Dancers in Fairfield County spend countless hours rehearsing, performing and training with little opportunity for recognition on the academic level for this commitment. One local studio took note and made a decision to change that and hopes to inspire other studios too.
This year Westport’s Academy of Dance (WAD) launched a chapter of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) giving local dancers the opportunity to earn formal recognition for their dedication to dance. The new chapter was started by WAD ballet and modern dance teacher Pamela Bernstein and is open to all WAD dancers regardless of the high school they attend.
Bernstein said the idea came to her during her second year teaching at the studio while watching students balance rigorous dance schedules alongside schoolwork and eventually college applications.
“I realized that there was no way other than extracurriculars for [WAD dancers] to all be recognized in the college process,” Bernstein said. “And the level of rigor, of your classes, and your performances and all the hours that you put in, deserve something more.”
The National Honor Society for Dance Arts is a program of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), which recognizes students for “outstanding artistic merit, leadership and academic achievement in dance.”
Fairfield Ludlowe High School student, Rylie McCollum, who has been dancing at WAD since she was age three, is especially excited for this new opportunity.
“I feel like there’s not a lot of recognition for dance as a sport, like how other varsity sports at school get recognition,” McCollum said. “So I’m excited for that, to show that I’ve accomplished a lot.” In addition to dancing at WAD, McCollum is also a member of the Fairfield Ludlowe Dance Team.
To create WAD’s chapter, Bernstein and WAD studio owner and Staples High School alumna, Nancy Hyland-Zindell, studied NHDSA templates and point systems used by other studios before designing one for the WAD dancers.
In designing the parameters for qualifying, Bernstein said that they didn’t want to make it unattainable for applicants, but at the same time, “it is an honor society, so we want [dancers] to be well qualified.”
The point system is currently structured so that dedicated dancers are able to qualify for induction during their junior year as long as they have a GPA of 3.5, similar to many other high school honors societies. Points are awarded for participation in annual performances like the studio’s Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland shows as well as the senior choreography showcase. In addition, dancers can earn points for up to five yearlong WAD classes each year along with participation in dance programs outside of the studio such as a high school dance team. Finally, students can earn points through volunteer work at the studio. To qualify for induction into the NHSDA, dancers need to earn a total of 50 points. In order to graduate with honors, dancers remain engaged and earn an additional 20 points for an aggregate total of 70 points.
“I’m just really excited for [dancers] to be able to be recognized,” Bernstein said. “The level here is really high-caliber and [dancers] should be recognized for that.”
