Our Zeeland Public Schools Dance Program is an exemplar for dance opportunities in public education in West Michigan. This past spring, the high school program, under the leadership of Nancy Clyde, received a generous grant from the Zeeland Education Foundation to host a contemporary Michigan dance company for a one-week residency at Zeeland East High School. This massive undertaking included professional dancer and ZPS graduate Austin Panavong, Director Carolyn Pampalone Rabbers, and Assistant Director Sara Kausch.
The professional dance company spent the first three days working with all dance classes, with various company members teaching each day to all six levels of Zeeland Dance. Later in the week, the group set an original work with the Dance Ensemble group, constructed in part using the voices of the dancers themselves.
Director Carolyn Pampalone Rabbers remarked of the score Kausch created, “We wanted to make this original work something that students could really connect with. There are so many conversations happening in our community right now about people having agency and authority in their own identity . . . We wanted to build something that inspired our students to realize their power as a person, as a mover, as a team, and as an art form.”
During her time with the students, Kausch said, “The students are talented and hardworking. Professionals enjoy working with students that are eager and hungry to learn more.”
CPR Dance is a professional contemporary dance company located in Stevensville, Michigan. They are a collective aesthetic group ensemble that curates movement experiences that are accessible to audiences and one another. They seek to foster moments of connection and care to inspire and allow people to dive deep into moer meaningful connections with one another. Learn more about CPR Dance, Inhale Movement LLC at their website.