Many students at Bob Jones participate in dance after school. They participate in many ways, such as in competition, ballet, or musical theatre.

According to an article by Stanford, dancing can actually make you smarter and help you do better in school. In a study, dancing offered 78% protection against dementia. Dancing utilizes four brain functions- kinesthetic, rational, emotional, and musical- to increase your neural connectivity.

Some ways that students participate in dance is through dance team. The dance team performs with the marching band during football games. They also dance at basketball games during half-time.

Caroline Smelser, a member of the dance team, stated, “I love dancing on the field in our leotards. I love the relationships I form with the girls on team. I also love cheering and supporting Bob Jones!”

Students also dance competitively. They train and compete with  studios that are not affiliated with  the school.

“In competition dance our season goes year round,” dancer Cristina Bolton explained. “We start in the summer with various classes and choreography for the dances that we will compete in January, February, and March. As the school year progresses we take classes everyday to perfect our technique and learn new skills. At competition we take master classes from some of the best dancers and choreographers in the industry and then we compete our dances to the judges.”

Some students perform with ballet schools. They dance in classical ballet performances such as The Nutcracker or, recently, Peter Pan.

“Our performance of Peter Pan this weekend was a great success. All of the months of preparation really paid off. There is nothing that can replace the feeling of going on stage and nailing a performance and walking off the stage hearing the audience go crazy for it,” said Calli Day, a dancer with Huntsville Ballet. “Like in other areas of life, if you want to achieve something in ballet, you work your hardest to earn it.”

Dancing can involve more than one art form. In musicals, some dancers are required to dance, act, and sing at one time. This kind of dancing is known as musical theatre.

“Musical theatre dance is so much different than just dancing because not only are you dancing, but you’re portraying a character and telling a story. You also sing at the same time so it requires even more breath and energy,” Suzie Glover commented.

“To me, the reasons I love dance are infinite. All I know is that as long as I am living, I will also be dancing, for I cannot imagine life without it,” said Calli Day.