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Styx show at the Peekskill
Theater. They were treated to
the best seats in the house and
got to go backstage immedi-
ately after the show.
4.
Trip to Flux Studios in
New york City. Owner, producer
Fabrice Dupont gave the
students a guided tour through
Flux studios. Fab is a Grammy
nominated producer.
5.
Visit by Marvin yue ‘08,
who came back to SKS to record
a Chinese Rap song called
“
Materialism.”
6.
A trip to NyC’s number
one radio station q104, where
Emma Landau ‘12 interviewed
radio personality Ken Dashow.
Ken gave SKS a “shout-out” over
the airwaves.
7.
Student production of
The Thinker
,
a short film made at
the CAC, and submitted to the
Woodstock Film Festival. In
September 2012, we received a
letter informing us that of the
thousands of entries received
from around the world, there are
always about 100 “amazing films
that we cannot find room for in
the festival…
The Thinker
is one.”
8.
Student get together
with Seoyeon Choi ‘11 and
Dennis Kim ‘14. I met with both
of them in Greenwich Village and
took them to John’s Pizza and
then to a cafe that featured some
jazz. Seoyeon got the advice she
needed, and while Dennis didn’t
get the guitar he requested, he
was happy with pizza. Seoyeon
attends Washington university in
St. Louis.
Please visit our skscreativearts
youtube channel.
“
Creativity is as important in
education as literacy and we
should treat it as the same status.”
—
Sir Ken Robinson
Let’s Dance
by
Jeanette Perk,
Dance Instructor,
Performing Arts
THE liGHTS GO DOWn, THE
curtain goes up, the music begins, and
you are sitting in the back of the theatre. your students come out and
perform to the best of their abilities and enjoy themselves while doing
it. This is the dream of the dance teacher, and I am lucky enough that I
have been able to experience it many times.
Most high school students who want to take dance classes have to
go to a studio, after school, where they only get to go to class once a
week and are limited to train in one or two styles of dance. In our
dance classes at The Storm King School, students have dance class
during their daily class schedule five days a week and are trained in
jazz, ballet, lyrical, hip-hop, modern, and musical theater dance.
Monday through Thursday we work on a specific style of dance and
eventually complete a dance piece in that genre. The students are also
challenged to create their own dance pieces in the style and to the
music of their choosing. Fridays are our “Choreographers Workshop”
days where the students present to the class the dance that they have
been working on on their own. This gives the students a chance to
both give and receive constructive criticism and compliments.
At Storm King, no student is turned away from dance class. Whether
they have been taking dance class since they were very young or are
just starting out, we have got the class for them! We offer a dance class
for beginners, and an advanced dance class. Both of the classes are
highly individualized to push each student to reach their potential.
Dance is a tool to help students gain poise and confidence, become
creative problem solvers, learn to work collaboratively, give feedback
to their classmates, and receive feedback on their work. In the span of
one-trimester students show tremendous growth, not only in their
dance ability but in these other areas as well.
I have been dancing since I was three years old and teaching since I
was 19. I have choreographed more than 50
dance pieces including two musicals and a
30-
minute production about dancing with
disabilities entitled “I Can’t Not Dance.”
The dance studio at Storm King is always
full of laughter and work. There is a
comradery that grows between the dancers
throughout the year, they walk in classmates
and leave as friends. The students get to
perform in two dance showcases at Storm
King for their classmates and their families.
After each show the students feel accom-
plished and eager to start preparing for their
next performance!
Currently the dance classes are working
on modern dance pieces, and will soon be
moving on to ballet. In our first dance
showcase of the year the students per-
formed 17 pieces. The show was full of group
numbers as well as some student choreo-
graphed solos to instrumental music and
poetry.
This page:
Instructor
Jeanette Perk leads the class
through its latest routines.
