Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Dance Day!

Matt McNabb, Opera for All Teaching Artist



Joy. That is the word that comes to mind as I think about our dance days at Field Elementary and Armstrong Elementary schools. There was joy on the student’s faces as they felt so proud of their hard work, and joy on the teacher’s faces as we watched even some of the very shy students come out of their shells.

Dance requires patience, focus and a desire to have fun. All of these elements came together magically as we unleashed our inner Katy Perry in “Roar,” and clapped to the infectious rhythms of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.” As someone who tends to trip over my own feet, I found myself goofily jumping around and enjoying myself as much as the students. Even some of the teachers demonstrated their mad dancing skills, and the students couldn’t get enough of it.

I continue to be thoroughly impressed by the student’s adaptability as we throw new elements of performance at them. Singing, acting and now dancing are all coming together, and the student created operas are taking shape and coming to joyous life before our very eyes. I could not be more proud of our students and the amazing work being done in CPS classrooms as we share our love of opera and performance art with the next generation.


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