By Luciana Mendes
Staff Writer
On Friday, November 6th Coppell High School dance classes will have the privilege to take a field trip to view a performance given by the TCU School for Classical and Contemporary Dance.
Coppell Lariettes, Silver Stars, and dance classes will travel to the campus in Fort Worth to watch the TCU School for Classical and Contemporary Dance performance which will be celebrating their 60th Anniversary by performing a Gala Concert that very weekend. The students who will be going on this special field trip will be under the supervision of Silver Star director, Ashley Lee and Lariette director and TCU graduate, Julie Stralow.
“We’re hoping to give the students an opportunity to see a live performance that isn’t drill team or reality TV,” Stralow said.
The pieces being performed are “Overture” choreographed by Robert Battle, “Soaring” by Doris Humphrey, “Episodes” choreographed by George Balanchine, and “Confessions” choreographed by Jessica Lang. The first three dances are being restaged by an expert, who is trained to restage the work exactly like the original, on each dance.
“The performers are all TCU students studying to get their degrees in ballet and modern dance,” Stralow said. “We will be watching students, just a few years older than our own, perform pieces that were choreographed by important figures in dance history.”
After the performances, Coppell students will make a stop at North East Mall in Hurst for a quick lunch before returning to the high school to finish out the day in 6th and 7th period. Arrival is expected to be around 2:30 p.m.
“I’m very excited to see all of the different styles of performances,” said senior Lariette Olivia Scott. “I have never seen a collegiate level dance performance and I really want to take a look at the campus while we are there.”
60th Anniversary Gala Concert will be performing to the public on Friday, November 6th at the Ed Landreth Auditorium at 8 p.m. On Saturday, November 7th the dancers will perform at the Ed Landreth Auditorium at 2 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. There will be a fourth performance of the Public 60th Anniversary Event at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 8th.
“TCU dancers are incredibly talented and I am so anxious to see what they have prepared for us,” LeAnn Keach said. “Until Stralow told us, I wasn’t aware of the fact that TCU was actually the first school to offer a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Ballet. TCU paved the way for many dancers to continue following their passion while receiving higher education.”
