At Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, it has been a long standing tradition for the dance department to perform Thriller for every Halloween. This year, however, was different as the Chicago Teachers’ Union and Service Employees International Unit 73 were striking.This performance for Thriller was particularly important for the Seniors in the Dance Department as this would be their very last one. During the strike, Ariel Chumrley, ‘20, tweeted, “Dang, I wanted to do thriller one last time?”

Once classes resumed in November, the dance department came to a consensus that the show must go on. Thriller was performed on November 6th. Shortly after the performance, Hannah Hansraj, ‘20, explained, “[this performance]  was surreal because I’ve been doing it since the 7th grade. It was really exciting to finally make it to Blue House.” Hannah was able to use Thriller as an annual checkpoint for her growth as a dancer. Each performance location serves as a position on the dance department hierarchy, with Blue House as the highest position. 

The excitement regarding Thriller is not only found among those in the dance department. The remainder 2000 Whitney Young students get to watch the performances happen right in their hallways. Bryan Wong, ‘20, found that he was saddened by the realization that this would be the last time for him to witness this tradition. He said, “It was because it is something that I looked forward to seeing every year.” Till next year, Thriller.