Photo courtesy of Edens Philogne ‘24: Winners of the show.
This year’s Derby High School 5th annual talent show was an outstanding event filled with many talents and performances. The talent show was created by DHS’s very own assistant principal Ray Coplin. It was all put together and organized by juniors Louis Aponte ‘25, Eliyah Arroyo ‘25, and Bella Weitzler ‘25. Over a dozen acts were performed by many talented and brave students.
There were a ton of great stage personalities and performances, but of course there had to be top three winners. Going for third place was Javira Forrest ‘24 sharing with the crowd her love poem she wrote herself. Holding second place was Bryce Orchanco ‘25 and Matthew Wint ‘25 putting on a dance performance to Chris Brown. Carrying the first place crown this year went to previous talent show winner, David Clark-Edge ‘24 and his performance partner Edens Philogne ‘24 putting on a mashup of songs and dance choreography.
Clark-Edge and Philogne had lots of energy, enthusiasm, and skill packed into their dance performance. Both are known as strong dancers among the student body. Clark-Edge said that dance is a major part of his life: “Dance is really everything to me. I’ve always wanted to go to a performing arts school for it and I’ve always participated in studio dance classes, competitive dance, etc. It’s something I want to pursue.” On winning, Philogene said, “It always feels amazing to win after working so hard for something, and experiencing that with my partner David made it three times better.”
Clark-Edge and Philogene’s positivity matched the vibe of the crowd. The group was supportive of them, hyping them up to the fullest, and recording all the moments catching the vibe Edens and David were giving the crowd. First time judge, Gretchen Marino, Derby High School’s social worker, explains how she sees the students and audience from her point of view. “I think that both the students performing and the audience created a positive and supportive atmosphere throughout the whole night. It definitely contributed to the confidence the performers had while on stage.”
One strong highlight of the night was Javira Forrest ‘24 for sharing her poem she self wrote and winning third place. It was really something different that most have never seen performed before. Very heartfelt and the romantic, soft, sad, touching music in the background while she’s reading really gave the poem life and the audience a different feeling.
Another after performance highlights that the crowd was into were the two prom-posals from two of the performers themselves. They were both surprises and they went well and really added some love to the show.
Philogene’s final thoughts encapsulate the goal of the talent show — to have fun: “It’s been a while since I’ve truly had some fun in my life. What inspired me was the little voice that I shy away from the world that tells me ‘Have some fun.’”
The Raider Press 