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Partly Cloudy New dance studio completed at North Shore High School
Students, faculty and staff at North Shore High School were practically dancing with joy during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school’s new dance studio on Oct. 5. The studio, which students, teachers and parents in the community have advocated for since 2016, will give the school’s dance program a permanent home.
Dalia Rodriguez, the school’s director of the fine and performing arts, thanked the school board and district administration for making this possible. She added that the construction of the studio was “a real milestone for our department,” and that this expansion will make a difference not just for the current dance students, but for future generations as well.
“At North Shore our goal is to educate the whole child; a robust and rigorous dance and education program brings us closer to accomplishing this mission,” Rodriguez said. “Not only is dance an artistic pursuit, but it is an athletic achievement. Students are encouraged to be vulnerable, accepting of themselves and others.”
The dance studio was constructed in a space previously used as an art room. In the past, the high school’s dance program had been forced to practice in the auxiliary gym at the high school, which lacked mirrors, a dance bar and other dance essentials.
Simone Kuranisei, one of the high school’s dance teachers, emphasized the fact that the dance studio would show the students that the whole district supported and encouraged their passion for dance. She and members of the dance program cut the ceremonial red ribbon to officially open the new studio.
“We have spent years now dancing in spaces that weren’t always conducive to dancing,” Kuranisei said. “We promise that we will continue to show art in this space and share art in this space.”
The event also saw two dance performances by seven of the dance program’s star pupils. The group first danced along to the song “Better When I’m Dancing,” by Meghan Trainor, which while not a traditional ballet, certainly expressed the joy and excitement the students and gathered adults felt about the new studio.
The attendees also got to enjoy a solo performance by Nicole Tom. She danced to Black Swan” one of the major performances from the ballet “Swan Lake,” by 19th century composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
The event crowned nearly a decade of effort by students, members of the fine arts program, faculty, staff, board members, parents and groups such as the Arts Angels. Chris Zublionis, the school district’s superintendent, thanked everyone who had helped in the process and added that it was collaboration like this that helped make the district one of the best in the country.
“We had this opportunity because of the support of our community, to find space and make it work, so I want to thank everybody who was involved with that,” Zublionis said.
