Dance

The Spring Music and Dance Performance, "A Breath of Fresh Air," was held on April 28, 2021 on Kelly Mac Field. This was an accomplishment for all of our performing groups after a challenging year of teaching and learning through a pandemic. We were very fortunate to have a beautiful evening to hold our first outdoor performance. Due to having two cohorts and students remote, this had been the first time in the school year that each ensemble performed--played, danced, or sung--together.

The dance portion of the performance highlighted the Ballet Class and the Choreographer's Workshop. The Ballet Class danced to "Bitter Earth" by Dinah Washington and was choreographed by Ms. Jenne Griffith to exhibit the myriad of emotions felt throughout the past year.

 

The Choreographer's Workshop featured Caroline Lennon ‘21 and Samantha Stockwell ‘21, and was choreographed by Isabella Nieto ‘21. The Choreographer's Workshop danced to "Together" by Tori Kelly and Kirk Frankland.

 

The outstanding May 2019 Dance Festival featured our Ballet classes as well as our Dance Clubs demonstrating a variety of genres. The theme was Mardi Gras.

The show was full of energy, excitement and beautiful costuming. Each piece was different and spectacular in its own way.

    

A highlight was members of our Ballet class performing "Rise Up", a piece reflecting our yearlong global focus on "Displacement", choreographed by Mrs. Jenne Griffith.  

The Dance Club pieces were completely student choreographed and displayed creativity and technique that matched the ability of each student.

 

 

Our Spring Dance Concert in April 2018  was a wonderful program by our ballet class as well as an exciting presentation of diverse dance genres by our after-school dance clubs.

The Ballet Class presented 6 different dance works choreographed by Ms. Jenne Griffith, Ursuline’s dance instructor. The “Disney” theme was clearly expressed by the dancers’ gestures and beautiful costumes. These included graceful extensions in “Colors of the Wind,” lovely ballroom steps in “Beauty and the Beast”, and fluid hand movements in “Arabian Nights.” In the performance of “Let It Go” the older, experienced high school dancers showed their technical virtuosity, even dancing on point. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” number was exuberant. The finale was exquisite – “The Circle of Life” in which all dancers joined as the drums kept the beat.

Hats off to the club leaders for their selections of music and choreography of the dance club routines. The Hip Hop Dance Club performed two works, each with high energy as they popped and locked in unison. The Irish Step Dance Club also presented two works; the second was appropriately named “Showcase” as the dancers kept their upper bodies stiff while their feet made amazingly quick and precise movements.

Each of the other clubs delighted the audience with their aesthetics, their flexibility and strength, and their interpretations of each music style. We were thrilled to watch the Spanish Dance, Tap, Contemporary, Street Jazz and Bollywood dance clubs as well as the Choreographers’ Workshop.

Our thanks to Ms. Griffith for her dedication, imagination, and resourcefulness which made this evening incredibly special!

The Dance Concert in April 2017 presented "Decades of Dance." The brilliant choreography expressed the characteristics of each time-period extremely well, whether the ballet class as flappers dancing "Slow Down Blues" (1920s) or the Hip Hop Dance Club performing a medley of numbers from the 2000s. The Tap Dance Club's choreography of 1950s "Mr. Sandman" was surprisingly expressive as the dance subtly told a story.

All the costumes were well matched to the dances, and the performance of "Sailing" (1970s) used cloth very effectively to complement the dance moves. Music choices were first-rate: The audience swayed as the Spanish Dance Club performed and were nostalgic during the ballet class moves to "What a Feeling" from 1980s "Flashdance." The Irish Dance Club showed a lot of energy as they presented "Tell Me Ma" by Sham Rock while the Indian Dance Club was extremely elegant as they offered "Manwa Laage" (2000s).

Our dancers clearly enjoyed performing their original choreography in the Spring Dance Festival in April 2016. The theme was Broadway and Old Hollywood. The audience loved every one of the fabulous dance numbers – ballet and theater dance, hip hop, Indian dance, Spanish dance, Irish dance, and much more! Thank you to Ms. Jenne Griffith for teaching and guiding the dance students all year.