Arts home | Parish Episcopal School 4101 Sigma Rd Dallas, TX 75244 972.239.8011
2008-09 Dance Information:
Dance
Parish Dance Crew Performance Schedule
2007-08 Dance Information:
Course Descriptions, 2006-07
Midway Fine Arts Committee Hosts Dallas Black Dance Theatre
Parish Episcopal School started implementing dance into the arts curriculum during the 2003- 2004 school year. Dance education at Parish provides students with the opportunity to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of dance as an art form by helping them to gain significant knowledge of dance elements. Each class is given the opportunity to apply this knowledge of learned technique during formal presentations in different venues throughout the academic year. Skills and knowledge of dance help students to develop meaningful concepts of self, human relationships and physical environments. In addition, dance helps to build critical thinking skills by examining movement and choreography intent. As a result, creative thinking skills are strengthened and refined. The Dance Department at Parish works closely with the Choral and Drama Departments during plays, concerts and the spring musical. This assists students in acquiring a well rounded arts experience.
Jazz Dance
Jazz dance has developed into a broad variety of styles which have been introduced by well know choreographers such as Jack Cole, Michael Bennett or Bob Fosse. Jazz dance emphasizes isolations (Freely moving one part of the body such as head, shoulder, or pelvis while keeping the rest of the body still and in a designated place). It also emphasizes moving through certain positions rather than holding a position for balance as in ballet. Jazz dance is the type of dance that one would most likely see in a Broadway musical.
Lyrical Dance
Lyrical dancing is when a dancer takes on the role of an actor and tells a story through technique and emotion. Facial expressions are extremely important as the dancer practices to make those expressions sincere without becoming over exaggerated, contrived or pushed. A lyrical dancer tells a story through dancing and should feel and understand the music and its message and then convey it to the audience. The audience should feel a connection between the dancer and the music. Lyrical dance is a combination of jazz and ballet often using both fluid and sharp movements depending on how the music is interpreted.
Department Goals
The goal of the Dance Department at Parish is to strive for excellence in dance and to become superior, on a competitive level, among schools in Texas and in the US, while instilling a sense of school pride and unity through group participation. Currently, Jazz and Lyrical dance is offered as the basis for learning basic dance technique. We look towards the future with the intention of offering more specific courses such as ballet or ballroom, in order to be able to offer students a variety of dance courses from which to choose.