‘Friendship’ Focus at Dance Festival

The Dance Academy hosted its annual dance festival last week. The theme this year was ‘friendship’. Student dancers were encouraged to explore their learning and gain self-knowledge through dance, in relation to another dancer. Students were paired with dancers from different schools, leading to the creation of new friendships. The students had to learn the choreography and consider how their actions could affect their peers, how they could be more considerate, move differently, and ensure their dance buddy felt comfortable and safe.

The festival’s goal is to bring student dancers from various international schools together for a variety of dance workshops. This year, the festival had five participating international schools with almost 200 students participating.

The workshops were in a range of dance styles, including Afrobeat, hip-hop and commercial jazz. Learning at the fest was no easy feat, and we are proud of our students who trained intensively for four hours before performing on stage. The students attended two workshops and a masterclass in both Primary and Secondary levels. The Secondary students also participated in additional activities such as a dance history quiz and dance filmmaking, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

At the end of both days, students showcased their learning on stage. The icing on the cake was the three professional dance crews that performed showcases – Haiyagurl, DDflection x HarryBlackrock, and the Warlock Group.

Student athletes often have the chance to meet each other at tournaments, but student dancers don’t get that same opportunity. Our festival provided that chance, and we’re happy to see parents and students giving it positive feedback. We hope this opens more chances for student dancers from different schools to collaborate and work together. As the famous saying goes, “A sense of belonging is the heartbeat of inclusion,” and that’s what our festival was all about this year.