250 Old Donation Center Students Dancing to the Red, White, and Blue With their annual dance concert looming on Sunday, March 24th at 3:00 p.m. at Ocean Lakes High School, 250 Old Donation Center (ODC) dance students are busy rehearsing. However, their work is not over after their concert date. The dancers will then being "touring" to at least 16 other Virginia Beach schools to perform for their peers. According to dance instructor Laura Wright, comments and feedback are very positive with one audience member commenting that she "expected the performance to be good, but this was really good!" The concert focuses on the theme of Red, White and Blue: ODC Dance 2002, and dances have a patriotic, American flavor. Each team of dancers - grouped according to skill level, not age or grade - performs one dance choreographed for them by an ODC dance faculty member with dance styles varying from ballet to jazz to modern. Each group of students has also created one dance together, and several were chosen by the teachers to perform it. A special high point of the performance will be a special dance based on the pledge of allegiance created by combining ideas from all the teams. Student audiences are treated to a program that includes the dancers warming up before they begin so that the students understand what dancers experience. Then, one of the teachers introduces the show by explaining what the dance education program encompasses and what the performance is all about. In addition, two dance students - one elementary and one middle school student - read their award-winning essays about dance, the "tough" stuff which tells about the discipline and hard work needed; the "fun" stuff, explaining why they like dance; and the "good" stuff, describing what they gain by attending the ODC dance program. Before each team dances, one of the members reads a prepared explanation of what they are doing in the dance, what the process is, the meaning, the style, or anything else the students think important. As Wright points out, both teachers and students hope audience members will learn about the dance education program as well as about various dance styles, dance theory, and creative movement. A schedule of school performances is listed below: April 8: Trantwood ES, 9:00 AM April 9: Thalia ES, 9:35 AM April 10: Landstown MS, 9:15 AM April 11: Princess Anne ES, 9:00 AM & John B. Dey, 10:30 AM April 12: Independence MS, 9:15 AM April 15: North Landing ES, 9:15 AM April 16: Great Neck MS, 10:00 AM April 17: Bayside ES, 9:15 AM & Plaza ES 10:30 AM April 18: Rosemont ES, 9:00 AM May 7: Creeds ES, 9:45 AM May 9: Fairfield ES, 9:15 AM May 10: Cooke ES, 9:30 AM May 13: Linkhorn Park ES, (unconfirmed) May 16: Windsor Oaks ES, 9:00 AM For more information about the ODC Dance Program or upcoming performances, please contact Laura Wright, dance instructor at Old Donation Center, at 473-5043. ###