Make a Stance, Take a Chance, Learn a Dance

Last November 14 and 15, we were graced by Juilliard’s top-notch choreographer Ms. Hilary Easton who has been a faculty of Juilliard since 2012 where she teaches dance composition. Her visit consisted of classroom observations, model teaching, professional development and an interactive workshop. Our dance teachers received feedback from her as she helped us implement the Juilliard Dance Curriculum school-wide.

After spending time observing and working closely with our dance teachers, Ms. Easton took the time to introduce what the dance curriculum looks like from the Juilliard perspective to a large audience of Léman Administration and parents. Right from the start, Ms. Easton got the crowd on their feet and moving with simple exercises to warm up the body. The audience was treated to a follow-up activity in which cards with different instructions were shown and followed. Ms. Easton did an excellent job breaking down any stress or tension that comes from dancing in front of a crowd, which is the main focal point of the Juilliard Dance Curriculum.

When implementing the Juilliard Dance Curriculum, creativity is encouraged, and Ms. Easton did just that by splitting the audience into groups to come up with their own dance numbers. The laughter and smiles were contagious in the room as the participants cheered each other on as the confidence level was rising. By mixing individuals that are confident in their dancing ability with those who are not as ambitious brought out the best of everyone and the interactive workshop was an extreme success.

We would like to thank Ms. Easton for sharing her expertise and visiting our campus. It increased the awareness and enthusiasm of the possibilities of the Juilliard Curriculum and spotlighted the hard work done by Mr. Ben Lepp, Ms.Felicia Dracz, Ms. Katherine Hwang, and Ms. Victoria Robinson so far this year. We look forward to what the rest of the year brings and the success of the Juilliard Dance Program at our school.