Nearly four years ago, Summer Beasley, Middle & Lower School PE Teacher, traveled to South Africa as part of her Edward M. Rivinus Summer Sabbatical. While there, Beasley and her company of dancers established a reciprocal collaboration with dancers in Cape Town. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed their visit to MICDS, but this week, dancers Yaseen Manuel and Marlin Zoutman were welcomed to campus. “It was great to reconnect with them after four years of waiting for the second portion of our collaboration to happen,” Beasley said. While here, Manuel, Zoutman, Beasely, and members of the local dance company Karlovsky & Company Dance choreographed a routine and performed it for Lower and Middle School students. Beasley explained how the creative process worked. “The best thing about having Yaseen and Marlin here was the actual collaboration process,” she said. “Talking through possibilities, trying ideas out, and finding out what worked and what didn’t work. Since we had experience with Yaseen and Marlin from our visit to Cape Town, we already knew that the language of movement/dance was universal, so it was great to continue learning.”
In addition to showcasing their dance talents, Manuel and Zoutman led a masterclass for Middle School students. More than 20 students took advantage of the tremendous opportunity to learn from the accomplished dancers and understand their process for original choreography. While Manuel and Zoutman love performing, they adore the time they get to teach dancers. “You want to inspire them, inspire them to move,” Manuel said. Zoutman also hopes to inspire students and give them the feeling that he gets from dancing. “It’s the only place where you’re not yourself. You’re not hanging on to ‘who am I?’” he said. “You’re in it—you can’t think of anything else. It’s a good place.”
“As a teacher, I know that giving students new and unique experiences will also allow them to see things from a new perspective,” Beasley said. “It’s important for dancers to have a wide range of understanding and experience when it comes to movement—there is always room for exploration.”