the end of the year — Dance showcase

Since this was the first year for the dance program, we weren't quite ready for what I would call a formal dance concert; so instead, we had a "Dance Showcase — a celebration of dance learning," with the various dance forms we studied throughout the year mostly taking the place of student choreography. I do want to cultivate a focus on creative work and choreography as the program grows; but this year, when performing was optional (many students were taking Dance simply as a PE alternative with no thought to performing), the focus had to be on learned dance forms for purely logistical reasons.

All dance students had two options for their performance final: perform at least one dance on stage at the showcase, or perform in class during the final exam period. I put out sign-up sheets for all ten of the dances we had learned: basic jazz, Thriller, Lindy hop / Big Apple, Brazilian Samba, kahiko hula, 'auana hula, Tahitian, Central African / Congolese, Baile Folklórico, and ballet. As I expected, a large number signed up for the Polynesian dances, especially kahiko (ancient) hula; and another large group wanted to perform ballet (it is gratifying to know that so many students are still interested in these forms with strict, codified technique). What surprised me was how few originally signed up for Samba, with such enthusiasm while we were studying the form — my guess is that it was so fast and aerobic that many felt it was too difficult to attempt on stage, in front of a crowd (this is not to say, of course, that ballet and hula are not technically challenging! — only that the dances I chose to teach for those forms were relatively short and simple, with fewer steps and patterns to remember, and students probably felt they were less likely to "mess up"). With encouragement, we ended up with enough dancers to perform each dance, with the most dependably enthusiastic performers holding down the more challenging dances.

The difficulty this year was getting the dances rehearsed (while also spending most class time creating final choreography projects), and getting students from the three classes together for each dance. Because these were nominally beginning dance classes, an after-school rehearsal schedule had not been set out in the syllabus at the beginning of the year, so all I could do was set a schedule and remind students they needed to be at rehearsals in order to have the privilege of performing on stage. We had exactly two weeks of rehearsals, once the musical was over — unfortunately, the two weeks right before finals, when dancers were often making up work in other classes, so even the most dedicated dancers missed a time or two... The process was nerve-wracking for me, but comes with the territory of a first-year, all-Beginning Dance program. We never had a real tech rehearsal, since that late in the year the theater was constantly in use for awards and the like — our semblance of a tech was our one and only run-through on stage, two weeks ahead of the show. Our tech director sat and took notes on all the pieces, I emailed him the show order once I set it — and the performance was beautifully lit, as if by magic! I have now discovered what a godsend a good tech theater director can be.

By the time the performance arrived we had had 30 in the cast — some in just one dance, some in three, four, five, or six, and a couple in nearly every piece. I picked two student emcees to briefly introduce each dance (mostly so those dedicated dancers cold catch their breaths between pieces). We did also have one piece of student-choreography — I had invited any groups who wished to show their narrative choreography finals on stage, although I had not expected many among my beginning dancers to take me up on it... but one group was brave enough and showed their (quite dramatic) narrative.

The performance went smoothly — all the dancers kept track of the show order and backstage monitors, and appeared in the wings exactly when they needed to. So if the rehearsals were nerve-wracking, the actual performance was probably the least-stressful show I have ever conducted. Such a pleasure, and I am so looking forward to next year!

choreography final — narrative form

For many years I have used narrative form as the choreography final for my beginning students. I have found that this works well as a culminating project for the beginners — they have gotten some dance elements under their belts, and it's a simple and accessible way to start them down the road to thinking of dance as a way to communicate something (besides "these are my favorite moves to my favorite music").

I start by showing a few short examples of narrative dance from my library: usually one humorous (Paul Taylor's Snow White), one dramatic (the final scene of Romeo and Juliet); and one created by a pair of former students in turf dance/ hip hop style. Then the assignment is to create a dance that tells a story using only movement (no narration!) — whether an already-known story (like Snow White or Romeo and Juliet), a story from real life, or a story made up for the project. Since it is the final, I also require a few simple elements we have worked on: both locomotor and axial movement, movements and shapes on various levels, and movements in contrasting tempos. The only requirement for music is that it be instrumental, to avoid the temptation to mimic the words of a song.

I'm always interested to see what kinds of stories students choose for their projects. I usually see quite a few dances depicting well-known stories — often stories from movies, and especially Disney movies (these sophisticated adolescents can be charmingly eager to look back to their childhoods). I don't know whether this is because of the examples I show, or because known stories are easier for groups to agree on... but at any rate, this year was no exception: we saw dances portraying Pocahontas, Alice in Wonderland, the Titanic, the Little Mermaid, and three versions of Cinderella (one in each class). It was fascinating to see the diverse ways all these stories were treated: while one Cinderella group used mostly pedestrian movement and mime, another set the story into a more formal dance structure, with an opening unison section and characters freezing into still shapes while inactive (in lieu of going offstage). The Pocahontas group opened with a tableau of three dancers on their knees using a canoe-paddling gesture while the other three circled them with stylized wave gestures; the Titanic group used partner dancing as if showing a ballroom, before two connected dancers depicted the prow of the ship and then all dancers sank to the floor. I was especially taken with the Alice in Wonderland group, which used simple, stylized movement and symmetrical patterns to turn the story into a nearly-abstract (though still narrative) dance — opening with four dancers in a square, gesturing to the center with straight arms while the center dancer spiraled down to the floor ("down the rabbit hole").

Of course, not all narratives were from known stories — many groups or soloists made up stories, often using real-life issues such as bullying, cliques, and even human trafficking; and some performed stories from their own lives and experiences. Of these, some were quite dramatic and emotional: one story depicted how the choreographer's friends helped pull her out of depression in a difficult time; another depicted a family member returning after a long absence then committing suicide. I was impressed and encouraged by the seriousness with which all the dancers treated this project.

... and one more — ballet!

Wow — it's been more than a month! I always say the school year is like a marathon, and the last month is the sprint at the end of the marathon… what with performance season and all, I just plain ran out of time for writing. So I'll use some of the summer to recap what I would have written over the last month or so, in the best chronological order I can…

Our last dance form of the year was ballet, which I usually introduce to my beginners with the world dance forms in spring semester, as classical dance of Europe. This is the one that surprised me, when I polled students in the fall about which forms they most wanted to learn – so many students are interested in ballet! I always think of teens as more focused on hip hop and more flamboyant forms (like Samba); but they seem to be almost universally fascinated with Polynesian dances, and also ballet – I have to keep reminding myself that teenage girls (the vast majority of my students, of course) really want to look pretty, and they do think of ballet that way…

We of course finally got the chance to use the ballet barres for barre work every day — really just pliés, relevés, tendus and rondes de jambes, since classes are so short — and it was a delight to see how diligently they concentrated on their work at the barre! Then I set a dance to an instrumental piece by Ludovico Einaudi. I was surprised that many students seemed to recognize it — some asked me "was that song in a movie?" (of course, since I am entirely not attuned to pop culture, I had absolutely no idea).

Since we were only studying ballet for two-three weeks, I made the dance a fairly simple waltz, with one section of passés, pas de bourées, and port de bras; one of chainé turns and pas de chats; and some chassé-arabesque sautés. Since we had run out of time for a choreography project on choreographic forms, I also set the first section in canon form and the second section in antiphonal / call-and-response form, to at least begin to get across those concepts.

The students were for the most part completely enchanted with learning classical ballet — when it came time to sign up for dances to perform at the dance showcase (more about that later), more students wanted to perform ballet than almost any other dances (except for the Polynesian forms). Of course their technique was not perfect yet (lots still had to think hard about pointing their feet), but they worked very hard on the form. I think I will start the second-level classes with ballet next year!