I had no idea what to expect going into Beijing No. 4 High School to teach these interdisciplinary dance workshops. Nerves about language barriers, cultural differences, and self-efficacy clouded my thoughts in the days leading up to the workshops and made me anxious about my position as an instructor. However, all of that just melted away when we first met our students at Beijing No. 4 High School. As academically prestigious as Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in the states, this high school breeds some of the smartest, most capable students in the nation– five of their recently graduated seniors are even a part of Duke’s Class of 2018. How cool is that! So yes, we knew going in that our students would be little geniuses. Nevertheless, I was blown away by just how much passion each of them had for dance and by how wonderfully welcoming and goofy they were to us. Honestly, these are just awesome kids and I really wish you guys had the chance to get to know them as well!
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My workshops concentrated on the combination of Psychology and Dance, more specifically, how we can achieve principles of Mindfulness and Flow through dance. Mindfulness is the state of achieving a higher level of awareness and consciousness in your life, while Flow is when you “get in the zone” when you can approach a high challenge task with high skill.
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Coming into these workshops, one of the biggest points I wanted to stress to the class was that these four days were meant to be a safe space for all of us to dance freely, be ourselves, and have fun without worrying about being judged. It was so inspiring to see such a wide range of dancers embrace these workshops with open arms. Some students had never danced before, while others had some experience as a part of the dance team Forbidance at the school. The common denominator was a love for the art form of dance and a willingness to take time from their summer to come learn about how dance can be used as a medium to learn about world around us.
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Of course, the workshops proved to be too short for all of us…after spending ~7 hours every day together going through the workshops, eating yummy lunches like Yoshinoya, and even taking extra time to learn some hip-hop, contemporary, and salsa combinations, we realized that four days was not nearly enough for all of us to really dig into the material and learn from each other.
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However, it seemed as if those four days were enough time to really spark some minds about dance as an interdisciplinary study and a bridge across cultures. Those who had never danced before emerged saying that they wanted to continue taking classes and learning, perhaps even in college, and those who had already danced before came out more appreciative of the dance styles of different cultures. Everyone seemed to grasp how important and useful art can be as a tool for teaching. During our reflection sessions, they told us that how appreciative they were of this opportunity to learn and get to know us better. One student, Nay, even mentioned how although he wasn’t the best student in school, he felt that if he learned all of his concepts through dance, then he’d get A’s in all of his subjects.
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The biggest thing that touched me about these workshops was the glowing warmth these students had for dance, each other, and ourselves. Our little bubble at Beijing No. 4 HS was such a safe and open space that I felt like everyone was able to explore new movement creations and grasp difficult concepts without fearing what anyone else thought. At the end of each day, the thought of our kind, intelligent students growing and blossoming into amazing dancers and people I know they will be kept pushing me to make my workshops even better. I am so glad to have been able to meet these amazing, amazing students at Beijing No. 4 High School and cannot wait to spend more time with them exploring Beijing. Image may be NSFW.
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