High School Students Experience Dance Program Through Summer Intensive

High school students across the state and beyond came to the Texas A&M campus for the Dance Science program’s annual Collegiate Summer Dance Intensive.

A total of 80 students attended the June 14-20 event, which provided dance classes and opportunities to choreograph and perform their own work. Diane Bedford, clinical associate professor, said her favorite part of the intensive was interacting with students in her ballet classes. She said she enjoyed seeing students experience new aspects of choreography and techniques.

“When students approach me after class with more questions, or comment about feeling more positive about ballet, I know that I’m making a difference in their education,” she said.

Faculty members led classes in ballet, modern, jazz, improv, Pilates and conditioning in the dance studios of the Physical Education Activity Program Building. The students also shared what they learned in a performance at the end of the week.

“The students always had such good energy,” said Vanessa Reiser, associate undergraduate program director and lecturer. “They were in class every day from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and they would come in with a smile and ready to learn. I hope they leave with a renewed passion for their dancing, are inspired by the unique perspective our program provides in Dance Science, and feel like they belong in the Aggie community having formed lasting relationships.”

The performance consisted of three works created by Bedford and by Everett Perry-Johnson, instructional assistant professor, and Jessica Boone, lecturer. Each work was tailored to an original concept for each group of students, Bedford said.

Participants in Bedford’s group worked through various prompts built on each other’s movement, and choreographed the movement together, she said.

“I pieced the puzzle and transitions together and allowed the dancers to choose music that matched their exuberant energy and enthusiasm,” she said. “Professor Boone worked with setting movement on the dancers and mixing in their creativity, while Professor Perry-Johnson set and directed all the movements in his piece.”

Macey Vasquez, a counselor for the intensive and a senior in the Dance program, said the participants found community among students and faculty.

“We had so many students from different states, and seeing them come together and experience various dance styles for the first time was really great,” she said. “This experience opens them up to more opportunities within the dance world, as they make connections among each other and with the counselors and professors.”

Bedford said she hopes the participants gained valuable insights and experiences that will inspire and inform their future paths in dance.

“I hope they received a new guide in their training, a safe approach to understanding technical demands and a deepened love for dance,” she said. “I also hope they left feeling connected to the faculty, so they return again and again.”

Photos by Igor Kraguljac.