Dance Theatre of Harlem Workshop
On Thursday, April 18, the Middle School and High School participated in the Dancing Through Barriers educational program with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The Dancing Through Barriers program fosters teamwork and community building through dance and dance education. Participants danced their way through history from a movement exercise to understand the Middle Passage, small group work to connect to each individual’s heritage, the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance. Ms. Perkins commented that it was fun to be “moving as a community of many communities.” During the program, participants also learned about the founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Arthur Mitchell, and the ballet company’s history.
One of the highlights of the High School program was the “Soul Train Line” where two dancers at a time dance down the center aisle formed by two parallel lines of people cheering the dancers on while waiting for their turn to dance, strut or bust a move!
A number of students provided testimonials at the end of the workshops, and they used words like “exciting,” “fun,” and “a great opportunity” to describe their experiences. And, in one very moving testimonial, Kiki Grillo-Chope stated, “I love dancing!” When asked what she thought about the workshop, Sadie Boulbol said, “It was enlightening to see how they put that story to choreography.” Clara Burkholder, who takes dance lessons, even performed her solo competition piece at the end of the workshop for the Dance Theatre of Harlem educators’ feedback and critique.
This programming was made possible thanks to a grant from Pentangle.
