By Jeffery Frankel ’13 and Nitika Kaul ’12, Staff Writers

As the school year winds down, the Arts Department wraps up with some of the most exciting work created throughout the year. In celebration of fifteen years of NA’s successful Dance program, the Spring Dance concert had the theme of “15 Forward.” This was an extension of the theme from the Fall Dance Concert, and featured pieces that have been performed in recent years. The dances were performed by the six middle school and upper school classes, in addition to one piece which featured Alumni from the dance program. Additionally, eight junior IB Dance students choreographed their own dances, each with their own concept and theme.

As part of the two-year IB Dance program, students are required to choreograph these group pieces and teach them after school in the spring, leading their own rehearsals. Dancers must also choreograph a duet and a solo, and write papers throughout the year about the composition of their own dances. Finally, they are required to write the “World Dance Investigation” paper, which is a 2500-word analysis of dances of a familiar and unfamiliar style. Class member Leila Hariri is writing about modern dance and ballroom, while Trishna Kumar is exploring Indian Bharatnatyam and Brazilian Capoeira.

When we asked Sanjana Umarale about her experience as a teacher of dance rather than as a student, she explained that teaching choreography is harder than learning choreography, as “you have to shift your perspective and put yourself in the place of the dancers” in order to effectively share your vision. She further explained her theme, saying that it revolves around “being controlled and trying to break free,” and all of her movements incorporate this idea. Finding a theme was one of the most difficult parts of the process, as it was important to maintain a central idea or motif throughout the piece. For example, Sanjana portrays “control” by creating a group that is “constantly being controlled and [whose] movements are completely dependent on the actions of the other dancers.” Sanjana explains that choreography is a challenge, and she usually makes up movements by “free styling to the song”; once she finds something she likes, she incorporates it into the piece.

Do not forget to look out in the fall for another group piece choreographed by IB dancer Nikita Agrawal. The piece will be shown during a morning meeting and will be performed by next year’s Advanced/IB Dance class.

After weeks of hard work, the dancers performed each piece spectacularly.  This success however, would have been impossible without the leadership of their determined, creative, and passionate choreographers. These eight ladies should be commended and celebrated, as their hard work paid off with eight incredible and unique pieces of choreography.

Linked: Student choreographed pieces from the Middle School perspective.