By Lilly Brand

It was Thursday, my favorite day of the week. I couldn’t contain my excitement after school as I arrived at the studio and changed in the locker room with some of my best friends, whom I called “best friends” even though I only got to see them once a week. As I walked into the room, wearing the same Minds In Motion t-shirt, black athletic shorts, and black dance sneakers as my best friend, of course, I couldn’t stop smiling. This was the one place my life was carefree and simple. There was no stress of school or that friend group drama that never seems to end; everything was perfect. This was my life from fifth through eighth grade as a member of the Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion Program: Team XXL. 

According to Minds In Motion teaching artist Paul Dandridge, “The Minds In Motion program is an all-inclusive, in-school dance class opportunity for 4th grade students at participating schools where, weekly, each classroom will receive a 45-minute dance class from a Minds In Motion teaching artist.” As Minds In Motion director Jordan Glunt explains, “The power of the program lies in the process of building upon the previous lesson’s achievements. The process of working towards making a confident entrance, memorizing choreography, telling a story through movement, and being able to convey the emotion behind a dance is crafted during each class with patience and recognition by our teaching artists and musicians.” For kids who have participated in Minds In Motion, she says their “teachers have commented that their students return to the classroom energized, focused, and ready to work on the academic task at hand.” This program, therefore, can be rewarding for schools, as well as for the student’s learning habits. 

The 4th graders at Mind In Motion learn how to combine the various steps and patterns to create dances which will be presented in a culminating performance at the Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center at the end of the school year. The participating schools include Richmond public schools such as Bellevue, John B. Cary, J. B. Fisher, Westover Hills, Linwood Holton, William Fox, Oak Grove-Bellemeade, Mary Munford, and E. S. H. Greene; Chesterfield’s Bon Air and Hopkins Road; and the independent schools Steward, St. Benedict, St. Michael’s Episcopal School, Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, and Sabot at Stony Point. 

2016 Finale of culminating performance: Ecology In Motion. Photo credit: Sarah Ferguson.

The most amazing part of this experience for me, as a 4th grader, was watching this final show come together with not just your one school, but all the other schools combined on one stage, performing together. Glunt describes the performance by saying, “Students come from varying backgrounds to create beautiful and moving performances that reflect as much diversity in the audience as there is on stage.” Each culminating performance has a particular theme, ranging anywhere from regional topics to ancient folk tales, which tells a story through each dance. Past themes have included Jamestown: Unearthing a New World; Dancing for a Brand New Bay; The Gift: Ecology in Motion; The Emperor’s Flowers; The Epic of Gilgamesh; and Anansi’s Web: Tales Spun from Africa. This year, they have partnered with the Library of Virginia to focus on Virginia history and important figures from the past to the present that have impacted our state. 

During 4th grade, the Minds In Motion teaching artists find the students that have an aptitude for dance and invite them to audition for a group called Team XL. At the end of the culminating performance, the Team XL group and any other students that are later identified as having this same aptitude, but were not found in time to be in Team XL, are given the opportunity to audition to be a member of the Minds In Motion Ambassadors, known as Team XXL when I was a part of the program from 2012 to 2016. In order to continue to be a part of the Ambassadors program, you must re-audition each year. The Ambassadors are a performance group made of up 5th and 6th graders (and included 7th and 8th graders during my tenure) that focuses on training, including two ballet classes and a musical theater class each week, in addition to the more traditional Minds In Motion style of dance. This style is a more modern, contemporary style, with a hint of jazz and musical theater elements that make it seem somewhat interpretive. It is a dance style that anyone can learn and requires no prior dance experience. The Ambassadors rehearse from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m on Thursdays and from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

First 5th grade performance with Team XXL 2012. Photo credit: Allyson Brand.

When I was in Lower School, I became a part of the Minds In Motion program through the Steward School. After I was asked to audition for Team XL, I was quite surprised that I made it, since I had never really thought of myself as someone who could have a future in dance. Since I only had one other friend from Steward with me in Team XL, I was forced into many awkward social situations, having to learn how to make other friends with kids coming from all different backgrounds and other parts of Richmond. At the culminating performance, I remember feeling so special compared to my other friends at Steward, as I got to be in extra dances and stand in front of everyone because I was a member of Team XL. 

Monarch Butterfly Performance outside the Valentine Museum, 2015. Photo credit: Allyson Brand.

When the time came to audition for Team XXL in the spring of 2012, I was terrified and thought there was no way I would ever get in, especially since I had to have a make-up solo audition with the then-Director of Minds In Motion, Cathleen Studdard, because I had missed the regular audition dates. Even though I have since forgotten most of what happened, it must have gone well, because I somehow got an acceptance letter a few weeks later. I was ecstatic. This is the first memory I have of feeling truly proud of myself of something I had accomplished.

This fall, on Saturday, November 2, I had the opportunity to visit an Ambassadors rehearsal and talk with some of the kids. The first thing I noticed was how small all of the children looked, as I remarked to one of the teachers that I don’t remember everyone being that small. She informed me that the program that had once been a four-year program for 5th through 8th graders was now only a two-year program for 5th and 6th graders. When I was a part of Team XL, we only had a two-hour rehearsal every Thursday, with some performances in the Richmond area most weekends. Now, they only occasionally perform in the community and mostly focus on rehearsing with Richmond Ballet’s Ensemble group to perform with them. The joint show they are currently working on, consisting of five to six dances with a small narrative to introduce each one, is about connecting with people and how to do that in this age of technology, but also how to not let just your social media profile define you. 

As Dandridge described the change, he said, “It has become more about trying to find the longevity of each individual student, rather than having a completely separate dance style of Minds In Motion.” In the past, most kids would undergo the four-year program of Team XXL, or Ambassadors, and leave, without any continuation of dance into high school. Dandridge continued, “Having [the Ambassadors] come twice a week gives them more [of an] opportunity to build on the foundation of steps and knowledge through ballet, musical theater, and modern, a codified dance style than simply Minds In Motion.”

The founding Artistic Director of Richmond Ballet Stoner Winslett’s vision of the Minds In Motion program is to be able to provide dance for more students beyond 8th grade. Before the change, only a small, select group of kids who had an interest in ballet continued dancing after Team XXL, but Winslett wishes to give more kids the tools to keep dancing. 

Last year (fall 2018 to spring 2019) was the first year of the newly implemented ballet and musical theater classes, in addition to the traditional Minds In Motion classes. However, this is the first year (fall 2019) that the program has consolidated to only including 5th and 6th graders. Even though the program obviously lost every 6th, 7th, and 8th grader from the program last year, there were also over twenty 5th graders, which is a larger-than-average initial group. This group of 5th graders was larger due to the greater number of 8th graders who had graduated the year before. For example, when I graduated from the program, there were only three 8th graders, so there were a limited number of spots open to new 5th graders the next year. Dandridge further explained, “We are still trying to figure out the way to best implement this [new program] because, as of right now, it’s hard to see why it’s only two years, especially because we have people that have siblings or they know people that did the four-year program; we’re trying to figure out how to get the right formula.”

Paul Dandridge. Photo credit: Richmond Ballet.

Dandridge, an alum of the Minds In Motion program himself, shared his favorite part of being a teacher for the in-school portion of the Minds In Motion program for 4th graders, but also for the 5th and 6th grade Ambassadors. He said, “I like kids and I love teaching, so this is a very convenient employment opportunity for me. It’s fun [going into the schools] because now that I’m in my 9th year, I am a very comfortable teacher because I know what I’m doing.” When Dandridge was one of my teachers, I remember always looking forward to his energetic and buoyant teaching style that was able to keep everyone attentive during rehearsal. Dandridge added, “It’s new every single year because there are new students; there’s always that challenge of hooking them and then continuously hooking the ones that don’t care about it, while also finding the people that have a talent and aptitude for dance and then bringing them [to the Ambassadors program].” He said that it is a very similar experience for him when teaching the Ambassadors. As a classical ballet dancer, Dandridge is especially excited to be able to share this knowledge with the 5th and 6th graders through their new program. 

Jordan Glunt. Photo credit: Richmond Ballet.

Now in her 13th year of working with the Minds In Motion program, Glunt, now the director of the program, reflected on her favorite parts of the program. She said, “One, it allows me to share my love and knowledge of dance with young people, who may not realize that it is something they can do or even want to do. Two, being able to help a young person find self-confidence and self-expression through dance as well as finding a different style of learning they may not have realized works for them. Three, just simply being able to work and dance with young people.” 

6th grade Ambassador dancers posing for a photo. Photo credit: Lilly Brand.

During my Ambassadors rehearsal visit, I got the chance to talk to some of the current 6th graders about their favorite parts of Minds In Motion. Each of them somehow found a way to include that one of their favorite parts was spending time and dancing with their friends. Naomi, from Albert Hill Middle School, said, “My favorite part of this program is that I get to meet new friends, and I get to go out into the community and put smiles on people’s faces.” Mariana, from St. Benedict Catholic School, said, “At the end of the year, we all bond with each other, and it’s kind of like [one big] family.” Some of the kids didn’t take my question as seriously. Caleb, from the Steward School, laughed, “All I’ve got to say is, every day is leg day here.”

Rehearsal with Ambassadors and Richmond Ballet’s Ensemble. Photo credit: Lilly Brand.

Rehearsal with Ambassadors and Richmond Ballet’s Ensemble. Photo credit: Lilly Brand.

During my time at Minds In Motion, we had Team XXL workshops during two full weeks in the summer before each school year, where we learned all of our dances for that year and got to know everyone. I remember not wanting to leave my mom’s car as I walked through the doors of the Richmond Ballet that first day of rehearsal and into a studio filled with all of these kids, who seemed so old, tall, talented, and way more experienced than me. I was overwhelmed. It was terrifying entering into the Team XXL program in 5th grade, having no friends, and watching all of the older kids laugh and talk with everyone else; I felt left out. As the year went on, I made a few friendships, but it wasn’t until 6th grade where I truly met my new best friend. 

2014 Holiday Performance at VCU Medical Center. Photo credit: Allyson Brand.

Ellie Myers went to Sabot at Stony Point for lower and middle school and entered into the Minds In Motion program the same way I did. Over our four years together, we grew to do everything together, from sleepovers—even though we lived 30 minutes apart—to planning to wear the same Minds In Motion t-shirt every Thursday with our matching black athletic shorts. It became a running joke to everyone, including our teachers, that we were known as the “twins.”

Every two years, the Team XXL group takes a train to New York City for a long weekend in late March. During my trip in 7th grade, I grew so close with all of my friends, including Ellie, Olivia, Emma, Cam, Tarique, and Darius. When we weren’t busy attending dance classes at Rosie’s Theater Kids and Broadway Dance Center and watching off-Broadway shows like On the Town, we spent the days exploring the city, Central Park, the High Line, playing Truth or Dare, taking funny pictures, and laughing. 

5th grade New York Trip 2013. Photo credit: Allyson Brand.

As I interviewed some Team XXL alums about the impact the Minds In Motion program had on them, they all said they didn’t realize they had a passion or love for dance before becoming a part of the Minds In Motion program. Cam Reed, now a freshman at James Madison University, said, “The [thing I remember the most] about Minds In Motion was the camaraderie of the group and how close everyone was to each other.” His favorite part of the program was meeting new people and, through that, gaining a new cultural experience as well. Reed said, “There was so much diversity and love in the group that really opened me up to so many different social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds at such a young age. I thoroughly enjoyed showing up every week and doing something out of the ordinary to my everyday life.” He continued to say, “Minds In Motion has helped me [become] more open to people’s backgrounds and their own experiences, which has helped me empathize [and] understand others better.” 

Myers, now a senior at Hanover High School, said, “I have memories that I’ll carry [from Minds In Motion] forever. [It] has helped me by giving me more confidence to be unique and independent, and also with my fear of performing in front of people.” She also said, “I learned a lot about being a part of a team and helping to build other people up.” Tarique Logan, a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University studying dance and a member of the Richmond Ballet’s Trainee program, said, “[The Minds In Motion program] taught me that I could just be myself [through dance] and people would enjoy me for me.” 

Saying “Goodbye” to the 2015 8th Graders. Photo credit: Allyson Brand.

At the end of 8th grade, Ellie, Darius, and I, were the only three 8th graders who hadn’t left Team XXL for ballet, or to pursue other interests. When we “graduated” the spring of 2016, after our final culminating performance, I felt as if I’d lost my second family. Over the five years I was a part of the Minds In Motion program, I grew in my confidence not only as a dancer, but also in myself. Middle School can be a difficult and awkward time, socially and academically, but having my friends at Team XXL to dance with every Thursday provided me with an outlet for my stress of everyday life. 

At Minds In Motion, no one cared about my grades or who I hung out with; we were all so close that we felt as if we were one big family, where standing out and being different was encouraged. Especially since I have always attended a predominantly white private school, through this program, I got the chance to make new friendships with people from all over Richmond coming from different and diverse backgrounds. I could escape all the drama of Middle School and dance, talk, and laugh with my other friends who loved me for me. 

Watch video of Minds In Motion rehearsals below.