By Jeffery Frankel ’13, Staff Writer

Get your “gleek” on as Newark Academy’s fall dance concert rolls around the corner. Set to take the stage on November 19 at 7:30 PM, this season’s dance pieces are all accompanied by songs performed on the hit television show Glee. Glee, a musical comedy-drama, also serves as a fitting inspiration for a dance concert, presenting songs that are both legendary and contemporary—including such hits as Prince’s “Kiss,” Jill Scott’s “Hate on Me” and Adele’s “Turning Tables.”

When I sat down with Ms. Luxenberg, teacher and director of the dance program at Newark Academy, she explained that “the variety of musical styles and eras [Glee] has used, and production value of the musical numbers, and the overwhelming theme of never giving up and finding joy through art inspired me to choose this for our theme.” When I asked where she finds her inspiration, she cited past concerts and their themes: “The excellent instrumental music program at Newark Academy inspired the “Live” show, seeing art everyday in the gallery inspired the “Color Coordination” show, and when I was learning new technology in my graduate program, we had the ‘TECHnique’ theme.”

The concert will showcase the fall semester work of middle and upper school classes, the after-school dance program, as well the much beloved faculty dancers. This fall concert, however, is unique because it features two Advanced/IB Dance classes rather than one. “Having two Advanced/IB classes means more fun, but… the IB is a tremendous amount of logistical work,” she explained. She added: “I’m happy to do it because it serves the students to have this program.”

Potential themes for future dance concerts include “#1,” a concert in which each piece of music is a Billboard #1 hit from the last fifty years, and another entitled “Jazz” that features the live music of the jazz instrumental program, encompassing different subgenres such as blues, funk, ballads, Latin jazz, and jazz standards.

Upcoming dance events include a morning meeting on January 17 that will present IB student pieces by Nikita Agrawal ‘12 and Erika Kronk ‘13 in conjunction with the community art show “About Face” and, three weeks later on January 20,  the International Dinner performance.

Ms. Luxenberg remarked, “My number one priority is that the audience leaves feeling uplifted from the energy and beauty of the show.” Come out to the fall dance concert on November 19 to let out your inner ‘gleek’ and support the tremendous work of all of the dancers.