Celebrating Poetry and Dance, Speyer Lower School takes the Stage with Our Second Annual Spring Performance: Wordplay!
Our Lower School students' year-long exploration of Dance culminated in the second annual Lower School Spring Performances at the 5 Angels Theater! Every Lower School student experienced performing in a black box theater with lights and large audiences. It was truly a magical day — a celebration of dance and words, community and collaboration!
Titled Wordplay, our LS dancers celebrated poetry through dance! Our youngest dancers celebrated the playful nature of poetry and storytelling, inventive words and imagery. The dancers in KA performed a dance to the poem My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson and an instrumental version of "Happy Together" by the Turtles, while the KB dancers performed dances to Invitation and Sick, both by Shel Silverstein, and "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. Meanwhile, as an extension of their Humanities study of New York, our First Grade dancers studied jazz dance and were inspired by the poem Dream Dust by Langston Hughes and "It Don't Mean a Thing" by Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.
Our older dancers explored poetry as communication, as a vehicle to share ideas, as reminders to what's important. Second Grade, as part of their study of tap dance, performed to the poem Rhythm of Life by Michael Rosen and percussive music by London Dance Collective, while Third Grade's dance was inspired by"Hope" is a thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson and music by Earth Groove. Our oldest dancers in Fourth Grade performed to two poems by Maya Angelou: "I love the look of words" and "Caged Bird".
It was a performance that the audiences watched with their eyes but also felt with their hearts. In the words of Speyer's Head of Lower School Ms. Gabrielli as she welcomed everyone:
What you’re about to see today is the result of weeks, truly, countless hours of practice, coordination, and dedication. Behind every step, spin, and moment of stillness is a team effort: students learning choreography, Ms. Kelly crafting and refining each piece, teachers supporting the process, and families cheering from the sidelines. It is no small feat, but one that is surely worth it.
This performance is a beautiful blend of Ms. Kelly’s creative vision and our students’ exuberance. Together, they’ve shaped a story told not through dialogue, but through dance — words brought to life through movement.
As I watched yesterday’s rehearsal, after walking many rainy blocks to get there, one word came to mind: Ubuntu. It’s a Xhosa phrase that means “I am because we are.” It speaks to the power of community, of shared purpose, of what becomes possible when we rely on one another.
"Wordplay" is more than a performance; it is a reflection of connection, trust, and the collective effort that lives at the heart of our school. Thank you for being here to witness what happens when we are all in it together.
Thank you to Ms. Gabrielli, Ms. Gordon, Ms. Pruden, all of our LS homeroom and CATS teachers, and everyone (and there are MANY) who made this fantastic event possible! We also send big thanks to you parents and caregivers for your wonderful support of our LS dancers and this performance!
And of course, we all give the largest and longest standing ovation to Ms. Kelly!
