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AISG Varsity/APAC Dance Team 24-25’s first group photo
By: Jasmine L.
This year, a major change occurred in the dance team’s plans — AISG declined WAB’s invitation to the Dance Festival. Unfortunately, the dance team members were not informed about this change and the reason for it, leading to misunderstandings between the team and their advisors.
As a member of the Asia Pacific Athletic Conference (APAC) since 2008, AISG encourages its students to develop comprehensively, not just in academics, but also in athletics and arts. Therefore, on top of the yearly APAC event for each sport and performing arts, AISG is also a long-term participant of the yearly Dance Festival.
The Dance Festival happens every year towards the end of September, hosted by different international schools. The festivals are smaller versions of APAC –– competitions or exchange meetings between different school’s varsity/APAC dance teams. Similar to how sport teams have Tricities tournaments, the purpose of the Dance Festivals is not just for the students to have a first taste of what APAC will be like but is also an opportunity for the students to bond across different schools.
Last year (2023), AISG hosted the Dance Festival at their newly renovated campus for the first time.
Grade 11 dance team member Katherine said, “It was a memorable experience for me, not only because I got to bond more with our own team but also because I met new people from different schools. Knowing I would see many of them again in APAC added a unique sense of continuity. The event gave me the opportunity to explore new dance styles while building connections with others.”
Moreover, grade 12 dance team captain Arielle added, “I personally might put it above APAC, the reason being because there was no worry about the final dance and there were less schools meaning our groups felt a lot more close knit.”
Dance team members stated that the Dance Festival helped prepare them for the challenges they may face at APAC. Not only did it allow them to bond with students from other schools, but it also gave them valuable experience in choreographing a final dance, even when working with unfamiliar dancers.
Dance Festival 2023 @ AISG
As the Tricities tournaments for season one comes up, our sports teams have started to prepare for their upcoming competitions from the very start of the season. On the other hand, the dance team hears nothing about their Dance Festival plans. With questions in mind, the members asked their advisor in regards to the situation, only to find out that AISG had denied the invitation during May (2024).
Grade 12 Arielle said, “To be honest I was really angry, especially with this being my last year with the AISG dance team. I was also really confused because we went from hosting it to just imagining it didn’t exist.”
On the other hand, grade 11 Katherine said, “When I heard that we wouldn’t be participating in this year’s Tricities tournament event, I was really disappointed. Last year was such a fun experience, filled with great memories, and it’s hard to know we won’t be part of it this time.”
According to the dance advisor, AISG declined the invitation due to a packed schedule, stating that the plans simply wouldn’t work out. This raised questions among the dance team members: What about the other sports teams that participate in Tricities tournaments? Is dance being given less priority compared to other sports?
Dance team member grade 11 Owen said, “I don’t see the reason why our dance team is excluded from other sports. The reason ‘not enough time to be scheduled’ isn’t valid in my opinion. Since our dance team has the same practice times as other athletic divisions, we should be treated equally, and we should have the opportunity to participate.”
The two dance captains, grade 12 Arielle and Elvira pointed out, “There aren’t any conflicts for us on that date so we should be able to go. As all the sports teams are able to participate in the event, we seem to be missing out on a chance to learn and interact.”
All students participate in China trips from September 2 to September 6 and have a holiday from September 28 to October 6. However, the Tricities tournament and the Dance Festival are scheduled for September 20 to 22, with no apparent date conflicts.
From the 6 interviews with members and captains of the dance team, 5 of them pointed out that they believed the dance team was being treated unfairly. The words that came up were “angry”, “unfair”, “lack of attention”, “pity”, and “disappointed”.
The result and the process of acknowledging this result were completely out of the captains’ and members’ hands, leaving the members of the dance team without any earlier notice of the advisor’s decision.
Being completely confused, the dance members reached out to the director of Athletics and Activities, Mr. Kydd. He said, “Last April-ish May, we had to decide everything for next year’s big events. It was decided by Ms. Zhu that the dance team wouldn’t be prepared by the time the event happened, because your auditions happen later than other schools did.”
Kydd also added, “We could have easily accepted the invitation, and I would love to send you all out […] but it was decided last May.”
With AISG’s decision not to participate in the 2024-25 Dance Festival now confirmed, the team is left with no choice but to accept the outcome, despite having received no prior or follow-up information. Although they now understand why the invitation was denied, the dance team feels they deserved a formal explanation for missing out on one of the two biggest events of the season.
Grade 11 Katherine said, “I think it would have been helpful to receive a more formal announcement about this decision, particularly for the APAC Dance team. The lack of communication left us without much clarity.”
Another member, Grade 11 Sophie mentioned, “Our school just ‘voluntarily’ withdrew from the Dance Festival […] It’s just us being the ones that were left hanging.”
Kydd’s response brought the members back to the question of whether different athletic and art groups receive the same level of importance and attention.
Grade 12 Elvira wrote, “I understand that being able to participate in external events is a precious chance for all groups, but performing arts could and should get more attention.”
On the other hand, Grade 12 Ariel shortly responded, “I find this unfair to our dance team,” while grade 11 Vanessa stated, “I hope APAC performing arts can be treated like APAC sports.”
Note: The author of this article is a member of the dance team.
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