After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hempfield High School (HHS) will present its 37th annual Dance Theatre production, "Rain." Performances will take place from Friday, April 29, through Sunday, May 1, in the school's Performing Arts Center, which is located at 1555 Kauffman Road, Landisville. The Friday and Saturday performances will be held at 7 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. A senior citizens' preview performance of "Rain" is scheduled for Thursday, April 28, at 7 p.m. This final dress rehearsal is free to residents of Hempfield School District who are age 65 and older. Tickets are not necessary for the preview event.

Under the new direction of Devon Groff, a 2011 alumna of HHS, "Rain" will represent a renewal and rebirth for the students who have missed performing in Dance Theatre productions over the past two years. The show will also serve as a fresh start for Groff, who acknowledges that she has big shoes to fill as the new director. She has been serving as a choreographer since the 2016-17 academic school year and was supposed to take over as director in 2020, but this plan never came to fruition. She's worked closely with former Dance Theatre director Cody Smith - a 1997 alumnus of the program - and they are excited to welcome dance students back to the stage.

"Devon is doing an amazing job," said Smith. "She's great. The program is in excellent hands. I've had an amazing time for the last 25 years, and I thank the community for their support."

According to Smith, Dance Theatre is unique because there's no script; there's just an idea from which a show can be crafted. Smith and Groff contemplated performing the 2020 show, but knowing that the students had endured a lot the past couple of years, they decided to make a statement. "Rain can represent a cleansing and renewal, but also, there's a little bit of like melancholy to it, which I know is the reality of the situation for a lot of kids and a lot of adults over the past two years," stated Groff. Due to these two perceptions, "Rain" will exemplify all of the emotions, experiences, and obstacles from the past, while bringing to light a new beginning for the future.

The cast will feature more than 50 students. Principal dancers will include Camryn Ackerman, Anna Best, Chloe Boyd, Noah Felty, Anna Granger, Hunter Smith, Cora Cook, Elizabeth Jacobs, Maggie Rogers, Jaxson Smith, Maura Toole, Morgan Wilfong, Cassie Bellew, Brooke Fasnacht, and Sadie Zimmerman. These dancers welcome audience members to come on a journey with them through the rainy city streets of London all the way to the tropical rainforest.

"A lot of these kids aren't going to go out into the world and become performers," explained Smith. "They're just trying something new and it's building their confidence and helping them grow as a human being. I love watching them grow, blossom, and succeed on the stage."

Tickets are required for all public showings of "Rain." Tickets can be prepurchased online at http://www.hempfieldsd.org/tickets or at the box office 45 minutes prior to each showtime.