Dance
“Dance has always been a place of happiness, peace, and refuge for me,” Ms. Nwabude, Dance Director of MHS, said. “The best part of being a dance educator at MHS is having the opportunity to see so many dance students find their voice and power through movement.”
To prepare for the winter show “Emerging Dancers,” she explained the dancers work on choreography, stage spacing and set costume preparation. The perseverance of these students is displayed through their days of practicing during and after school.
“We’ve taken months to work on what we call personal projects and dedicated time after school to work on them as well,” Elise Patterson (12) said.
(back) performing to the song “La La La” by Naughty Boy and Sam Smith.
Reflecting this dance by its emotional yet captivating pose.
This performance also gives the dancers of different levels an opportunity to work with each other. This combination of dancers can help improve each other’s choreography. There is modern dance, classical ballet and modern ballet. They create choreography, and they recreated a holiday dance a former alum performed two years ago.
“Creating and mastering choreography is challenging. There are so many steps to get from studio to stage,” Nwabude said. “I enjoy the challenge of creating and collaborating with my students.”
In addition to performing their dance concert, they did a performance during the school day for students who were able to attend, and they joined the MHS Fine Arts Annual Winter Celebration performance on Friday, Dec. 12.
“Dance concerts allow all of us – dancers and audience members- to have a shared emotional experience,” Nwabude said. “My absolute favorite part of my shows is standing quietly in the wings watching my dancers conquer the choreography.”
Orchestra
The music from the orchestra students elucidates the crowd with great joy, preparing everyone for the festive season.
The orchestra performed their own holiday show, and later in the week, joined the winter celebration with band, chorus and dance for a combined celebration of the arts.
“My favorite part of the concert is getting on stage with these great students and playing holiday music and bringing some Christmas cheer and joy to people’s hearts,” Mr. Herndon, the orchestra director, said. Herndon explained that each rehearsal reveals new moments of progress with students’ technique and skill. He teaches and observes the students, and they reach new milestones throughout the year.
“I really enjoy watching them grow from when I first passed out a piece of music, the various challenges and them rising up to do the things I’ve asked them to do,” Herndon said. “During the performance each student displays the dedication and creativity within each of them.”
