JFES students at dress rehearsal
Students in Stoddard pulled on their dancin’ shoes for movement, expression and performance during a weeklong artist-in-residency program by the New Hampshire Dance Institute.
James Faulkner Elementary School in early December hosted the Keene-based organization, which has been providing arts-in-education programming to area schools for 39 years, according to Lisa Cook, NHDI’s Residency Director. JFES, hosting for its first time, is one of 42 schools the Institute will visit this year.
“NHDI is committed to arts access by delivering our core programs in school, during the school day, to engage children that would otherwise not have the opportunity to explore and experience dance in an afterschool setting due to traditional barriers such as studio locations, transportation, and economic inequities,” Cook said, adding that students learn important social-emotional competencies such as self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy and teamwork.
That was an enticing prospect to JFES Principal Jill Pinard, who was looking to give her students a chance to explore movement and song together. This was partly driven by an SAU 24 community book study of “The Anxious Generation,” in which Pinard noted discussion of how important synchronized singing and dancing is to healthy childhood development. In addition, NHDI’s current artist-in-residence program delivers a writing process theme addressing the challenges students encounter tackling words, sentences, paragraphs – as well as the benefits of self-discovery through written expression. Finally, a bonus: the 45 participating JFES students and staff would perform for the wider school community, Pinard said, meeting the school’s goal of increasing family engagement.
At the start of the week, NHDI teacher Abbie Hixson noticed that many JFES students seemed hesitant about starting something new and challenging. But as sessions built each day, she said, dancers began “coming out of their shells” with increased laughter and confidence.
By finale day, they were ready.
“It was really amazing to see how joyful and proud our students looked in the final performance!,” Pinard said. “It was also amazing that so many families were able to join us during the holiday season on a Friday night. The audience was full.”
For more information about NHDI and its week- or year-long residence programs, see https://www.nhdi.org/.