For junior Jenna Jarboe, taking a dance class at school was a perfect next step in her dance career. Jarboe said she has danced her entire life and wants to continue dancing after she graduates.

“(In) the dance class here at school, we do a lot of physical dancing, but we also do a lot of research on (female) choreographers, black choreographers, things like that,” Jarboe said. “We do a lot of dance history, which is very beneficial, and if you do decide to major in dance in college, or something like that, the requirements are dance history classes. (The dance class at school) kind of mixes the two: physical and academic components.” 

Dance teacher Leah Stupeck said beginning and intermediate dance are the two dance courses currently offered at this school. Stupeck said next year she hopes to offer beginning, intermediate, advanced and IB dance. 

“I think classes like dance—and many of the other classes in the performing arts department—are essential because they offer collaborative learning for students, and they offer a different way for students to learn,” Stupeck said. “Let’s say you’re in a math class, you’re using one side of your brain, and then you go into an art class or a dance class and you get to use a completely different part of your brain. The activation of both helps the student become a better learner and a better person, because they’re incorporating multiple learning capabilities in their learning day.”

Impact on mental health

Junior Mary “Maggie” Winings said she dances outside of school and plans to take the IB Dance course next school year. Winings emphasized the importance of students getting a break from their more rigorous, academic classes, which can be achieved through the dance classes.

“I think it’s important to just get a break from ‘locking-in’ all day with academic classes. (Non-traditional classes) can teach ways of stress management,” Winings said. “I think if you have a break in the day to not be doing schoolwork all day, then you can focus more on your schoolwork later.”

Jarboe agreed and said starting her day with dance has been beneficial this year.

“My dance class is my B1 (class) so I start my day with it. It’s like a warm-up to being at school, and it just feels like a class that I’m not stressed about,” Jarboe said. “I don’t go to sleep worrying about that class, it’s nothing like that. It really is just a class that I actually enjoy myself in.”

Stupeck said she tries to adjust her lesson plans to the mood of her students each day, which can be beneficial for students’ mental health. 

“I tend to (see) how the kids are feeling, and then base the lessons off of that for the day,” Stupeck said. “If I’m feeling like the class is a little more down, we can either just stay at a very chill, kind of calm level, so that they don’t feel stressed, or if they’re down and it’s beautiful (outside), I open the shades, we turn on some loud music, dance around, get the energy going, and then they seem like they have a better day.” 

Stupeck also said she teaches students about seasonal depression and how to take care of their mental health through movement.

“Sometimes we talk about not comparing ourselves to other people, because we have a lot of different (skill) levels in between classes now,” Stupeck said. “We talk about ways to battle mental health issues. Taking a dance class definitely does that because it gets your body moving, which is a great way to combat that. Because I battle seasonal depression, we talked about that all winter long too. ‘Okay, let’s get moving. Let’s open the shades. Let’s do this and this and this so that we can help get through that together.’”

Unique learning opportunities

Jarboe said the dance class at this school provides students with a different learning environment and experience than other classes.

“I think a lot of the physical portion of the dance class is obviously very unique. We don’t sit at a desk, we don’t do all that kind of stuff,” Jarboe said. “With this being the first year of the dance class, we didn’t have a whole bunch of opportunities, but our teacher was talking to us about it, and she was like, ‘In future years I want to take you guys to see ballets, to see dance in the community,’ and I think opportunities like that (are) something that will come soon.”

Winings said less traditionally academic classes can not only provide students with unique opportunities, but also help them in their other classes. 

“(Non-traditional classes teach students) how to do different things because academic classes (are) mostly just reading and writing, and then non-academic classes are normally more collaborative,” Winings said. “I think it can help if you’re doing a group project in other classes because it helps you learn how to work with different types of people.”

Stupeck agreed and said collaboration is a big part of the dance classes she teaches. Stupeck also emphasized the mental strength students gain from dance.

“(Students) get to work with each other, and I think that makes them more comfortable when they go into other classes and have to work with each other,” Stupeck said. “Dance is a very physical class so we’re moving a lot more, which I think then allows your body to be more open to doing some harder things mentally. One thing we’ve been working on this year is that mental strength comes from physical strength. If you can be physically strong and push yourself through a class that might be more demanding, then that mental strength just gets built because of that.”

Jarboe said her experiences in this school’s dance class have helped her in her other classes this school year.

“We did write two papers; we’ve done a lot of presentations where you have to stand in front of the class at a podium, or in a huge open room, so the projector is huge behind you,” Jarboe said. “It honestly is more like a college-presentation-type setting. I think that it’s easier for us to present, because we’re presenting on a topic that we’re familiar with and that we love.”

Common misconceptions

Stupeck said a big misconception about the dance classes at this school is that students need prior experience in dance.

“We have kids that have danced their entire lives and are going to college to dance, and we had kids walk in that had never taken a dance class before in their life, and it was a little bit of a struggle in the fall to bridge those two gaps,” Stupeck said. “Now as they go across the floor, everybody’s moving together. Everyone’s working as one. There does not need to be any kind of previous training to be able to come and take a class here at school.”

Jarboe agreed and said anyone can take one of the dance classes at this school.

“You don’t have to be an advanced dancer or anything like that. The skills in the room (are) a huge range of people, (those) who have been dancing their whole lives, and there were several people this year that this was the first dance class they’ve ever taken,” Jarboe said. “If you’re looking for something fun to add to your schedule, a dance class would be good.”