City: Palo Alto
Public or independent? Independent
Names of dance teacher: Georgianna Shea
Courses offered: Dance 7, Dance 8, Choreography, Dance Production Workshop I, Dance Production Workshop II (approved for UC arts credit), Advanced Dance Production Workshop
Do you have a musical? Castilleja offers an annual dance performance called Arts with a Heart. Rehearsals are during lunch, after school and on weekends, and performances are open to all grade levels. Middle School as well as Upper School Musicals also take place throughout the year.
After school options: All musicals and dance performances often hold auditions and rehearsals after school Monday through Friday.
Typical dates of musicals: Arts with a Heart takes place during the 2nd weekend in February. Other Upper School and Middle School musicals take place throughout the year.
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Castilleja Middle School's Dance Program strives to celebrate the diversity of dance styles around the world, and to let students explore the creative and expressive qualities of movement as a tool to communicate ideas and feelings. The 8th grade Choreography class concentrates on dance composition and the creation of original dances. Students take responsibility for all aspects of the choreographic process including selecting a theme, choosing music and dancers, choreographing movement, and determining costumes, sets, props, and lights as a preparation for the Dance Production Workshop (DPW) classes in 10th, 11th and 12th grade. In the first semester of 9th grade students rotate through 5 core arts programs, including a foundational dance program where all forms of dance are covered. In the second semester, students get to choose 2 arts that they would like to further explore. This dance course focuses on storytelling through dance and finding inspiration for dance.
Dance Production Workshop gives 10th, 11th and 12th grade students a hands-on experience and introduces them to the elements of technical theatre specific to dance production. Student producers are directly involved in the process of producing Arts with a Heart, a show using dance and multimedia to raise awareness about important issues facing today's world.
Castilleja’s well-rounded middle school dance curriculum is one very unique aspect of our program. 7th and 8th grade students get to discover numerous dance styles from all around the world and learn about dance composition and choreography. All of the work done in Castilleja’s Middle School Dance programs establishes a strong foundations that students will build on in the Upper School.
Castilleja's annual Arts with a Heart performance is another aspect of the dance program that makes it truly unlike any other. Arts with a Heart is dedicated to raising awareness and funding for a worthy cause by creating an entertaining show utilizing the art form of dance. We aim to foster engagement in both the local and global community, while being inclusive of the entire Castilleja School student body. The DPW class produces and runs the show, promoting collaboration between grades and teaching students important life skills that will apply to their lives inside and outside of the Castilleja community.
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Dance forms explored in the program: Castilleja Dance students learn about numerous forms of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, world dance, hip-hop, contemporary, and modern dance.
Do students get to choreograph? Yes
Student quotes about the program: “DPW has changed my high school experience because it is so different from my other classes - it is very project-based but it is also like a ‘mini-company’ as Ms. Shea calls it… you gain a lot of skills that will prepare you for the real world that you really can’t learn from any other class.
It is really cool to be able to make an impact for a specific cause every year in AwaH. In 2016 we raised awareness about equity in education, in 2017 we worked on improving mental health, and this year we will be focusing on human rights. Often these issues go unnoticed, and it is really great to be able to address them and bring them to light through dance.”
- Pauline Bromberg ‘18, Advanced DPW student
Do you hire guest artists for master classes or setting choreography? Yes
Recent field trips included: Dance classes often take field trips off campus to find inspiration for upcoming dances and to view live performances.
Would you consider an intern or student teacher? Yes