The seventh and eighth grade dance program offers a wide variety of dance techniques and creative experiences to develop students' functional and expressive movement potential. The class is designed to facilitate technical ability by increasing body awareness, balancing mobility with stability, developing coordination and rhythm, and building students' movement vocabulary. A range of dance styles, including Modern, Hip hop, West African, and Dances of the African Diaspora, are introduced and explored in their social, historical, and cultural contexts. The creative aspect of this class integrates improvisation, composition, and performance. Individual expression takes on a deeper meaning as students begin to grapple with self, identity, and relationship issues, issues often reflected in their dance making. Our curriculum provides opportunities for students to bring their diverse backgrounds and individual movement interests into the studio to share with one another in a safe environment of risk-taking and mutual respect.
Assignments include creating original movement phrases, manipulating movement material, discovering dynamics, reconstructing a dance master's choreography, analyzing dance videos, and performing in a Flash Mob. This course features a site-specific dance video project called DanceWAVE (Working Artists Video Ensemble) that culminates the year. Students work together to create a dance video set in a wide range of locations in and out of the school. Guest artists and class trips to professional dance performances are an integral part of the curriculum. This course provides an excellent foundation for future participation in the High School Dance program.