On April 7th, seven Kent students, enrolled in the Kent Dance Program, traveled to Loomis Chaffee, where they participated in the fourth annual New England Prep School Dance Festival.

Our students were able to take various styles of classes alongside students from ten different schools, culminating in a lively and inspiring dance showcase.

This is a part of an ongoing project in Kent’s dance program, where students attend a collection of varying dance programs at other prep schools. This provides our students with an opportunity to come together and learn from each other.

Ellie Morris, the head of Kent’s dance program, says, “At the dance festival, students had an opportunity to take classes that Kent does not offer, for example, Jazz, Tap, Hip-Hop, Modern, and Contemporary. So it was an opportunity for them to try new things and also to meet different students from different schools who are passionate about dance.”

This year, Kent students did not perform at the festival. However, our dance team is looking forward to next year’s festival, which they plan to prepare for and perform at.

Ms. Morris points out how the event was beneficial and meaningful for the future of Kent School’s dance program. She explains, “I think the students were very excited about seeing the performances because there was a lot to learn from the way that other schools run their dance program. It was fascinating to see, for example, which school favors student choreography, which school focuses more on competition based dancing.”

She concluded, “Mostly, it was fascinating to hear from Kent students which style they prefer and which direction we should move towards.”

The dance team is very excited to show their progress to the Kent community and continues to work on developing their skills for the future.

Ms. Morris encourages all individuals who are interested in joining the Kent Dance Program that “what you put into the dance program, you will get out of it,” indicating to potential dance students that they could shape the agenda of the program in unique ways with their passion, energy, and creativity.

She reflects that Kent’s dance program had some huge shifts this year, which were completely student-driven. She states, “We have extra dance teachers now because students advocated for private ballet classes and they advocated for more focus on jazz, not just classical dance but also fun dance.”

Moreover, stemming from the eager passion of the students, there were some significant changes in the dance program. She explains, “We made lots of changes this year, in terms of what we perform and how we work towards our show each term, because of student input. There is still obviously faculty supervision, but I think it is rare and special that student can change the program in such a big way.”

Thus, as our dance students’ dedication and enthusiasm further enhance the dance team’s performances, we eagerly look forward to their performance at next year’s New England Prep School Dance Festival!