By Olivia Bowman

Upper School Collegiate dancers participated in the Central Virginia Youth Dance Festival at VCU on October 20. They also showcased a student-choreographed dance for an adjudicated concert the next day. Collegiate dancers had the opportunity to watch and collaborate with other dancers in the Richmond area on stage and in various classes. Upper School dance teacher Angie Muzzy explained that this festival is “a way to provide more classes to dance students and also get them on a college campus to see what a dance program is like. It is also a great opportunity for Collegiate dance students to experience other dance styles and meet students their age from different programs.”  

With my dancing shoes on, I boarded the early morning bus that would take me and my classmates to VCU’s Dance and Choreography Building. As a Junior, I did not know many of the underclassmen who participate in dance at Collegiate, so this was a chance to connect and bond over our love of dance. Dance company member Cabel Berkeyheiser (‘27) agreed, adding, “I loved being able to get to know the other people in the dance program other than just those in my grade.” 

We walked into the small, brick, multi-leveled building on VCU’s campus and were greeted by girls and boys from other schools throughout Central Virginia, including Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, Saint Catherine’s, and Thomas Dale. As we watched the other students prepare and warm up like professionals, we felt intimidated by their dancing skills. Collegiate Dance Company member Anne Randall Berkeyheiser (‘25), who participated in the event last year, shared, “I was nervous going into it, because I remember last year everyone there was from schools that mainly focused on dance, so they were all amazing, and this year was no different.”

Central Virginia Youth Dance Festival schedule.

Everyone was then able to choose from various dance genres, such as Ballet, Modern, Afro Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contact Improv, Yoga, and Contemporary Dance Technique. Muzzy says that her favorite part of the day “was getting to see everyone dance, enjoying themselves while stepping out of their comfort zones. Because the Collegiate dance program offers classes in modern and contemporary techniques focusing on the creative process, it was great to see students in African dance, hip-hop, and ballet.” The variety of classes allowed everyone to attempt something new and even find a new interest in a style. Each 90-minute class involved warming up and learning a dance combination to perform. Molly Rolfe (‘25) reflected on the festival as “a great opportunity to take dance classes from many other professors.”

I attempted a modern dance class with VCU instructor Autumn Proctor Wadell. With many other Collegiate students, we made our way into the large basement dancing space, and with over 60 eager dancers in the room, the space felt crowded. We then went into a minute-long phrase/small dance combination that Wadell choreographed, which consisted of jumping, floorwork, and turns. After the first hour, we began presenting the combination in smaller groups, where we were able to watch dancers from other schools do the same. Watching the other amazing dancers was a great experience, as everyone adds their style to their movement in a way that looks best on them. Harper Hailes (‘24) says that one of her highlights of the day was that she “was able to be inspired by other dancers!” After the 90-minute class, we were all already tired but ecstatic for the next class: Hip Hop.

Dancers taking Hip Hop with Deandra Clarke. Photo credit: Angie Muzzy.

Hip Hop was many of the Collegiate students’ favorite classes because of the energized vibe, rousing music, and entertaining combination. Taught by University of Richmond dance instructor Deandra Clarke, we went straight into a combination of “Deja Vu” by Beyoncé. Berkeyheiser said this was her favorite class of the day: “I loved Hip Hop, because almost everyone at Collegiate took it, and we had so much fun. It was hard enough that it was a challenge, but not so hard that I couldn’t do it.” Mary Mason Ingold (‘25) agreed: “I enjoyed Hip Hop because that is a genre we do not typically get to cover during a dance class at school, and I enjoyed how hype the energy was.” After learning the combination, we watched other dancers execute the combination while cheering and encouraging each other, even though we were from other schools. 

Dancers taking class from James Robey. Photo credit: Angie Muzzy.

After class, we had a quick lunch before going into our last two classes of the day. A few of us took a jazz class with James Robey,  a professor at Radford University. We did an intense warm-up and learned simple choreography, adding our personality and style to it. Next, we attended our last class of the day, Contemporary Technique with Robey, where we worked on a technical combination that involved various turns and complex floorwork.

After the long day of dancing, it was time to get ready for the next day, where we would be performing our dance “Puppy Love” to the song “Me and Your Mama” by Childish Gambino. Originally performed in May as a quartet by student choreographers Vivian Boyd (‘24), Treasure Brown (‘24), Kyla Coffee (‘24), and Presley Garst (‘24), we would be performing the same dance modified with eight people. We had spent about a month working on the dance a few times each week but never actually performed with everyone. This concert was an adjudication concert, meaning that after we performed, we would get feedback from teachers at the festival. We also had the opportunity to watch other dancers from other schools perform. 

We were all nervous going into the dance; however, we all performed to our fullest and felt great after. Our dance was different from the other dances, but the crowd loved it, giving us a grand round of applause. Some of the feedback from the judges included working on our transitions between steps and showing our facial expressions more effectively. 

I had an amazing time at the Central Virginia Youth Dance Festival, getting to dance with my friends and getting to meet other dancers my age throughout the Richmond area. I loved getting to take classes from professional instructors from various colleges throughout Virginia and taking classes that were out of my comfort zone. While, both these days were very exhausting, I had such a great time and cannot wait to go back next year.