Dance Team Celebrates First Performance

On Wednesday, February 6, The Dance Team celebrated their first performance at one of the home basketball games.  Great job girls!

Turn To Stone (Melanie & Marko Contemporary)

Our G Block Dancers have recently viewed Melanie & Marko from So You Think You Can Dance perform "Turn To Stone" choreographed by Travis Wall. Here is what they had to say about it!

"I've never seen a statue dance. It made me sad. The emotional connection between the two dancers seemed to be the heart of the dance. I liked that both of the dancers worked in parallel position." - Susie

"I liked this dance better than the others because the dancers danced with feeling and you could see a hint of their easygoing relationship (off stage). The piece was believable because Melanie & Marko danced each step precisely and made sure their movements corresponded with the message of the dance. Their costumes made them appear as statues and helped the dance by not only emphasizing the idea of statues but by making the dancers look good. When the dancer's costumes correspond with the theme of the dance it helps because it reminds the audience what the dance is about." - Natalie

"I really loved the dance. I appreciated the last scene when Melanie stops being passionate and slowly turns into a stone. The turning point is so good that I can't move it out of my mind. I think it was the story behind the dance that made the choreography believable to me. As an audience member I can feel the story from the emotion between the dancers and the movements show us that they are really expressing the essence of the story to us." - Dela

"This was our favorite dance. We liked how the music was relating to the dance. It made it clear that they went together. The costumes and the body paint made both of the dancers look like real statues. They were great dancers who didn't hold back in any of their movements." - Eva & Jenna

A Glimpse of Dance Classes Today, January 10, 2012

Today was a busy day in the dance studio.  We wanted to share a few quick videos of what the kids were working on.

Grade Six was working on lifts.  They were split into three groups and were challenged to create unique lifts.  This is what they came up with!

The Upper School G Block Modern/Contemporary class was working on a combination which incorporated pique and attitude turns.  Below you will see each group attempting the combination.

MacDuffie Dancers Attend UMASS Dance Concert

On Friday, December 2, nine of the dance students attended the UMASS

Winter Dance Concert at Bowker Auditorium on the UMASS campus. 

 

The students had a chance to view numerous works choreographed by faculty and

guests including "New Second Line" by Camille Brown which was

inspired by the events of Hurricane Katrina, as well as

"MinEvents" choreographed by Merce Cunningham.  A favorite of

many of the students was "Rotator", choreographed by the UMASS

director of dance, Billbob Brown.  

The students had a great time! 

Special

thanks to Spanish Teacher Mr. Taylor who accompanied us on this trip.  

Students from left to right are:  Stefanie Shen, Mei Liu, Li Guan, Susie Zeng, Dela Lin, Maggie Taylor, Jessica Schwartz, Naomi Phelps, Nikai Fondon and Evelyn Lu

Dance Team?!

There seems to be a lot of hype about the newly formed, unnamed, yet to get off the ground,  “dance team”.   This group of 8-12 dancers will be performing at a few of the home basketball games in the near future.  So what is this group all about?  

Some of our dance students were looking for an opportunity to perform and study jazz dance, something that we do not offer at MacDuffie.  A dance team is a great opportunity to challenge the skills of our beginning to intermediate dancers and teach them a style of dance that they do not study as part of the dance curriculum.  The dancers are required to perform movements with a quality of sharpness at the same time remaining in unison with each other.  They work on formation changes, transitions and articulations that are not part of their general course of study.  They also get to dance to remixed versions of popular songs, something that we normally steer away from due to the lack of depth within the lyrics.  A dance team provides the dancers (and audience) with a chance to perform (and view) dance for movement’s sake or entertainment.  It is fun and lively.  It is a little break from the academic (ballet and modern) side of dance that the students take part in during their dance classes.  The dance team meets during F Block on Mondays and Tuesdays.  

They are looking forward to their first performance which will hopefully be coming up soon!

Our Winter Concert Performance

"It’s my first time to dance in such a big stage in front of so many people. I even haven’t danced in front of my parents. I am really proud of myself, but also I felt something more than that".

"When I was dancing, I could put my emotion into it and I felt that passion fulfilled my heart".

 "Being part of the concert was a really good experience. Not only am I able to perform, I’m able to understand everything the performers of the past have experienced. Being backstage at rehearsals was a lot of fun because while we waited, we were either practicing to correct certain movements, stretching, or taking a TON of pictures of everyone at their best. I really loved actually being a part of something that mattered to a lot of people, including myself. Being a performer and not a spectator is a huge difference, but after the nervous feelings and worries of messing up on stage passed, it was more fun performing than watching others perform. After the concert, when my family and friends applauded me for doing a good job, I felt accomplished, like I satisfied everybody in every way possible. Being a part of the dance program made me realize that dance could become something I can be passionate about".

"From the words of my friends, I knew that they love that dance, they think Neuf looked wonderful"! 

"I personally felt that this was the most challenging Winter Concert I've been in, not only because the stage was different, but because the dances were particularly challenging.  But, I really enjoyed the challenge and feel that I've improved because of this.  I'm already looking forward to the Spring Concert"!

"I have never tried to dance before, and it is the first time to dance in front of people after kindergarten.  It is like a kind of chance for me to try different kind of thing.  I will never regret doing this".

"Before taking this dance class, I can never imagine to dance, even my parents can't imagine me dancing..."

"At the concert I began to realize how much closer I've become to some of my peers. I've built foundations of friendships I never would have before".

A Glimpse from Backstage

On Saturday, December 10, 2011, The MacDuffie Dancers took part in the Winter Concert.  When you watch the show from backstage you see the dancers in the wings before they go on- stretching and shaking out their nerves, taking their places on stage and going through all of the motions that they have done hundreds of times in rehearsals.  They know that this is the moment they had practiced for three months to get to.  I was so proud of all of our dancers tonight and can't wait for the professional video to be ready!

B Block "Ghost Tracks"

Nikai Fondon "Blazing Fury"