The annual Expression Session dance show comes to the school’s Proscenium Theatre on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. and on Dec. 6 at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Falconer interviewed with the school’s dance director Sarah Kaye to learn more about the behind-the-scenes process of bringing the hour-long production to life. The show highlights the Dance Company across all branches, including Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Advanced, Intermediate and Beginning Dance PE classes.
When do you start planning the show, and what does the organizational process look like from start to finish?
“It starts with the students learning new choreography right after the Fall for Dance show in October. We took a week or two off, and we practiced technique. Then we started on the new choreography. They’ll learn four or five counts of eight, and then we rehearse that. Then, we continue another class, adding more choreography. We keep adding choreography, and we videotape all of it. We put it on Google Classroom ,so they can practice, and we keep on cleaning the piece. We have about five or six weeks of prep for each show. We plan out the dates for the three shows the year before so we are prepared in advance.”
How do you choose the music and pieces that will be featured in the showcase? What factors influence your selections?
“I always like good dynamics within a show, so I try to mix it up with upbeat songs and some of the lyrical songs that are a little sadder. I try to look at that when I’m putting the show together. I aim for a one-hour show without an intermission. I love to pick really fun music for Dance P.E. So, I usually pick something really popular that I know the kids will really love, like “Fergalicious” by Fergie or “Boom Boom Pow” by Black Eyed Peas. For the winter show [Expression Session], I let the students pick the music. I put up song suggestions based on each class period’s preferences, and then when the coaches Francis Florendo and Ysa Penaregio come in to choreograph the pieces, they look at the song selections, and they pick the one they like best.”
What goes into managing the technical aspects of the show, such as sound, lighting and staging for the performance?
“We usually try to start a few weeks early. I like to especially get Dance P.E. in here to get them used to being on stage. I keep all of the music and all the videos on my computer for easy access. I then give my lighting guys all the songs in order. We give Xavier, our lighting profession, ideas about what we want and what colors we are wearing. Florendo and Penaregio do all the other technical stuff. We’re all working on sound. I have a stage manager behind the curtains and we all are in headsets during the show’s duration. I make sure the floor and theatre are ready for show day and that we have tape on the floor so the students know their marks. I also put the program together to hand out at each show.”
Where are all the coaches during the performances?
“I’m in the back by the sound, so I can communicate with lights and sound, and I communicate with our other coach Gabby Durren who’s back with the dance team students. The big job is for Florendo and Penaregio. They are in the dance studio with about 300 kids, and there are another 100 kids in here.”
During long or demanding rehearsals, how do you help the dancers stay energized and motivated?
“We give encouragement and positive energy. In our last rehearsal with Dance P.E. period two, they already looked so good. But now, we are nitpicking and we are fixing the details like their focuses during the dance. We are so impressed with that period, and the hard work they have been putting in.”
What challenges have you encountered while preparing for this year’s show, and how have you worked through them?
“There was a house on the stage from the play “Clue.” I was supposed to be able to rehearse the week before Thanksgiving break in the theatre, but we were not able to because of the two story house set. The first day we got in there was Friday which is my advanced dance class, and they had repainted the stage for me, and it was sticky, so we could not even rehearse. We missed a whole week of rehearsal, that was hard. Other challenges we have faced are last minute illnesses, for example we found out that someone has COVID meaning we have to re-block that dance. There are many challenges in Dance PE, such as when students last minute announce they have to go to their grandfather’s 90th birthday party, and aren’t able to be at the Saturday night show. Then we have to re-stage everything; we did a lot of that for this show. We have a Friday night set, a Saturday matinee set and a Saturday night set for every class.”
What is the theme of this year’s “Expression Session,” and what inspired it? How do the dances connect to or express that theme?
“There is no real theme for this show. We use an Expression Session to prepare us for competition. We have all of our comp pieces, all of our costumes, hair and makeup, that’s the main idea. Competition season starts in January and our first competition is here at school. And for the PE classes they learn new choreography for the show that tends to become advanced compared to the Fall for Dance performance.”
