Students in the Advanced Dance and Choreography class at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington took the stage for the high school’s third annual Dance Showcase on April 30.
Student dancers and choreographers in the physical education elective program performed original routines after learning movements and choreography skills from each other and their teacher, Kaitlin Szczesny.
“I love the fact that the community here at Port Washington is so arts-driven, and they value it,” said Szcezesny.
To prepare for the showcase, students in Szecezesny’s Advanced Dance and Choreography class learned about different movements, themes, dance styles, and more throughout the school year.
After learning skills from their teacher, students then worked together in pairs or small groups to prepare a routine for a mock audition for the showcase. From there, students could act as choreographers or dancers for their original work in the May showcase.
Throughout the process, Szcezesny said she’d work with students to give feedback on their routines and the students often collaborated to improve their work.
The Advanced Dance and Choreography elective is open to students in all grade levels. Still, many students take Schreiber’s more introductory Dance and Movement class, which teaches the fundamental aspects of dancing, such as rhythm, movement and strength, before moving up to the advanced level.
This school year the advanced dancing course opened up to ninth graders for the first time, and Szcezesny said two ninth-grade students stood out to her when performing a duet together.
The one ninth-grader also performed a piece called “Rise Up,” which Szcezesny said “was about coming together as a community and really rising up to the occasion with whatever adversity that you have in life.”
Other student performances included “I See You” and “Let Me Move You.”
