Stoughton High's New Dance Club

By Monika Benson

Expressing individuality through activities and sports makes one’s high school experience enjoyable and memorable. Among many of the sports, activities, and clubs offered at Stoughton High School, dancing plays a very limited role among them all.

The idea to introduce a new dance club at Stoughton High began this previous summer. I attended a leadership summer camp at Harvard hosted by People to People. The curriculum that we learned taught us how to expand and help our community by doing things we love.

Over the course of a week, while I stayed on the Harvard campus, I worked on a large cumulative project; the building blocks to Stoughton High’s new dance club. Once the school year started, I had the motivation to carry out my plan in hopes of finally incorporating dance into Stoughton High School.

After many visits with my guidance counselor and Ms. Miller, I found that the road to success is not as easy as it seems. I was faced with many problems such as selecting advisors and piecing the club together step by step. Still today, the club is a work in progress and I hope to finally build up the club and introduce it at the beginning of the next school year.

Ms. Wood, an English teacher at Stoughton High School, is currently one of the potential advisors of the club. Wood said, “I am very excited and hopeful that students who love and enjoy dance would have this opportunity.” She feels that being an advisor would be extremely beneficial since dance provides students with an outlet to express themselves and stay fit in a fun way.

If dance club comes together, Wood is most excited for the possible performances that students in dance club will be able to do. One of Stoughton High most noteworthy opportunities to dance at is during pep rally. “Pep rally is great place for students to showcase their athleticism but also their creativity,” said Wood.

In high school, Wood was part of her dance team. She loved performing with them and was able to also dance at many different school events. Her dance team often partnered up with the music department and was able to have a successful show in this manner. Wood would love students to get the same opportunities to dance at school just as she had in the past.

Wood has been deeply rooted into dance since the age of three. When Wood was younger, she took tap dancing and jazz. As she grew older, she was submerged into modern and contemporary movements. Although Wood has a hefty amount of different styles of dance under her belt, she was never formally trained in ballet.

One of Woods favorite styles of dance is undoubtedly tap. Wood said, “I started out tap dancing so I’m good at it and it brings me back to my childhood.” She also enjoys contemporary and modern since it allows for so much creativity among dancers. By being part of dance club, Wood will be able to contribute her love and knowledge of dance.

Still to this day, Wood continues to dance in her free time. There is a studio in the area she lives that offers her classes to continue her training in dance. Although she no longer working towards performances, she still enjoys casually taking classes at the studio.

Wood ultimately hopes that students in dance club are able to carry out what they visualize for the club. She will be there to support the club in any manner but wants happiness for the students dancing. “I hope that whatever students want it to be, we can make it happen,” concluded Wood.

Overall, Wood talked about having the opportunity to potentially be one of advisors for dance club. Wood cannot wait to start and hopes that by next school year, the club will be in full swing.

Currently, the only dance related club offered at Stoughton High School is X-Clusive. The club focuses on specific styles of dancing including stepping and hip hop. Students seeking other styles of dance are left hopeless and do not have a chance to be part of a club that they passionately enjoy.

Hugmaelle Jean, a former member of X-Clusive, said that introducing a new dance club might stir up some mixed emotions. “People might have diverse options about other people coming up with another dance club,” said Jean.  Although the two clubs would be doing different style of dance, there still might be some overlap.

Jean also noted that the club would be nice since it will add diversity among the different styles of dance offered at Stoughton High. “Although both clubs dance, they will be different and will attract different people to both making it successful,” noted Jean. Even though the clubs overlap, dance club will be able to offer something new and exciting.

Today, dance club is a work in progress that will hopefully come together nicely by the next school year. With the potential advisors, dance club will have a strong foundation to be built on and hopefully will remain part of Stoughton for years to come.