The Performance Project 2010 has finally come to a close, and it’s been an extraordinary journey. The students of Rosa Parks Elementary School were a challenge to work with in some respects (they had an incredible amount of energy), but their work exceeded my expectations in so many ways.

When I began the project, I knew I wanted to do a dance from West Africa. We hadn’t had an African dance in our productions for several years and I thought the style might be challenging for this particular student group. Well, I was wrong. In no less than three rehearsals, they had it! The students had an opportunity to name the dance, which they called The Ghana Dance Tradition. Several students choreographed solos and performed them beautifully. Their effort and application was just amazing, and they made me so proud to be their dance teacher.

Students perform The Ghana Dance Tradition at the Young at Art Festival

The second dance the students performed was to be their biggest test. As educators, we always talk about life-themes and teaching important paradigms. Well, this was to be one of the most important lessons I’ve taught in years. One day, as I was lecturing the students on respecting each other’s differences, I was struck with the idea of teaching a second dance in a whole new language. How is that a dance you might ask? The idea was to have the students learn enough sign language that they would be able to perform to a song, as a “dance of gestures.” We talked about all kinds of people who have physical differences. The students asked lots of questions and came to respect others differences, through the frustrating experience of learning to sign.

In the final stage of the Performance Project, we performed for their school. The students and teachers were impressed with the performers hard work and focus. They students performed admirably and during the show a lot of people cried. I felt a sense of pride knowing we had done something cool and that it had such an emotional impact on people.

A glorious ending to the West African dance at the Koret Auditorium

Our May 8 performance for the Young at Art Children’s Festival at the Koret Auditorium (in the de Young Museum), was a dream. We were able to add a lot of interesting multimedia sound, images, and video to the production, which served to enhance the show in ways we never expected. As a result, I feel that it was one of the best student performances we’ve ever produced.

Stacey Blakeman and I worked hard on this project. For me, producing, directing, hosting, and choreographing for a children’s show (with almost 100 students), was a very daunting task. But, it was a labor of love. This project has served to remind me of why I do what I do. I love children and I love dance. Even more than that, I still love to learn. I love to teach. I love to evolve, and guide young people through experiences that help them to evolve too. My hope is that one day, they will each reach their full potential. I want them all to become the incredible artists and human beings I know they can become. I am very blessed…and very tired.