Dancing with Jacobsville Elementary

The students at put on a dance performance entitled, “Dance the Language of Life,” on Friday night at .

The performance was part of a weeklong artist-in-residence program that gives schools the opportunity to host artists who spend a week with the students teaching them to dance.

Joining Jacobsville Elementary school were artists Rodney Williams and Doc Christian. Williams is an artist-in-residence at Longwood University where he directs the Longwood Company of Dancers and teaches students about dance and choreography.

“Rodney Williams and Doc Christian have been with us for an entire week,” said Jacobsville physical education teacher Judy Schmid. “They have instructed all the students at Jacobsville in a variety of dances and they are going to perform for their parents.”

Each grade level at Jacobsville took the stage one-at-a-time Friday night to present their interpretation of dance.

This is the second time Jacobsville has participated in an artist-in-residence event. The school put on a similar production with Williams in 2010.

“I met Rodney Williams at a national physical education convention a few years ago and found out that he did artist-in-residence programs and invited him to come,” Schmid said. “The PTA is wonderful enough to be able to afford this wonderful program.”

When the school participated in the program in 2010, they hosted the event at Jacobsville Elementary but there wasn’t enough space for all of the parents and family who came to watch their students. So, this year the event was held at in front of a packed auditorium.

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