HHS Dance Welcomes Broadway Dancers for Workshops

The Harrison High School Dance Department, in association with Stagedoor Workshops, hosted Kamille Upshaw in a Master Class of Dance in the Broadway experience.

Ms. Upshaw spent the morning with the HHS Studio 2 and IB Dance Year 1 and Year 2 students teaching them the dance combination to “Apex Predator” from the hit Broadway Musical Mean Girls. The song, with music written by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, is a pivotal point in the musical. Ms. Upshaw taught the class the incredibly complex and fast-paced choreography from that number in the show.

The students enjoyed learning from a current cast member and Broadway performer. More importantly, she treated the master class as if the students were Broadway professionals – with rapid fire learning and fielding questions the students had regarding piecing the steps together. She began the workshop with a 30-minute warmup that made the students realize how much work a professional adds to his or her craft before they even hit the stage.

Ms. Upshaw is a graduate of The Baltimore School of the Arts and The Julliard School. In addition to being a cast member from Mean Girls, she could be seen previously in Hamilton.

In the afternoon, members of all of the Harrison High School Dance classes performed their Winter Concert pieces for adjudication. Chip Abbott, the choreographer on Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and was the Assistant Choreographer for On The Town, provided feedback to the students on their own pieces. The students were then able to take his critiques and suggestion and implemented them before they performed in front of a large audience at their Winter Concert.

“Students love this experience every year because it not only gives them the opportunity to learn choreography from a member of a Broadway cast, but it also serves as a source for their world dance investigation (part of the IB dance curriculum),” said HHS Dance teacher Deborah Toteda. “This was the last of several workshops IB dance students participated in this school year before turning their focus on upcoming IB assessments.”