Dance provides many fundamental and necessary life-skills needed in today’s work force. It increases self-confidence and helps to lower performance and presentation anxiety, necessary skills for any job interview! Involvement in dance teaches focus and dedication to a goal, and helps students to appreciate the rush of excitement and accomplishment when that goal is reached, as well as emphasizing collaborative skills and helping students to develop positive and productive group dynamics. And it taps into the students’ creative problem solving abilities and helps to hone them! Additionally, dance helps to increase flexibility, strength, and endurance, increase the amount of physical activity in one’s life, focus on and improve nutritional education and food choices, improve intrinsic skills such as team-work, cooperation, discussion and debating skills and problem-solving and improve the ability to take constructive criticism and learn to improve from it.
Here at Woburn, we offer 4 levels of dance, one suited for each grade level. Each course focuses on technique development, strength, flexibility and creation. Every student is involved in both our end-of-the-year performance and the Annual Kiwanis Dance Festival. In recent years, Woburn has achieved a high level of excellence in performance and competition alike, bringing home numerous first and second place awards.
Our grade 9 and 10 comprehensive courses (ATC1O & ATC2O) are open to all students, whether they have formal training or are brand new to the world of dance instruction. The aim of these courses is to open up the students to variety of dance genres around the world and help them to experience as many different techniques and styles as we can fit into one year! They students spend time learning jazz, tap, ballet, creative modern dance and 1 social dance (salsa/rumba/merengue/swing). Throughout the year, students benefit from the instruction of professional dancers and choreographers who come into Woburn as guest teachers.
The Grade 9s and 10s also learn how to choreograph and, as a class, create one dance from beginning to end. Every dance done by the Woburn dance classes is always a collaboration between the teacher and the students. Everyone get to add their ideas so everyone in the class has ownership of the final product! This piece is performed at the Kiwanis Dance Festival and the Woburn Dance Showcase
Our grade 11 performance course is a University/College level course which requires a minimum of 1 junior credit as a prerequisite (ATC1O or ATC2O). In grade 11, the dancers focus solely on choreography and performance arts. Although there is technical work to be done, the aim of the course is to prepare students for multiple performances, sometimes as many as 8 in the year. The students work on dance collaborations as a group and in duets and trios, ending the year with solo performances on the auditorium stage.
Our grade 12 performance class requires students to have successfully completed the grade 11 course and is focused solely on performance arts and choreographic leadership. Although there is technical work to be done, the aim of the course is to prepare students for multiple performances, sometimes as many as 8 in the year. Through dance collaborations as a group and in duets and trios, the students perfect the art of performing as a team and focus on developing choreographic leadership skills, so they can take a more active role in their own learning. They end the year with solo performances on the auditorium stage.
Our extracurricular dance program is an extensive one, with multiple clubs running each year in a variety of genres including: hip hop, jazz, modern/contemporary, Bollywood, banghra, classical Indian dance, Latin dance, just to name a few. All of our clubs are student-run, from the audition to the choreography to the performance - all is orchestrated by dedicated students who choose to enhance their leadership by taking on this unique challenge!
Our clubs rehearse 1 hour a week beginning in early October and run until the end of May. They each complete one piece (sometimes two!) and perform in the Woburn Dance Festival, Woburn Dance Showcase and a variety of school assemblies and events.