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Saint JamesDance Program
Dance is offered during the fall, winter and spring seasons in our beautiful dance studio. While emphasizing technique of dance, classes accommodate the needs and interests of students of all levels. Our classes are open to beginners seeking a new experience, athletes working on agility and coordination, and more advanced students interested in building their performance and technical skills through a variety of dance styles.
Students of dance at Saint James receive an introduction to multiple genres of dance through daily classes emphasizing technique, performance style, and associated vocabulary. Styles include classical, contemporary, jazz, modern, and musical theater. Rehearsals emphasize collaboration, coordination, artistry, and building choreography, and are designed to encourage personal expression and stylistic exploration with cooperation to build a performance experience for the students and school community.
Dance class meets 5 days/week for 90 minutes in the afternoon during the athletic timeslot.
Fall: Foundations of Codified Dance movement
Focus on jazz, ballet, contemporary. Culminates in end of session juries to provide feedback for student growth.
Winter: Exploring Contemporary Dance in America
Focus on tap, theater dance, contemporary. Culminates in end of session juries to provide feedback for student growth.
Spring: Studio to Stage: Audition & Performance Preparation
Continuing technique in ballet and jazz with focus on exploration of choreography and exploration. Culminates in a spring showcase of dance.
Dance Elective
Saint James offers a dance elective, Dance Exploration I and II, for students wishing to earn academic credit in the arts.
Dance Exploration is a year-long introduction to the art of dance through rigorous daily technique classes, group projects, research, and analysis. This course utilizes the National Standards for Dance Education set forth to incorporate literature, history, culture, and research among other skills through the modem of movement. Students explore codified dance through a structured, rotating sequence of ballet, jazz, and modern/contemporary styles. Each week focuses on exploring a significant milestone, artist, or cornerstone of dance history. Students experience the material through movement, research, and collaborative projects. Weekly homework and graded coursework enhance the understanding and scope of the course. Students learn about the many benefits of dance, including mental and physical health, coordination, and improved focus. Throughout the year, the many transferable skills gained from dance will be reinforced, such as confidence, creativity, public speaking, teamwork, the ability to edit and revise, peer collaboration, and cultural understanding. Dance Exploration II builds on the content and skills explored in year one, with greater emphasis on mastery.
Expert Faculty
Dance Program DirectorNicole Ruark
Nicole Ruark is an award-winning choreographer and instructor who has led the Saint James dance program since 2019. She is well-versed in a variety of styles including musical theater, ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary. In addition to leading our dance program, she also assists our theater program by co-directing the fall play and choreographing the winter musical.
Ms. Ruark graduated cum laude from American University with a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre. She attended The Joffrey Ballet School on full scholarship and is the recipient of the Herbert R. Brent Scholarship, the Herb Edelman Acting Award, American University’s Outstanding Musical Theatre Performer award, and the Greenberg Scholarship for the Performing Arts.
Ms. Ruark has performed and choreographed throughout the country as well as internationally.
She has extensive experience as a director and choreographer for universities, in addition to regional and touring companies. In addition to her directorial and choreography work, she currently oversees the musical theatre program she created for The Mid Maryland Performing Arts Center, where she is also an instructor.
One-of-a-Kind Facilities
Saint James Dance Studio
The SJS dance studio opened in the spring of 2024 in the Cotton Building. With high ceilings and natural light streaming in from the six large windows, it is a large space that supports our growing dance program.
The studio has a Robbins sprung floor which is a heavy duty, seamless performance surface that is slip resistant and non-reflective and designed to meet the needs of a variety of dance styles while being safer for joints. The studio also features 10-foot mirrors, a changing room, a SMART Board with an overhead camera system to allow dancers to watch playback for immediate feedback, and surround-sound concert Bluetooth speakers.