WATER 3rd and 4th Grades Curricular Dance Concert

"Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless. Like water. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put in a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend." --Bruce Lee

Closing out an uplifting Lower School concert season, “WATER,” a 65-minute dance concert, delighted guests with 13 dances all centered around the theme of water. A total of 138 students in 3rd and 4th grades shined in their own choreography for the class dances, and were directed by Sasha Deveaux, Lower School dance teacher, in two grade-level finales. Click here for the event program and a full list of participating students. 

Third grade students performed an Afrobeat dance with vibrant costumes, as well as “Water” from “The Lion King.” Fourth grade students performed a contemporary dance personifying the relationship of a moon rising over water, closing the performance with their bodies forming the moon on an image of water. There were also dances about underwater Aztec civilizations, the United States Coast Guard, tsunamis, and even a live lyrical dance and choral rendition of “Down to the River to Pray,” conducted by Katie Brister, Lower School music teacher, to open the show.

Originally, Deveaux intended to hold the show in spring 2020, but COVID-19 put the performance on pause. The current Class of 2028 started several of the pieces when they were Lower School students, and the video footage inspired this year’s 3rd and 4th graders to continue the work. In addition, five Middle Schools students joined with works of their own to assist in the smooth flow of the production.

Deveaux centers the Lower School dance practice around inclusivity. By teaching students how to create dances and letting them bring their own movement styles into the work, it becomes their own and showcases the diversity of Lower School students. “I believe that anyone can learn to dance regardless of age, experience, ability, or skill level,” she said. Deveaux is fluid in many dance styles and also promotes a healthy lifestyle that carries over into other aspects of students’ development.