Wenona Attends First Ever IGSA Dance Festival
This festival sees students come together for an intensive two-day workshop covering many choreography and dance styles. Over 20 Wenona dancers auditioned to be selected for the workshop, performing choreography taught to them over the space of an hour, with five being selected to represent the School.
This workshop's purpose is for girls to build and broaden their skills by being exposed to new dance techniques, all done through a collaborative approach, as opposed to a competitive environment. Not only this, it also gives girls a real-life glimpse into what it’s like to be a professional dancer, working in a high-intensity environment in which they have to absorb substantial amounts of information and choreography in a short space of time. The workshop provides girls with new performance opportunities and allows them to work with outstanding professionals from the Australian dance industry.
Students from over 20 different schools in NSW and Canberra attended the Festival, and it was a fantastic learning experience for our dancers, who were able to work with new people, practising their teamwork and leadership skills.
Our Head of Dance, Mr Fares, was extremely impressed with our students, saying, “Our Wenona dancers in the IGSA Dance Festival displayed their talent, passion, skills, and professionalism to the highest standard throughout the rehearsal process and performance. Our students grew their capacity, building collaborative skills with dancers from other schools and contributed to the highest standard in the creative process.”
It was a very memorable few days for our students, with Year 11 dancer, Xanthe, saying, “I enjoyed this experience as it was something that I had never done before. I got to learn lots of new choreography, and I feel that overall, my dance knowledge has improved.”
When asked what the most challenging aspect of the two days was, Elly in Year 12 said, “I was pushed as a dancer, and it made me realise what I am capable of, which motivated me in the performance.” Whereas, Year 8 student, Olivia, was challenged by the new styles of dance she was taught, “The musical theatre style pushed me out of my comfort zone at first, but I really embraced it.”
Audrey in Year 11 enjoyed the insight into the life of a professional dancer, saying, “This experience allowed me to gain a unique, firsthand understanding of what full-time dance training is like, which is something I could be interested in moving beyond school.”
The two-day workshop culminated in three fantastic performances at the Sydney Dance Company, where students got to put all their newly learned skills into practice.
A huge thank you to our Dance teachers, Ms Skea, Mr Connell and Ms Chamberlain, and Mr Fares, for giving our girls such wonderful foundations to build upon and offering their unwavering support.