Over the last two years, the dance program at Emma Willard School has creatively adapted to the now-familiar COVID-19 protocols. Performances that normally take place in Kiggins moved to virtual, with recorded performances and virtual instruction, hybrid classes, and masks. Each year, usually in the beginning of the spring semester, Emma Willard School’s campus and dance program host a visiting artist. That was on hold for the 2020-2021 school year.

However, this Spring 2022 semester marks a return to the on-campus visiting artist program with two dancers working with Emma Willard School students. 

“As much as we can, we bring in other people so [the students] are exposed to different forms, styles, and different ways of teaching,” said dance instructor Barbara Magee, in a conversation about the dance program at Emma Willard School. 

Kellie Ann Lynch, a dancer with the David Dorfman Dance Company, presented a master class with students from the various dance disciplines on campus. Though the classes combined students at different levels, the group worked together and explored different kinds of movement as a cohesive unit. 

“I thought the master classes were a great opportunity to explore new styles of dance and to experience different teaching techniques,” says Annie H. ‘24. “It was also really neat meeting the professional dancers and getting their feedback.”