“Finally we’re back, and we made a big splash,” said Mrs. Hoban, Leesville’s dance instructor.
On Wednesday, March 14, after a two-year hiatus, Leesville Dance once again took the stage at Pieces of Gold 2012. This year, however, they chose to bring a new twist to the competition; for the first time in school history, Dance Ensemble performed alongside Leesville’s Chamber Orchestra.
Mr. Stiles, orchestra teacher, said, “Mrs. Hoban first approached me with the idea in the fall, which was neat. We know they had been there before and excelled, so for them to ask us was really cool.”
Mrs. Hoban described her motivation for the collaboration as her desire to mix art forms. “String music is beautiful, but it also fits well with modern dance,” said Hoban. “Leesville is fortunate to have an excellent arts department, so merging two programs makes the project turn out even better.”
Pieces of Gold, held every spring at the RBC Center, serves as a showcase for the very best elementary, middle and high school fine arts programs that Wake County has to offer.
Lindsay Bruening, junior and member of Dance Ensemble, said, “We were placed in one of the four positions of honor for a dance concert, the first spot after intermission, which proves to us that the hours we put in paid off.”
On Wednesday night, the Pride performed “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” by Annie Lennox, a number they had previously rehearsed for their Winter Concert.
“They had already learned the choreography a few months ago, so recently we’ve been just been polishing and cleaning everything up section by section,” said Hoban. Bruening went to say, “Because we knew the routine, we were more comfortable with what we were doing; the only thing we really had to get used to was the timing with the live accompaniment.”
While Leesville has a proven track record at Pieces of Gold, Mr. Stiles felt that the combination of modern dance and a live orchestra made the performance memorable.
Said Stiles, “Everything worked; we played well, but maybe more importantly, we got to develop some camaraderie between the two groups. Overall, I’d say it was most certainly a positive experience for each program and I look forward to the possibility of collaborating again in the future.”
