At every performance, Northwood’s dance team exudes confidence, with masterful choreography  directing each of their movements. They leap into each step without hesitation thanks to their trust in their student choreographers, who work tirelessly so that they may all find their footing.

While many dance programs focus solely on developing students’ technique, Northwood’s program also emphasizes choreography. Dance teacher Judy Scialpi introduces the fundamentals of choreography to lower-level students when they express interest, while giving critiques and advice to higher-level students who are required to choreograph. Although most students start with little to no choreography experience, they gradually embrace the rewarding challenge of leading their fellow dancers.

“It’s easier to choreograph for just yourself, but if you’re doing a group you have to think of formations and transitions,” Dance Theater dancer junior Lauren Cilderman said. “My freshman year, I tried to force a lot of things that just didn’t really flow to get through the dance. But for the past two years I’ve been trying to look at the song that I do and create a story behind it, so I actually can piece it together well.”

Forming a story for the dance can begin with a song or a message, whether that’s “the stories we tell” or “inspirations,” a few of the themes for previous showcases. After creating an initial plan for their choreography, the choreographers’ next task is to communicate it to their fellow students.

First, choreographers teach the steps to the chosen dancers so that everyone understands the intended expression. Following this, students have two in-class days to master the blocking, timing and purpose for the audience. Scialpi typically sees the dance on the final day and adds another day to allow dancers to incorporate feedback. 

“It’s definitely scary,” Scialpi said. “But I think the students learn that there’s a lot of value in that risk taking, and if you do take an artistic risk, and you are true and genuine to what you want to say, that’s the piece of art you’re creating.”

One type of risk they take is experimenting with genre, which if done right creates performances that resonate with diverse audiences. Despite the challenge, stylistic exploration is essential in the eyes of Northwood’s dancers.

“Everyone is free to explore any style they want,” Dance Theater senior Elise Kong said. “I’ve seen things from Bollywood to contemporary to jazz to hip hop to even tap. I’m exposed to so many different genres, and because of that, I can do so many different things.”

Through practice and repetition, dancers build up the muscle memory needed to execute such diverse movements. At the Homecoming Pep Rally, the dancers’ consistent work ethic enabled them to face their fears when the music stopped, and they kept going bravely and powerfully.

“Even without music, we knew every count and move,” Dancer Theater captain senior Louise Macatula said. “Occasionally, us dancers hear stories about music stopping, and by this point, we’ve learned that if this were to happen, we need to just keep on going.”

The Extensions Club that Cilderman, Kong and other dancers run provides them with workshops and lessons to hone in on this work ethic even more than they do in class. The club even works with Sierra Vista Middle School by providing workshops there to approach the prospective pupils filtering into the Northwood program. 

“Dance has definitely helped me realize that I am much stronger than I think,” Kong said. “Because being a choreographer, you have to have the creativity, you have to have the leadership to actually instruct all your dancers. So it’s helped me understand that if I have a vision, I can execute it if I’m passionate enough about it.”

You can see the dance levels perform at their Fallout show on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15, with tickets available at ndt.booktix.com. To learn more about the Extensions club, visit their Instagram @nhs_dance_extensions.