This weekend, the dancers of the Osceola County School for the Arts dance department spent their time, participating in the Florida Dance Performance Assessment. The FDPA was created to assess and evaluate student performances.

Early Friday morning, the high school dancers traveled to the University of South Florida in Tampa. Immediately after arriving they were prompted to take hour long classes in the styles of both Modern and Ballet. Afterwards they returned to the hotel.

The following day the dancers traveled to Howard Blake High School to prepare for their adjudications. They arrived at 8:30am and practiced their pieces till 9:00am. They later moved to a room and began adjudications in both Modern and Ballet styles. The final adjudication was the “Movement Acquisition,” where the dancers had to learn a new on-site routine. After finishing the Movement Acquisition the dancers practiced their group piece before going back to their hotel to take a break. Later in the evening the dancers returned to the high school and performed their group piece in the Honors Concert.

On Sunday the dancers returned to Howard Blake High School and had a broad choice of activities to choose from. From master classes to auditions for summer intensives, companies, and colleges, the dancers had a wide range of activities to participate in. The day ended at around noon when all of the events were done.

Overall the weekend was a success. The dancers received superiors for many of the categories they participated in. Senior dancer, Hailey Roseboro, stated that she enjoyed the opportunity to “take college level dance classes at USF.” She was very happy to be exposed to the college experience while also practicing her art.