This month, we interviewed our ballet teacher, Ms. Yuka, asking how she and her students have been preparing for the Spring Dance Recital.
This year’s theme is Color the World! What are you looking forward to seeing in this theme, both from your students and other dancers?
I am looking forward to seeing everyone dancing beautifully on stage, making the audience and their families smile, and creating a happy and peaceful time.
How have your students been preparing during class?
We started rehearsing in early March. During the first half of class, we warm up and practice steps included in the dance, and in the second half, we work on the choreography.
How do you include the students who aren’t participating in the recital so that they still have a complete and fun class experience?
Students who are not participating in the recital are still learning the steps and choreography in the same way, but in a position where they will not be affected when creating the formations for the performance.
As an exercise in “being an audience,” one group of students takes turns performing while the other group is watching.
I’m hoping to have an opportunity for these students to share the pieces at the parent observation class at the end of the semester.
Are you incorporating any new skills in your choreography that dancers might not have shown in the winter recital? If so, what can we expect to see during the recital?
My choreography includes new steps they have been learning since winter.
They also practice the formation changes repeatedly with their classmates and learn to dance in a group.