The Arts department has had a great start with amazing performances from dancers, actors, musicians, beautiful creations by artists, and successful debates. This is, however, not the end of what we will see from our Cultural Convention (CC) delegates as they continue with a spectacular season. The upcoming months are full of events that offer the participants great opportunities to broadcast their talent and, most importantly, enjoy what they love to do! But it’s also important to look back at their previous ups and downs, and appreciate their accomplishments.

Individual & Team Accomplishments

When it comes to the CC Dance team, everyone seemed to agree that their accomplishment was teamwork.“Our team was almost brand new, so we barely knew each other. Additionally, we were able to create and fully finish a 20 minute piece with a lot of people who did not have many choreographic experiences before,” says, CC Dance Captain, ‘Ink’ Duangsri (12). Another member, ‘JC’ Breedlove (9), seemed to believe similarly to her captain as she stated,“We’ve made a 20 minute dance, I think that’s a pretty big accomplishment.” When it came to her own accomplishment, the young dancer says, “I feel really proud to have contributed ideas and choreography to the dance, and my technique has gotten better.” The dance team’s accomplishment of teamwork is a very important skill to master for anyone involved in a team. Not only does it strengthen the relationship between the members, but it also improves the overall performance of the team; no wonder they do a good job of being insync!

The actors of the CC Drama Team are very proud of their last show, Amadeus, in which they used a lot of collaborations. According to Hanna White (12), “Each member of the team had input on the piece, so it felt really personal and more like our own creation.” Like the dancers, the actors demonstrated teamwork as they collaborated for Amadeus. This year, the actors will have to use even more of this skill as they are fully in charge when it comes to their spring play which they are very excited for!

The Hardest Part About This Season

Although the dance team has had a very successful season so far, they have also had to pull through some difficulties. “This season has definitely had it’s ups and downs. We are a really new team – only two returning dancers – and we all excel in different genres of dance. While some of us prefer contemporary and modern, others prefer hip-hop or jazz. I think finding a balance and making sure we all felt confident in our movements was one of the most challenging obstacles.” says ‘Val’ Sarmiento (12). On the other hand, one of Val’s team members, ‘JC’ Breedlove (9) believes that the hardest part of this season was the fact that they “talked a lot about the order of the songs and what parts [they] were going to use in order to make it a cohesive performance, but [they] were a little bit over time for the whole dance (it was supposed to be 20 minutes max, whoops)”. [They’ve] also had someone out sick this past week, which is going to make it hard for her to catch up, but [they] have faith in her and each other” On a happier note, there have not been any major injuries so far for any of the members and so it’s hoped that nobody gets hurt further on in the season.

The actors also had some ups and downs last year as Hanna White (12) states, “I think the subject matter has been the hardest part of the process. Our piece is dark and serious and based on real events, so dealing with those responsibilities and pressures has been difficult.” We are glad that the actors were able to deal with the responsibilities and the pressures as they had an outstanding performance!

Goals & Things They Look Forward To

“I’m most looking forward to performing the piece to both the ISB community and to the other CC delegate’s in Taipei. We’ve worked really hard every day after school since November and I’m proud of how far we’ve come.” says ‘Val’ Sarmiento (12). Like Val, ‘Ink’ Duangsri (12), is also excited to “Just be able to perform [her] fourth and final IASAS dance piece ever and to go to Taipei for CulCon where [she] will see all of [her] friends from the other schools.”

Like the dancers, the actors are all “excited to finally show everyone [their] hard work. This has been [their] baby since November, so [they] are all just excited to finally perform it.” Hanna White (12)

Good luck to all CC delegates! As for everyone else, make sure to attend the upcoming events and support your fellow artists!

Chloe S