If you love to dance, whether you’re on KSDE or just like to jam in your dorm when your roommates leave and want to learn some moves or sharpen your skills, you should consider attending one of the master classes that are offered by the Kent School Dance program. The classes generally last for about two hours, and take place on Saturdays in the dance studio in the Pre-E building in town.

Despite the name ‘master’ class, the dance program director, Ms. Morris, says “No dance experience is necessary, but a willingness and ability to move is essential.” In fact, according to her, one of the main reasons for having a master class is because “It’s important for novice students to understand that the ballet-inspired modern dance that I teach is by no means the only form of dance.”

Ms. Morris describes one of the instructors, Ms. Colleen Fitzgerald, as an independent dancer who researches, choreographs, performs, and writes about contemporary dance in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She received her BA in Dance and Anthropology from Bates College in 2014. Colleen’s choreographed work has been shown in various places in both Argentina and the United States, and she has been “consistently recognized for her perspectives in creative process and creative research to make contemporary dance.”

Another instructor, Sayer Mansfied, has been teaching classes for the dance ensemble on and off for the past three years, and she recently come back to Connecticut from a tour with the dance company Pilobolus. Pilobolus is an acclaimed dance theater organization who, according to their website is “committed to creating collaboratively and finding beauty in unexpected places.”

One of the participants of the classes, Kacy Muhammad ‘19 says that, “the dance classes are always fun for me, and I really enjoy learning new things from new perspectives.”

So if you love to dance, stop by! Like Ms. Morris says “It’s…fun to be able to open up the classes to the larger school community, and see who comes out. It’s been fun to see who is secretly a really good dancer on campus!”