All-County Dance Performance Scheduled for Tuesday November 9

By Press release submission

Nov 8, 2021

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools issued the following announcement on November 4.

The All-County Dance Performance will be held on Tuesday Nov. 9 in the auditorium at Reynolds High. Admission is free. Performances are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The dance group at each high school will showcase one piece. The finale will be a performance by dancers from each school who were chosen to work together earlier in the day with a professional choreographer.

Dance 1By Kim Underwood

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 – Janay Powell, who is a junior at Parkland High, started dancing when she was 3. In the years that followed, she played soccer and basketball and was a cheerleader. Although she enjoyed those activities, they didn’t engage her nearly as much as dance did.

So, she started focusing on dance. At Parkland, her teacher is Ashley Smith.

Powell likes the atmosphere associated with dance and the opportunity to connect with other dancers.

Smith 67And she likes what dance does for her.

“It’s a way to express yourself,” Powell said, “and, if you’re having a bad day, you can go to dance and just forget about everything.”

On Tuesday Nov. 9, Powell and the other members of the Parkland Dance Company will join dancers from high schools throughout the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools at the All-County Dance Performance.

Smith, who has been dancing since she was 4, grew up here and graduated from Parkland in 2011. She danced while she was at Parkland and headed off to N.C. A&T State University knowing she wanted a career in dance. She has been teaching dance at Parkland since she graduated from N.C. A&T in 2015.

She loves her job.

“Being a dance teacher, I get to work with students who have the same passion for dance I do,” Smith said.

Dance 13When students were studying at home during the coronavirus pandemic, teaching dance was a real challenge, she said. Teaching them via computer was not close to teaching them in person. Smith is delighted to be back in person with students and is glad that All-County Dance Performance can be staged this year.

So is Sara Crater, the Dance and Theatre Education Administrator for WS/FCS.

“Dance is a performing art form, so we have the desire to share our artistic creativity through movement,” Crater said.

“We have not been able to do this for more than a year and a half now and we are busting at the seams to be able to unleash our creative sides to an audience.”

“All-County Dance this year will be the perfect venue to allow our students to be able to express themselves through movement in a way that only they can explain. The students are so excited to have this opportunity to collaborate, connect and demonstrate their love for the art form of dance!”

“All dance teachers will be present for this event, and it would not be possible without all of their dedication and hard work with their students.”

Dance 17Earlier in the day on Tuesday, some dancers from each high school will have the opportunity to work with a professional choreographer. The finale that night will be a performance by those dancers.

Powell is one of the Parkland students chosen to work with the choreographer and dancers from other schools. She is looking forward to the experience.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to meet new people, try new things, learn from people,” she said.

Roxana Carrillo, who is a senior at Parkland, was also chosen to work with the choreographer and dancer from other schools.

Although she is looking forward to the experience, she said, she can be a little shy around new people and is a bit nervous. She has performed often enough that she feels at ease thinking about the Parkland Dance Company performance.

Carrillo likes working with everyone in the company.

“Everybody tries and they want to work hard to make the dance look good,” she said.

Carrillo finds dancing rewarding. She enjoys the process of learning a dance and the release that dancing provides.

Dance 96“It’s a way for me to express myself and let everything out,” Carrillo said.

Carrillo has been dancing since the sixth grade.

“I was self-taught,” she said.

Working on her own, she explored different kinds of dance including Hispanic, hip hop and jazz. Once she came to Parkland, she began formally studying dance with Smith.

She’s a good teacher, Carrillo said. “She teaches well and explains everything. She is good at teaching me to do the tricks.”

At Parkland, Carillo has also participated in the Dancing Debs, a Parkland group that dances at sports games.

Heaven Blackmon, who is a senior at Parkland, will be performing at All-County Dance.

Blackmon was born in Winston-Salem. Her father was serving in the Air Force, and, in the years that followed, his service took the family to the Netherlands, Guam and Germany. Although she started dancing when she was 4, moving around so much meant that, early on, it was hard to find a dance studio and it was only when she was 8 and living in Germany that she was finally able to focus on dancing.

Dance 78She returned to Winston-Salem in 2016.

Blackmon said she can be a little shy. “I’m not good at expressing myself in words.”

Dancing is what works for her in that way.

“It’s a great way to express yourself,” she said.

She, too, participates in the Dancing Debs.

Not being able to dance in person with others was hard, and Blackmon is looking forward to Tuesday night.

“I am excited to dance on the stage again,” she said.

The members of the Parkland Dance Company are:

Mellani Allen

Jasly Bonilla Rodriguez

Heaven Blackmon

Roxana Carrillo