The National Honor Society for Dance Arts Florida FootNotes Seminole Ridge Community High School Chapter No. 1036 FL Volume V, Issue 1 Spring 2015 BEYOND THE TEST 2015 On February 6, Florida Dance Education Organization s 2015 Beyond the Test: Mentoring for Artistic Engagement was held at Howard W. Blake High School in Tampa, Florida. This was the second time that the Florida Dance Performance Assessment (FDPA) and the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) concert and workshops were held jointly. Participating schools included: Academy of Arts and Minds, Calvary Christian Academy, Cypress Lake High School Center for the Arts, Dr. Phillips High School Dance Magnet, Flagler Palm Coast High School, Howard W. Blake High School Magnet, Lehigh Senior High School, North Ft. Myers Academy for the Arts, North Port High School, Orange Grove Middle Magnet School, Pinellas County Center for the Arts, Seminole Ridge High School, and Wellington High School. During Beyond the Test: Mentoring for Artistic Engagement, students participated in the FDPA, the NHSDA Concert, mock auditions for college programs, and took master classes taught by Sir Brock Warren and Osmany Montano. A huge thank you goes to Kelly Rahl, FDPA Chair, and Albena Arnaudova, both of the host school, for making the weekend such a success. On Friday night, dancers gathered for our very first social event that included refreshments and activities. Thanks to Jennifer Simmers and Erin Sinsley for organizing this event which allowed chapters to meet each other and share service projects. Students who participated at FDPA demonstrated on demand and prepared performances that were assessed by adjudicators. Following the review of the written evaluation, adjudicators, students, and teachers from each school engaged in a reflective discussion to address areas of mastery, as well as areas that are in need of improvement. Participation provided teachers with collegial support, a variety of instructional strategies to increase learning outcomes and sound methods for streamlining assessment procedures.
Beyond the Test FDPA Adjudicators: Valerie Barreiro, Michael Foley, Carolina Garcia, Cindy Hennessy, Daniel Lewis, Paula Nunez, John Parks, Jeanne Travers, Elsa Valbuena, Sir Brock Warren Beyond the Test Teachers: Christina Acosta, Bliss Kohlmyer, Osmany Montano, Paula Nunez, Sir Brock Warren Students from twelve different schools who are members of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts performed in the All-State Honors Concert. Collegiate dancers from the University of South Florida performed When We Fell, a piece choreographed by Michael Foley. Thanks to Martha Satinoff, Florida NHSDA Chair, for directing this part of the weekend. About 60 dancers participated in the mock college auditions. Paula Nunez gave the ballet portion and a modern and improvisation class was taught by Bliss Kohlmyer, both of SFU. After the audition, dancers had the opportunity to hear an overview of the dance programs from the college panel. The Mock College Audition Panel: Christina Acosta, Hillsborough Community College Michael Lomeka, Jacksonville University Jillian Harris, Temple University Bliss Kohlmyer, and Paula Nunez, University of South Florida Susan Taylor-Lennon, University of Tampa Daniel Lewis, FDEO Board, founding Dean of Dance, NWSA [picture?] The date, time and place for the 2016 Beyond the Test: Mentoring for Artistic Engagement will be announced soon. For more information about this event or to learn more about the Florida Dance Performance Assessment visit www.fdeo.org.
Chapter Spotlight Seminole Ridge Community High School Chapter #1036 In the fall, members of our chapter represented the Seminole Ridge dance department in the Homecoming week activities by creating a float and marching in our Homecoming Parade at the football game. The theme of our float was High School Musical, fitting with the Broadway theme for Homecoming. We received a second place award for Best Club Float. In February, members of our chapter took part in our school s first ever Dance Marathon, raising money for the UF Health Shands Children s Hospital. Through the activities surrounding this event, our school raised $18,656.34 to donate to the cause. Our students had a phenomenal time participating in the Dance Marathon, and are excited to be involved again next year! Also in February, we traveled to Tampa to participate in the Florida Dance Performance Assessments and the Honors Concert performance. We had an amazing time meeting students from other schools and performing Emmanuel in the Saturday evening performance. In April, we joined several schools in Palm Beach County to perform in the Young Dancers in Concert performance held at Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. This concert brings together elementary, middle, and high schools in our county that offer dance programs to perform together in one show. We performed our dance, Dirty Paws, with both our current chapter members and our new inductees.
FDEO Artistic Merit, Leadership, and Academic Achievement Award The Florida Dance Education Organization is pleased to announce this year s merit award winners. At the high school level, Morgan Furnari from Gulliver Preparatory School, has earned 1 st Place and Jennifer Klammer from Miami Arts Charter School has been selected for 2nd Place of the 2015 NDEO Artistic Merit, Leadership, and Academic Achievement Award for Florida. Both Morgan and Jennifer have received Honorable Mentions at the National level. Morgan Furnari, 1 st Place Florida Jennifer Klammer, 2 nd Place Florida Though NDEO does not have a process for middle school students, Florida recognizes them at the state level. Tryanni Chiaravalloti from Bak Middle School of the Arts, has been chosen as NJHSDA 1st Place Winner and Aubrey Swikehardt from South Miami Middle School has been selected as NJHSDA 2nd Place Winner of the 2015 NDEO Artistic Merit, Leadership, and Academic Achievement Award for Florida. Tryanni Chiaravalloti, 1 st Place Aubrey Swikehardt, 2 nd Place This year s adjudication committee was Jin Lee Hanley, Florida Atlantic University and FDEO board member, Anjali Austin, Florida State University, and Michael Lomeka, Jacksonville University. These highly qualified adjudicators from Florida university dance programs bring a broad experience in concert and commercial dance. FDEO and the NHSDA committee appreciate their participation in this process this year.
All of the applicants were adjudicated in three categories: Artistic Merit: The candidate demonstrates technical and artistic excellence in dance as evidenced by performing original choreography and a choreography essay. Leadership: The candidate demonstrates outstanding leadership in and outside the field of dance at the school, community, state, and/or national level as evidenced by a strong resume, recommendation letter and leadership essay. Academic Achievement: The candidate demonstrates academic excellence with a high cumulative grade point average and two essays detailing future plans and the impact of dance. We appreciate the efforts of all the applicants and their sponsors and hope it was a rewarding experience and one of growth for all of them. Congratulations to those who placed in this year s merit award. Bak Middle School of the Arts Chapter #2002 On January 30, 2015, Bak inducted 21 new members at a brief ceremony at the conclusion of opening night of our annual dance concert, bringing this year s membership total to 39. Pictured are the chapter officers. Bak MSOA s chapter has had a long-standing relationship with Very Special Arts Palm Beach County. On the evening of our inductions, our chapter held a silent auction to raise money for Palm Beach County s Very Special Arts. We raised $2000 to sponsor dance classes for children with special needs at two elementary schools and another $500 to benefit the dance department. In December, several of our members performed with students from Forest Hill Elementary School on the Very Special Arts Holiday Performance. In April, we shared the stage again for our county s Young Dancers in Concert, a collaboration of the local public school dance programs. On March 7, our chapter supported Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation by sponsoring a water station at One Walk in West Palm Beach. Not only did our dancers hand out water, they performed a dance to cheer on the walkers and runners and raised about $1000 for the cause.
The Academy of Arts and Minds Chapter #1037 Sponsor: Karin Bejerano The NHSDA chapter of the the Academy of Arts and Minds Charter High School had a very busy year. Members of our chapter performed in two concerts at The Little Haiti Cultural Complex, performing works by guest artists Hattie Mae Williams, Sandra Portal-Andreu and Samantha Pazos, among others. They traveled to Tampa to participate in the FDPA, perform in the FDEO Honors concert and attend a mock-college audition. They also traveled to Norfolk Virginia for the Regional High School Dance Festival, where students performed in the Saturday evening gala concert, participated in dance classes, attended performances and auditioned for college and summer intensive scholarships. They also participated in the D.A.D.E. High School Dance Workshop, the Superintendant s Dance Showcase and numerous field trips to see performances and attend workshops and classes. As a community outreach project, members collected items that dancers need, and created gift bags to be donated to dance students in community dance centers. A&M NHSDA members continue to teach the importance of healthy life style choices and eating habits through weekly Health Snack Attack sales and yoga classes for students and faculty. Members will also lead our annual flash mob later this month. A&M NHSDA members performed Connected? by: Karin Bejerano at the FDEO Honors Concert in Tampa. NHSDA members making gift bags of dance necessities for dancers in the community. A&M NHSDA members with scholarship certificates at the Regional high School dance Festival in Norfolk, VA.
A&M NHSDA members at the FDEO Friday evening mixer. A&M NHSDA members performed Yo vengo de todos partes, and toward everywhere I go by: Samantha Pazos, at the Regional high School dance Festival in Norfolk, VA Wellington High School Chapter # 1012 Chapter FL1012 at Wellington High School hosted a variety of events this year for students. They taught a jazz and creative dance class to students from New Horizon s Elementary. Our ESE department had a great time taking a creative dance class in our studio. Children ages 3-11 participated in our annual Dance Clinic. Our mission is to spread the love of dance with ones who don t usually receive the opportunity. It is wonderful to see the joy that is expressed from all of the kids when they perform or learn a new movement.
FLORIDA NHSDA T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE AGAIN NEXT FALL LIMITED QUANTITY SOLD OUT We will once again take orders for Florida s NHSDA t-shirts for pick up at the FDEO conference in Tampa in October. If you are unable to attend, you can arrange shipping. If there is enough interest will can place a second order for pick up at Beyond the Test in February or March.