performances of Cinderella, lots of people in the Cary-Grove community are talking about the new fine arts center. Those who never go backstage, however, are missing out on one small but significant feature.

In October, senior members of Swing Choir and their parents pitched in to pay for mirrors for the new rehearsal room.

“We knew initially that we were going to be purchasing them, but it was not clear as to where we were going to get the money,” Mr. Boncosky, the Swing Choir director, said. Prompted by parents who organized the donations, every senior in the group contributed to make this $4,200 gift possible.

Senior Allie Renner attributes some of the success in the Fall Follies performance to the new mirrors.

“I think that the mirrors benefited Fall Follies tremendously,” Renner said. “Those mirrors enabled each choir to rehearse everyday and to become a better performer than the day before. Those mirrors benefited Swing Choir in ways words cannot describe. Formations are being improved, facials are being improved, movements are coming close to perfection, and our performers are comfortable performing in front of themselves; you cannot perform confidently onstage for someone else if you are not first pleased with what you have done.”

Participants of Swing Choir now have a spacious place to go to practice during their lunch periods. Those involved in the group give up two periods of their lunches a week to work on routines.

“But of course, not just Swing Choir has benefited from the mirrors,” said senior Swing Choir member Luke Rands. “Every single curricular choir got the opportunity to work in the space with the mirrors.”

The practice time in front of the mirrors addressed an earlier difficulty when rehearsing for shows.

“Before, when we practiced in the choir room, only about a third of the group could see themselves clearly in the mirrors,” Rands said. “Now that’s not a problem, and we are better off because of it.”

Senior Kelsey Krigas, also in Swing Choir, said the other choirs involved in Fall Follies also improved through the use of the mirrors.

“Fall Follies gives every choir student the opportunity to not only sing, but doing a little dancing, too,” Krigas said. “For the majority of our students, the dancing is very foreign and takes much more effort. Having two rooms with mirrors now (the choir room and the new rehearsal room) means that groups of students can be practicing different dances at the same time.”

Krigas also pointed out that the benefits extend beyond the choir program.

“The wonderful part about this new space is that it gives the poms a place to rehearse as well,” she said. “Instead of having to use the front lobby of C-G, they are able to use this room and use the mirrors for their precise choreography.”

The room is open to any group at Cary-Grove that could possibly make use of the mirrors. This year and in years to come, the quality of the school’s Fine Arts performances all across the board are all set to rise. The graduating class of 2016 has surely left their mark.