Throughout the day, students gather in the Bing Dance Studio to take dance classes in many different styles. Three times this year, they will be up on stage in the Saperstein Theatre, showing our community the hard work they have put in in this studio.
Ms. Burr and her co-worker Ms. ZW both work together to craft themes and choreography as well as teach dance classes The dance shows take place over the course of the year with two workshop showcases happening in January and May where the main focus is dance pieces students have choreographed themselves, and with the Dance Concert happening in February. Unlike the workshop showcases, the Dance Concert has one cohesive theme and message.
The theme for the Dance Concert is still a secret, but the experience will take you from reality to fantasy then back again,” Burr said.
Students are able to take four levels of dance. They are Introduction to Contemporary Dance as a beginning level, Contemporary Dance Workshop 1 (CDW1) for beginning/intermediate dancers, then Contemporary Dance Workshop 2 (CDW2) for intermediate/advanced dancers, then finally, Dance Production offered for the most advanced dancers. Students are free to audition for any level they want to, with the exception that seventh graders don’t have the option to enroll in or audition for Dance Production.
The Contemporary Dance showcases are geared towards showcasing dancers in lower levels, while the Dance Concert dancers will be in CDW2 and Dance Production.
“I’m excited that we have many different shows that display completely different groups of dancers. I think it really speaks towards the performance opportunities that everyone has here, regardless of what level you are at.” Burr said. “My favorite part of dance is how it develops two parts of its students-dance is all about striving for physical excellence while also growing artistry because both are instrumental for dance.”
“The dance shows also have this incredible power to bring people together,” Burr said. “My favorite part about dance is how it combines striving for physical excellence while working on performance and storytelling qualities.” She said, commenting on her favorite part of dance.
When asked if she thinks that the dance program at HW has a lot of opportunities for these things, she said: “Oh yes. Absolutely. I think that’s the best part of the program here.”
