Advanced dancers are taking part in the new audition-only Blake Student Dance Company and getting a taste of company life and the performance experience.

Next Thursday, the company will perform at the Maryland Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance convention at Towson University. Dance teacher and company creator Sandra Perez says, “I think it will be a big deal because this will be the first time we are really taking our dancers out of Blake and showcasing them among the other students of the state.”

Although Ms. Perez has wanted to form a school dance company since joining the Blake faculty, her idea was only approved this year. The first semester will be taught by Ms. Perez, who is planning a modern jazz piece for the company, while second semester will be taught by fellow dance teacher, Meredith Exler.

Ms. Perez has also been nominated for the Wolf Trap Foundation Scholarship for Performing Arts Teachers, a grant of $2,500 to spend on the dance company class. The grant would help Ms. Perez and Ms. Exler invite guest choreographers such as Lucy Bowen McCauley, artistic director of Bowen McCauley Dance, to choreograph pieces for the company.

Students wanting to join the class first had to endure an audition judged not only on their ability to “move” but also on their technical skills. Most students already have had years of training, ensuring a company of accomplished dancers. This is a welcome opportunity for teachers, agrees Ms. Perez. “It’s wonderful working with top-notch students who are experienced.”

The course is not set up as a normal dance class, filled with the stress of learning combinations and technique; rather it is a group of highly trained dancers, taught performance skills by a “coach” rather than a teacher. “I think coaching is probably a teacher’s biggest dream,” adds Ms. Perez. “In this class I get to be a creative artist,” and “I [also] get to coach them how to do the movements better.”

Students joined to avoid boredom in other advanced dance classes. Senior Randy Snight says, “I wanted to be in the company because I felt that the other dance classes here weren’t giving me enough. They weren’t testing my abilities enough.”

Others, like senior Laura Hamilton, wanted to gain an extra edge. “I thought it would strengthen the abilities I have already,” she adds. “This is a really good way to keep my options open, so I’ll learn what its like to be in a dance company.”