Perpich Arts High School Dance Program Presents “In Step”

December 9, 2024

From all corners of the state, the dancers of the Perpich Arts High School Dance Program moved their audiences with “In Step” on December 5th and 6th. The winter concert was the culmination of a semester of work. The dancers demonstrated their creativity, choreographic skills, and performance expertise in several student-choreographed works, a faculty work, and a guest artist work. The works ranged in style, musical choice, and intention. The title, ”In Step”, refers to the feeling the students have about their sense of ensemble and how their different experiences and lives came together for this concert. The dances ranged from dynamic to fluid, from formal to fun, with a range of intensities. Congratulations to all involved with the show!

In Step
Choreography by the Perpich Arts High School dance students and guest artist: Anna Pinault

• Six dancers from six Minnesota communities
• Fourteen student-choreographed dances
• One guest artist
• A million ideas of inspiration
• One community
• Two priceless evenings

After the performances, the dancers shared the following thoughts:

“Thinking back on the show, I would like to highlight how supportive, loving, and caring my friends in dance are. The other dancers I work with are very passionate about their work but also mine. There is absolutely no judgment with each other and I feel safe with them when I make mistakes and/or don’t know what I’m doing. I feel supported by these other five dancers and will forever cherish these moments with them. From practice, to rehearsal, to the show, they never stop bringing me and the others up when they are down and/or knowing when we need space. My peers have a very strong sense of awareness when it comes to what others need. I can’t express enough how far we have all come, even with only one new dancer. Mary Harding (our amazing dance teacher) has done so much for us. As in, pushes us to grow in our art, takes the time to get to know us on a deep level, loves and cares for us in dance but also outside of dance/our personal life. With an art like this, it is very important to have a connection with people you dance with but also the person taking you along the way.” – Anastasia Kol-Balfour (Dance 2025)

“Sam and I really enjoyed learning to perform the piece made by our guest choreographer, Anna Pinault, because of how lighthearted, playful, yet genuine it was. I resonated with the theme of communication in this piece, and how messages get ‘lost in translation’. Thanks to my company, Mary Harding, and our guest for making this beautiful show come together! – Alma Soave (Dance 2025)

“I’m very proud of how we worked together and created our pieces this semester. Our collaboration helped the process to make a very cohesive show.” – Ella Gorter (Dance 2025)

“I am very happy and was thrilled to perform again with this amazing company! Everyone gave their part in the show and we all worked together to create a show with variety, dynamic movement, and connection.” – Sam Ek (Dance 2025)

“I feel honored to share emotion, thoughts, and stories through my movement. I’m so proud of my peers and me for collaborating and producing a powerful, lovely show. Through working together, I believe we have gotten much closer. Bad days, great days, failures, and accomplishments, we have seen every side of it together. I’m so grateful for this community and I am so excited to create more with these lovely dancers.” – Mia Botz (Dance 2025)

“I feel that ‘great artists are able to find themselves in their own art’ and all of us seemed to do that in our own choreography we made for this show. I love that nobody is trying to dance better than anybody on stage or in practice, it’s not a competition; it’s about showing our beautiful movement and not only that, but our beautiful stories we try and tell within our dances. In the process, nobody is trying to be better than anyone, we are all trying to dance better than ourselves and helping each other as a team which helped us improve, connect, grow, and learn a lot as dancers.”  – Danika Wyborny (Dance 2026)

Mary Harding, Dance Instructor, said, “The dancers created an amazing winter concert. Starting in the fall, they created a self portrait dance for the September visual and media arts opening. Then they created group and solo works with thoughtfulness and creativity. They explored new frameworks with guest artists jess pretty and Anna Pinault. Ultimately, the dancers work as a company, collaboratively coming up with schedules, show order, choreography, costuming, lighting, music, and more. They are ‘In Step’.”

Rebecca Bullen, Perpich Arts High School Principal, said, “You could hear the pride and celebration from the audience as they clapped and took deep breaths in awe of the grace, strength, and power in the dancers’ artistic expression, choreography, and movements. Their passion for the artform and the physical space they hold, and move, is inspiring. They are a force, so present, connected, and collaborative. Their care for each other and ability to transform time and space with their bodies left me holding my heart and so proud. And the lighting design, WOW! As a media artist, all of my cinematic senses were on fire; light, sound, and space working in perfect harmony, highlighting the dancers and their movement. Led by their teacher, Mary Harding, they created a space that embraces process and practice while honoring each other, their stories, history, expression, and appreciation for community. What a gift!”

Anna Pinault is a Twin Cities native, who cut her teeth on nearly a decade in New York City, and currently works around the country as a dance artist and educator. Her most recent performance work includes projects with TU Dance Company, Black Label Movement, Rovaco Dance Company, and the Des Moines Metro Opera. Anna has performed works by Yusha-Marie Sorzano, Stephanie Batten Bland, Ronald K. Brown, Trebien Pollard, Alanna Morris, Isaac Martin Lerner, Rohan Bhargava, Joe Chvala, Dani Cole, Chafin Seymour, Gabe Katz, Kora Radella, Angelica Sitskin, and Catherine Cabeen, among others. Her powerful and dynamic energy is unique in its ability to morph from style to style, all while maintaining dynamic articulation and grounded subtlety. Anna’s recent choreography includes works commissioned by The Walker Art Center’s 2023 Choreographer’s Evening, TU Dance’s CULTIVATE Trainee Program, Black Label Movement: Movers Make, Zenon Dance School’s Zone Program, and Perpich Center for Arts Education. With a background in music, Anna’s choreographic creations are often soaked in rhythmic complexity and use movement as a musical voice. Her most recent creation entitled foot/hold, is a solo work that embodies creature-like physicality and metamorphosis, and explores tension, release, and impact. Anna is also passionate about sharing the power of movement through education, and her work as an educator has included The Dance Theatre of Harlem School, The Neighborhood Playhouse School, Zenon Dance School, Minnesota Dance Theatre & School, TU Dance Center, and the NYC Public School System, among others. She holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Exercise Science with a concentration in Human Movement Science from Concordia University Chicago, and is invested in educating and empowering dancers of all ages with knowledge about their bodies.

Dance Instructor – Mary Harding
Lighting Designer & Sound Board Operator – Ellie Simonett
Guest Choreographer – Anna Pinault