It’s Showtime! NWSS Dance Students Rev up for June 6 Performance at the Massey Theatre…
Come on out for the NWSS Dance Show this Wednesday, June 6, at the Massey Theatre — the highlight performance of the NWSS Dance Program.
This year, it’s hip-hop with a Monsters Inc. theme – and it’s fun for all ages!
Tickets $8 at ticketsnw.ca.
A dance performance that’s student-led and student managed….
June 1, 2018 – It’s the highlight of the year for the dance students in New Westminster Secondary School’s Performing Arts Program.
Some 140 students from five senior and junior dance classes are revving up for a June 6 performance at the Massey Theatre Wednesday – in a show that’s student-led and student-managed all the way.
With a hip-hop focus and a Monsters’ Inc theme, it’s a performance that’s fun for all ages!
The senior show with grade 11 and 12 students is based on the Pixar movie “Monsters Inc” – about a little girl named Boo from the human world who visits a city of Monsters called “Monstropolis.”
The Grade 9 and 10 students are doing a radio show theme called “83.5: The Dub – NWSS Radio.”
For the students, the end-of-semester dance show is a group project and the culmination of the team-building skills they’ve been developing since the beginning of the semester.
The NWSS Dance Program is dedicated to providing students with a supportive, energetic, open and fun environment in order for students to develop fundamental dance skills, knowledge and experience in a variety of dance genres.
Teamwork, hard work, lifelong learning – and fun…
Encouraging student leadership and responsibility for the production “is one of the strengths of our program,” said teacher Lindsay Waldner, a chemistry, dance and musical theatre program teacher.
She and teacher Megan Alandi – who also serves dual roles as a dance and science teacher – are guiding the dance performance process.
But it’s the students who developed the concept and the script for the performance. Three three grade 12 choreography students were invited to develop the dance choreography.
Waldner notes that dance education in the high school program is different from dance lessons.
“As well as dance technique and theory, we are incorporating in dance the core competencies students need for lifelong learning – including the ability to collaborate, to communicate, to be role models.
Performance also involves “risk-taking, problem-solving, and the ability to demonstrate confidence in front of people,” she notes.
As Waldner is talking, one of the students takes charge of the rehearsal, counting the beat and guiding the movement in the mirrored dance studio.
As well as the 140 dancers, 10 student crew members in this year’s new NWSS theatre production course will be managing the technical backstage production requirements, including sound and lighting.
Waldner, who has taught dance at NWSS for 16 years, said a key pillar of the program is the emphasis on mentorship. All levels of dancers are integrated in each of the classes, so that strong dancers can mentor beginners.
Waldner notes that the students incorporate acting, character development and drama in their dancing. “I think of it as a musical without the singing,” she laughed.
As well as the evening show for the public on June 6, the students are putting on two school shows on June 7 for elementary and middle schools, and another performance for NWSS students.
