Dance Celebration

The Folsom School experienced “magic” this past Thursday evening, when nearly every student in the school performed one of their dances.  The dances emerged from academic content in each grade level and were used by teachers to help students learn or express their thinking. Research supports not only the integration of the arts as an instrument to help meet the needs of all students but the performance of such efforts elevates the students sense of the importance of their work during the school day.


Mrs. Little opened the evening with a rousing performance of the tunes, "James Bond", "Rocky" and Star Wars" by the school band. Mrs. Zaymore followed with a chorus of k-4 students and the song, 'There are many different ways to be Smart".


The k, under the direction of Mrs. Couture,  demonstrated warm-ups which melted the audience with their scarf pass and mirror. Numerous audience members commented that their pose and concentration was remarkable. 

The first and second grade students, along with both Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Vandevord, performed a heart felt sustainability dance with dramatic contrasts of levels, grace and unison. It was clear that the students movements were designed to balance different forces. 

The third grade students, directed by Dr. Robinson, performed a dance in honor of change in Vermont, which focused on the changes in land use where the students recreated the destruction of a barn and their favorite activities in Vermont. Fourth grade students, directed by Mrs Sherman, were stunning in their states of matter dance, where solids were low and slow and where liquids moved faster and high and gases higher and faster still. 

The fifth grade, with Mrs. Ames, performed a “buoyancy” dance that integrated hula hoops and water sticks as the student movements indicated that there were moving through different fluids, such as water and honey. The sixth grade performed a “moon dance” in celebration of their studies of the moon and in partnership with the first and second graders and under the direction of Mrs. Bashaw. The students illustrated the movement of the moon and inspired the audience with wonder as they donned “glow” sticks and moved in mesmorizing patterns with the gym lights off.

The seventh and eight grade students performed their math movements in three parts and partnered with Mr. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Pidgeon to choreograph their movements, which was evident in each section.

The boys performed Numbers and Operations with a “military march” theme and large percussive sounds from stomps and hockey sticks, which were integrated into each element of the performance. A group of girls developed “rythmic gymnastic” movements including cartwheels, hand stands, pirouettes and ribbons in their expression of probability and statistics. The final group of girls performed a high energy “dance team” themed movements to gymnastics for geometry and measurement that featured formations and lifts.


Middle level students also developed and read the introductions for each dance piece. The students interviewed students and teachers in order to compose their written introductions in collaboration with Mrs. Pidgeon.

The evening closed with a group dance that allowed parents and pre-schoolers to join the Folsom teachers and students on the dance floor. The evening would not have been possible without the ongoing support of the Flynn Theater, including Lida Winfield, Joan Robinson and Kim Jordan.  Financial support was received from  the Vermont Acts Council, the Bay and Paul Foundation, an anonymous family foundation.