IB Dance showcases their choreography
On Friday, March 7, International Baccalaureate [IB] dancers took the stage at Newbury Park High School to show friends and family all they have been working on for the past school year. The IB Dance class is designed specifically for juniors and seniors, but even in the same class, each student plays a different role in the concert. IB Dance works to broaden student’s dancing experiences and teaches about different global communities through the IB learner profile traits: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.
17 dances were shown in total, including a special guest, the NPHS Bollywood Club. Of these 17 pieces, the five seniors in the class were able to choose one piece of their choreography to display on stage Friday night. Throughout the year, these seniors have been working on choreography pieces to submit for their IB testing, while also learning cultural dances from their teacher, Cameo Carolan. “Senior students have the most pressure as they are refining the choreography they’ve taught and perfecting the impact and technique in their performances,” Carolan said. Each piece choreographed by seniors displayed each of their personal stories, and how they have become the person they are today.
Juliette Stoffer, senior, is currently in her second year of IB Dance class, and believes that this year has many differences than the first year of the course. “The first year you’re getting the lay of the land while learning and planning everything. Your senior year is really where you get to put all of your developed skills into action,” Stoffer said.
During the show, Stoffer’s choreography piece, titled “The ALS Chronicles: Deteriorating Slowly,” displayed the challenges that her family has faced since her father’s diagnosis of ALS. While she was not dancing in the piece herself, Stoffer looked forward to seeing the piece come to life. “It represents such a key part of who I am and I’ve been developing it for over a year now, so I’m excited to finally see all of my hard work shown in front of an audience,” Stoffer said.
On the other hand, juniors were trained for the cultural dance routines, as well as performing in the senior choreography pieces. These cultural dances included Flamenco, ChaCha, Hula, Bollywood and African Dance. “Dancers by nature like to dance in the style that they do well. IB dance is about exploring different cultural dances which is extremely difficult. Each dance style is like learning a new language,” Carolan said. “The audience gets a rare opportunity to watch students taking risks.”
Zach Paczkowski, junior, has enjoyed the support that everyone in the class has given each other, especially in his first year of the class. Dancing for about 11 years, Paczkowski has already learned many things from the IB Dance class. “I would recommend this class to anyone who is even slightly interested in dance and learning more about the culture of dance in other parts of the world,” Paczkowski said.
While many of the students in the class have been dancing for their entire lives, some have learned to dance at Newbury Park High School through the dance classes available. Carolan believes that the IB Dance class broadens the way people think about dance, culture and their place in the world. “Song, dance, cooking, storytelling are the building blocks of families and how communities connect. Once dancers see the different value systems, they can see their role and place within the performance community,” Carolan said.
