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Dance Club

Club: Dance Club

Sponsor: Elena Cherry

Location: S200/S201 (Dance Studio)

Time: Every day afterschool 4:30 - 6 (when preparing for a show)

 

Activities:

Only the stage of the auditorium is illuminated, the rest of the auditorium is still blanketed in darkness, sliding off the red satin of the chairs. The high school Dance Club trickles in, chattering about classes and colleges- a familiar topic as the year draws to a close. Techies yell back and forth, one from the stage, one from the booth, as they set the theater up for rehearsal. What were once muted and flat voices become full and warm as the sound system buzzes to life. Dancers mill around the stage, practicing their dances with half-motions of their arms and legs. They're running through the senior dances, for a few minutes the gentle chaos of the stage becomes an exercise in uniformity, music booming over the speakers. After a while, the group breaks up, and all that is left are a few seniors that stay back to practice a little more, or practice dead drops on the stage. Eventually, they

give way to the experienced dancers, the ones in the club, as they run through their much more complex pieces. Their shadows twist and twirl, larger-than-life, against the walls. Their forms seem to fly as they leap and curl their legs, interrupting the streams of spotlights. Afterwards, those left in the near-empty auditorium clap raucously, half teasing as they whistle and cheer. They perform back walkovers and cartwheels for each other in the stairwells, laughing amongst themselves about nothing much at all. Most of the seniors have drifted away by then, and more and more of those enrolled in dance classes and members of the dance club pour in, donning costumes of every colour, stretching out sore and tired limbs.
They run the show, choreographers talking through dances from in front as they dance in time. The lighting cues are set up, brightening and darkening the stage in unison with the dancers. They create art with the music and their own bodies, straining themselves to attain perfection.

 

Recommendation:

Dance Club students join the club because they like to dance, and it provides them with the time and facilities to dance.  They find the club to be a fun and entertaining creative outlet, and they meet many of their friends through the club and their love of dance.  Their favourite thing about the club tends to be the opportunity to work with new people, including techies, more experienced dancers, and choreographers.  They enjoy the company of their fellow club members, and say that the environment is competitive in a good way, as everyone wants to be in the front of the dance.  Students committed to dance, who enjoy the companionship of their fellow dancers, while maintaining a strong work ethic, work well within the structure of this club.  Joining the club provides opportunities like choreographing and organising parts of the end of year dance shows.

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