Since childhood, dance, unlike other art forms, is something which I was always interested in. My parents tell me that whenever music went on, I was the first one to start dancing irrespective of the place and time. Thus, when I was young, I learnt a classical form of dance, Kathak for four years. But I didn’t learn any other dance form because I was extremely skinny when I was young. That is the reason many people, including some of my teachers and friends discouraged me to dance despite the fact that I love dancing so much. Therefore, CAS gave me an opportunity to pursue dance as a hobby. As a part of AS in my school, I chose to learn freestyle folk dance. Additionally, in order to widen my expertise in different fields of dancing, I also joined my dance classes outside school. One year of dedication and desire has indeed, improved my dancing skills and made me confident about myself. Lastly, I also performed in a school event along with a video shoot that was uploaded on YouTube.
Learning outcomes I’ve achieved:
LO-1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
My only strength in the field of dancing is that I had learnt classical forms of dance in childhood but I wasn’t aware about several other dance forms. Through the CAS experience, I learnt folk dance in school and several western forms of dance outside school such as hip-hop, wacking, house, freestyle and many more. Furthermore, since I have less stamina, going to dance classes everyday for one hour helped me boost my stamina and build my endurance.
LO-2- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
As I mentioned earlier, several people had discouraged me to dance since I was skinny, thus, getting into a CAS experience that I have always avoided in the past was challenging. It took me a lot of courage to actually pursue dancing after so many years. The dance forms I learned in dance classes were extremely challenging because I had never tried them before. Also, addressing the fact that I’m shy amidst public, it was challenging to openly and freely dance in front of others which inevitably, made me confident about myself.
LO-3- Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
I had to initiate this CAS experience diligently. While the school was extremely supportive in the experience, my parents refused to let me attend dance classes as they thought that it will hamper my academic results. Thus, to initiate and plan this CAS experience, that is, to start my dance classes and practice at home, I had to convince my parents to allow me to pursue dancing on the condition that I don’t compromise my academics.
LO-4- Show commitment to, and perseverance in CAS experiences
IB curriculum is really difficult, and shifting to a new school with a new pattern of curriculum was extremely challenging, still I made sure that I diligently went to dance classes everyday. With so many assignments at hand, it was difficult to take out time to practise dance skills at home but I tried my best to take time out from my busy schedule and practised my dance skills at home every weekend.
LO-5- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
The dance performance that I had in school and the video shoots were group performances and not solo. In both the situations, there were several fights between group members about what steps to choose, what the formation should like, etc, which was really tiring at times. But despite fights, we tried to put our differences aside and work collaboratively as all of us wanted to give a successful outcome.
The final takeaway for me personally is that I should always pursue my dreams no matter what. I learnt that other’s opinions, especially criticism should not affect me in doing what I want to do. I’m extremely grateful for this CAS experience as it helped me discover my love and passion for dance and I plan to continue dancing even in college.
Evidence: Link to the YouTube Dance video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPV0G89PoJg