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Dance Beat
Submitted by Ann Kipling Brown
The Arts Education program invited high school students to participate in a Youth Dance event , titled Dance Beat . The dance event was initiated through a request of a graduate of the Arts Education program , Cheryl Dakiniewich , who teaches at the Tommy Douglas Collegiate in Saskatoon . She wanted her dance students to have the same experience as sports teams do – a chance to travel and show their skills to others ! And so , the idea was born in 2011 – to bring high school students together to dance and learn more about dance ! In addition , it would give university dance students an opportunity to work with high schools students and hopefully promote dance in our schools as well as support the Arts Education curriculum .
Cheryl wrote after the event this year “ I was so grateful for the opportunity to bring my students to Dance Beat . I appreciate all the hard work Ann Kipling Brown and the arts education students did for my dancers . The workshop sessions at the conservatory were incredible and the arts education dance students did a great job teaching the students choreography . It was very special for me , as an Arts Ed alumnus , to see my students learning in the U of R atmosphere . My students and I had a wonderful experience !” The event was held March 21 – 23 , 2012 in the dance and drama studios on the second floor of the Education Building and the dance studios and Darke Hall theatre in the Conservatory of Performing Arts . The students who participated were from Tommy Douglas Collegiate , Saskatoon and Campbell Collegiate , Regina .
On Wednesday and Thursday the program consisted of sessions in selected dance forms of Hip Hop taught by Brittany Murrison , Indian Classical Kathak Dance taught by Rosa Mirijello-Haynes , Tribal Belly dance taught by Carolina Smith , Creative Dance taught by Chancz Perry ; and in related areas Daysha Shuya presented a session on healthy life style and injury prevention for the dancer and Richard Zimich lead a session on the correct way to prepare for dance class and the performance context .
Additionally , there was an opportunity for the university dance students to teach choreography that had been prepared in their choreography class . The theme they explored for the choreography was Identity and each university student arranged a short section of choreography to be learned and / or added to by the students . These were presented at the end of the session with great encouragement and support .
On Friday the Tommy Douglas Collegiate students presneted their performances of various dance forms , including Ballet , Hip Hop , Lyrical , Jazz , Contemporary , Musical Theatre and Bollywood to invited elementary and high school students . The pieces had been choreographed by their teacher , the students themselves , or guest choreographers .
Some student comments :
I really liked when we had the different workshops , especially the belly dancing . ( Kaylan Bird )
... the workshops kept me interested throughout the trip . I wish I had another opportunity like this ! It was so great ; way worth it ! ( Maron Ditablan )
I learned ... how to prevent injury by warming up your muscles properly . Learning different types of dance was really fun . It made me want to go to school there ! ( Sara McGregor )
I learned about my muscles , how to stretch them and take care of them . I also learned new styles of dance and met new people . Our dance class really bonded and had fun ! ( Melissa Stevens )
... It was also an awesome time bonding with our team ! ( Allison Rogalsky )