Photo credit: Kristie Gillooly

By, Qirrat Anwar

Student organized arts grouped are becoming more and more important in the Winsor community every day as the band Cookie Wednesday and a Hip-Hop dance group have a large fanbase at Winsor.  

Cookie Wednesday’s members include, Penny M. ’18, Olivia B.’18, and Madison L. ’18. All three contribute in writing and scoring their original music. Cookie Wednesday has performed several times at Upper School Meeting and even performed at Jamnesty, where they were without a doubt an audience favorite, with their song cleverly titled “S.S. LOC”.  The group explained that the song is “a satirical commentary on the administration’s unwavering, borderline comical love of the LOC and its architecturally bizarre spaces,” however they explain that though “this mockery was a subtlety that fans may have overlooked, the ultimate meaning of any of our songs is really up to the interpretation of the listener.” Cookie Wednesday’s rather satirical style is what seems to make them so appealing to the Winsor community, as their songs discuss a comical side of issues present in Winsor’s student life.  For example, their song “Salem Mouse” was inspired by the Winsor’s fall production of “The Crucible”. Similarly the song “Crunchy Mic” addresses the sound quality of specific Winsor music equipment. Their satiric and light-hearted singles are popular with their Upper School audience. Talia W. ’19 says “they are an influential group; I can’t wait for their new song releases!” She also mentions “I am such a big fan, one might even call me a groupie.” Evidently, Cookie Wednesday is extremely popular. In fact, when discussing the band’s performances, students have mentioned that they have “re-watched a video recordings, several times.” The members themselves comment, “We are so happy about the love and support we’ve received in response to our work.”

In addition to Cookie Wednesday, an Upper School Hip-Hop dance group is another student group that is highly praised in the Winsor community. This ensemble is extremely talented with their impressive synchronization and smooth dance moves and has performed at several Upper School Meetings, during a school-wide assembly and during Jamnesty this year. Asrah R. ’20, an active member and choreographer of the group gave some insight on how the response they received from the student body. “The feedback from the Winsor students has been really amazing — my dance group and I feel very fortunate to have such a supportive and kind community encouraging and cheering for us whenever we perform,” said Asrah. “We work really hard and practice a lot to make the dances as polished as we can, and it takes a lot of self-confidence and courage to actually get on a stage and perform it. Seeing Winsor students appreciate us and compliment our hard work is really meaningful and helps us become a lot more comfortable and confident with ourselves and our skills, and makes us want to come back to the stage again and again to share our passion with the school.”

Thanks to the LOC and Winsor’s updated arts facilities, students are able to access the equipment and space, such as the dance studio and recording studio, necessary to organize and maintain independent, student-led groups. We look forward to their upcoming performances as well as the hope for more upcoming student-led arts groups!