Dance

Dance at Notre Dame

There are several ways students can be involved in our dance department at Notre Dame. Students have the opportunity to take several levels of dance to fulfill their VPA or Elective graduation requirement. There are three levels: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced. Students do not need to have any previous dance experience in order to take a class. If students have taken dance classes in the past or are part of a studio or competition program outside of school, then they have the opportunity to audition into a higher level. All levels have the chance to learn and develop their technical and choreographic skills in various styles of dance as well as perform at the end of each semester. Additional performance opportunities can include Open House and 8th Grade Visit Days. For questions about our dance program, please reach out to our Dance Director Ms. Baston at baston@ndhs.org.

Courses Offered

List of 3 items.

Dance: I: Beginning

Dance I: Beginning

Students will learn the history, technique, and vocabulary of various styles of dance in this course including hip-hop, ballet, jazz, and contemporary. Other styles that may be touched on are ballroom, cultural dance, and tap. Students will have the opportunity to learn how to move and perform in these various styles throughout the year, as well as the chance to choreograph in them. Students may also have the chance to study important dancers/choreographers in dance history as well as critique artistic works. All classes will have the chance to showcase the material learned throughout the year performances at the end of each semester. Previous dance experience is not needed for this level.

Prerequisites/Comments: This VPA elective course is open to all students.
Dance II: Intermediate

DANCE II: Intermediate

In this second level of dance, students will build on the material previously covered in the beginning dance level. More complicated choreography and skills are taught in the styles of dance previously learned such as hip-hop, jazz, ballet, and contemporary. Overview of partnering basics such as classical & contemporary partnering, ballroom dance, and contact improvisation will be introduced and explored. Students will begin learning choreographic concepts related to weight, dynamics, time, space, flow, spacial awareness, and symmetry/asymmetry, and will begin creating and improving on these concepts throughout the year within their own group work/individual choreography. Depending on course enrollment, students may be combined with the Dance 3 course.

Prerequisites/Comments: Completion of Dance I or audition/instructor’s approval.
Dance III: Advanced

Dance III: Advanced

This curriculum is designed to promote full awareness of the technical skills of all the dance styles introduced through the first two levels of dance, as well as broadening student’s usage of practical choreographic concepts. Aimed at preparing students for college or company dance work, more in-depth techniques and a broader range of dynamics in advanced classic and contemporary dance are taught. Utilization of advanced floorwork, weight sharing in partners & groups, longer phrases, musicality, quality of movement, and challenging choreography are covered. Coursework will cover a deeper understanding of the values and diversity of the dance community and the tools necessary for building a fulfilling career not only as a dancer, but choreographer and artist as well. Throughout the course, students will learn the various ways dance contributes to therapy, health, diversity, and humanity. The latter part of the course will include studies of site-specific works, video for dance, and dance prop production. Students will develop their choreographic skills by creating original works with complexity and depth, problem-solving during collaboration, and developing pieces with full production value to present at the end of each semester. Depending on course enrollment, students may be combined with the Dance 2 course.

Prerequisites/Comments: Completion of Dance II or audition/instructor’s approval.

Faculty

List of 4 items.

Tammy Jo Baston

Dance Director
JV Dance Coach
(818) 465-7031
baston@ndhs.org
Tiffani Grant

Varsity Dance Coach
grant@ndhs.org
Allison Alvizuri

JV Cheer Coach
alvizuri@ndhs.org
Millie and Dan Wilson

Varsity Cheer Coaches
wilson@ndhs.org
dwilson@ndhs.org

Spirit Team

We have several after school teams at Notre Dame for students who would like to be a part of dance outside of the classroom. The Notre Dame Spirit Program helps keep the school spirit alive at Notre Dame year-round. The Spirit Squads foremost purpose is to support Notre Dame Athletics by enhancing game excitement and crowd involvement at sport meets such as football and basketball. Our cheerleading and dance teams have the opportunity to perform throughout the year at various rallies, halftimes, school events, homecoming, and summer camps.

The Spirit Program consists of six teams: JV Dance, Varsity Dance, Competition Dance, JV Cheer, Varsity Cheer, and Competition Cheer. You must first make either a JV or Varsity team in order to have the opportunity to try out for a competition team. However, students do not need to be enrolled in the dance classes during the school day in order to try out for our teams. It is also possible to be in our dance classes, without being on a spirit team. Additionally, it is also possible to participate in both, dance class during the academic day, and spirit teams after school.