Trust in Motion began with a simple idea: what would happen if students explored empathy and reliability not just through conversation, but through movement?
Inspired by the Trust Building/s mural series, these dancers were paired together and asked to listen, collaborate, create, and trust one another. Before the final photographs were made, they had to share ideas, try things that felt new, compromise when something did not work, and rely on each other in real time.
Their reflections below offer a beautiful look at what happened behind the scenes. In their own words, they share what it felt like to build trust, make space for someone else’s ideas, support one another, and discover that connection can happen even when you are working with someone new.

TRUST IN MOTION

-Jeiza, 8th Grade

“Trust in dance feels like a conversation without words, a shared breath, and a leap of faith into the unknown, knowing your partner will catch you.”


How did you and your partner show empathy while working together? 
We showed empathy by smiling and listening to each other's thoughts and we were patient and we tried something new.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner showed reliability when she safely lifted me on her back for the pose and she did it carefully when we did it and then she wasn’t late on the field trip either.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We decided by thinking of a good fit for the pose of both empathy and reliability we looked on pinterest and we didn’t find anything so we made our own.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
It represents me by being a strong dancer and a bold dancer and it says about me that I can do anything I put my mind to.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part of us working together was coming up with a pose and trying to sort it out and when we thought of multiple ideas, it was hard to think of one.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
It taught me that we held each other's hands and our legs were in the air so it was like we trusted each other because of the pose we were doing.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like you’re having a good feeling about someone that you can count on. It feels like you can move freely and you can work with someone on a dance and you can count on them. 

Ryleigh - 6th Grade

NEXT DANCER


How did you and your partner show empathy while working together? We showed empathy by being understanding when their idea didn't work out. We listened to each other's ideas, being patient, encouraging each other's ideas, trying something new.

When did your partner show reliability during this project? Yes I do think she showed reliability. I mean she showed up, offered her ideas and together we made very good poses. 

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses? How we came up with our poses is that first we showed each other our ideas then we worked on some ideas and after that we both thought of single poses we liked and merged them into two duet poses.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person? My pose was me jumping in the air with my leg bent backward and my hand in an “airplane pose.” (I don't know what to call it) I didn't really think about how it said a lot about me I just thought it looked cool but looking back I think parts of it does show what I like about dance. The jump I did showed that I always love when we do leaps or other jumps and I did my arms that way because I do love having nice ways of moving our arms in dance if that makes sense.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project? I think the hardest part about working with Lyric was that we are just so different, like I'm very loud and dramatic and Lyric seemed very quiet and shy so it was hard for me to give the place to shine. My favorite part about working with her was seeing her ideas because I learned a lot about her that day like she likes to do a lot of leaps and gymnastic things because she does
gymnastics.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others? I think it was working with others that really helped because it taught me to be patient and let other people shine instead of just driving the whole thing.
 
Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…” … flying together you have to hold hands to make it far up to where you want to go.

GRACE, 6TH GRADE


How did you and your partner show empathy while working together? We listened to each other's ideas and shared our opinions on the pose like if we liked it, if we
didn't and if we thought that pose was too hard. We also changed our pose because it was too hard.

When did your partner show reliability during this project? My partner and I had a pose that required me to backbend while she was holding me and doing a split so I had to trust Kennedy to make sure I wouldn't fall. 

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses? We started to think about poses that represent the definition of that word and what it means.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person? That I can balance and overcome things.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project? For us it was figuring out a pose and my favorite part was figuring out how to show why the poses mean something.  

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others? That even if you aren't in the same grade or if you don't hang out you can still come up with something together.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…” Trusting your family, relying on something to all work out, and creating something as a group.

SYBIL - 6th Grade

NEXT DANCER

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
We showed empathy by being understanding when their idea didn't work out. We listened to each other's ideas, being patient, encouraging each other's ideas, trying something new.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
Yes I do think she showed reliability. I mean she showed up, offered her ideas and together we made very good poses. 

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
How we came up with our poses is that first we showed each other our ideas then we worked on some ideas and after that we both thought of single poses we liked and merged them into two duet poses.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
My pose was me jumping in the air with my leg bent backward and my hand in an “airplane pose.” (I don't know what to call it) I didn't really think about how it said a lot about me I just thought it looked cool but looking back I think parts of it does show what I like about dance. The jump I did showed that I always love when we do leaps or other jumps and I did my arms that way because I do love having nice ways of moving our arms in dance if that makes sense.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
I think the hardest part about working with Lyric was that we are just so different, like I'm very loud and dramatic and Lyric seemed very quiet and shy so it was hard for me to give the place to shine. My favorite part about working with her was seeing her ideas because I learned a lot about her that day like she likes to do a lot of leaps and gymnastic things because she does
gymnastics.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
I think it was working with others that really helped because it taught me to be patient and let other people shine instead of just driving the whole thing.
 
Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
… flying together you have to hold hands to make it far up to where you want to go.

Grace - 6th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
We listened to each other's ideas and shared our opinions on the pose like if we liked it, if we didn't and if we thought that pose was too hard. We also changed our pose because it was too hard.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner and I had a pose that required me to backbend while she was holding me and doing a split so I had to trust Kennedy to make sure I wouldn't fall. 

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We started to think about poses that represent the definition of that word and what it means.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
That I can balance and overcome things.

What was the most challenging part of working together?What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
For us it was figuring out a pose and my favorite part was figuring out how to show why the poses mean something.  

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
That even if you aren't in the same grade or if you don't hang out you can still come up with something together.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trusting your family, relying on something to all work out, and creating something as a group.

Sybil - 6th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My two partners showed Empathy in many ways which is why getting paired with them was a great experience.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partners showed reliability when we wanted to change the second picture and that showed me that they think fast.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
In our first picture it was when Harper and I were on a bridge and Jeiza performed a leap. It reminded me of the reliability mural and understanding that Jezia is about to graduate.
 
What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
For me, I danced my whole life and I realized I have never done a dance or pose like that and I wanted to try something new.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part was when we were brainstorming poses because everyone had different ideas. My favorite part of this project is when we practiced poses because everyone was having fun.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
It taught me that people that you talk to all the time can have your back in the end. 

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
You can trust a person with your life even if they do something bad to you. And knowing that they have your back in the end.

Autumn - 6th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partner and I showed empathy by encouraging and understanding each others’ ideas and practicing our poses together to make sure we were comfortable with them.
 
When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner showed reliability by being accepting of the changes in each pose and by showing she is flexible by getting to know me even if we did not know each other well before this
project.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We decided the empathy poses by talking it through and imagining what it would look like in front of either painting.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
I like gracefulness and consistency even if it is difficult to stay in that pose for a long enough time, I still try to push through and be encouraging to myself.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part of working with Jakayla was getting to know her even though it was so easy for us to get along. One of my favorite parts of this project was to see everyone connecting and being respectful to each other.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This experience taught me that trust is a big part of dance and empathy is really helpful in understanding one another on a deeper level. Getting to know and working with people I never knew before we were brought together in Dance Company has been such an amazing experience.
 
Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like we all can support each other. For example, if there is a lift in the dance, the person being lifted is trusting those holding them. It also feels like such a beautiful experience when everyone is so comfortable with each other and confident with themselves.

Maya - 6th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
Harmony and I showed empathy multiple ways. When coming up with poses we would hear each other out and give our honest opinions without being disrespectful. We would try out our ideas and find a way to mix them together and look good.
 
When did your partner show reliability during this project?
In our poses we showed reliability. On one of our poses Harmony had to balance on one leg while I held the other. Harmony relied on me to keep her leg in place, I relied on Harmony to
keep her foot on the ground balanced so we wouldn’t fall out of place.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
Our way of choosing poses was very simple. We chose the word that would be most recognizable through a pose and that we would understand. We ended up with two reliability poses which I believe turned out very well.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
My individual pose was really fun to come up with even though it was really simple. As a dancer I’d say my pose shows how much I like to utilize my arms in dance. It teaches me that as a dancer I should also learn to use other body parts more which can help me get better at dance.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
Working with a partner no matter who it is can always be challenging. I’d say the most challenging part was breaking the awkward silence after finishing a new idea, as simple as it sounds it can actually be hard. My favorite part of this project was going out with a new friend and trying something new with them.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This project taught me a lot about the three topics named. It taught me that not everyone will let you down. If I don’t trust someone else fully then they probably won’t trust me at all. Lastly, sharing your own thoughts and ideas with someone else isn’t embarrassing.
 
Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like being confident in each other.

Laighla - 7th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partner and I showed empathy by sharing our ideas and agreeing on poses together. We both suggested ideas to each other for our solo pictures and tried new things.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner showed reliability by counting on me to not let go of her in our poses. My partner also counted on me to show up so we could take the pictures. During this project I think we both counted on each other a lot.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We decided on our reliability poses by thinking about what the word meant and how we could represent that word.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
In my individual pose, I chose to do an elegant pose. I chose to do that pose because I have started to mature in life and I wanted to show that in my individual pose. What my individual pose says about me is that I’m a mature person or a maturing person.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part of working together is not agreeing on the same thing. My favorite part of this project is having someone that listens to your opinion and being able to take pictures with my friend.
 
What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This experience taught me to be patient with others and to work with new people. This
experience taught me to have trust in others.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like having a connection or feeling secure or relaxed.

annalise - 7th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
We were very open to learning about everyone's ideas and we tried each idea and showed respect for them. We were also very encouraging and supportive of each other. I also got to learn a lot about my partners and we were able to come up with a pose that had a lot of empathy for each of our backgrounds.
 
When did your partner show reliability during this project?
In one of our poses I had to rely on my partners to make sure they didn’t let me fall. I also had to trust my partners to respect me as a person and be respectful of my thoughts and opinions. Last but not least I also had to rely on them to show up and be accountable for this project.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
My group took ours in front of the empathy mural and tried to make a pose that would bleed into all of our backgrounds. We created our poses by looking into everyone's ideas and narrowing it down to three good options. To pick our final two options we combined everybody’s ideas to make two wonderful poses.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
My pose shows a lot of courage because it is me turning around to what I don’t know is gonna be there and me trusting my surroundings. I think my pose shows that I am a fierce person with very sharp movements. I came up with my pose with the help of Ms. Perkinson and we took the original pose and added a little twist.

What was the most challenging part of working together?  What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
Me and my group struggled because we all wanted different poses and couldn’t decide which two were the best. We also had a tough time because some of us were more flexible than others which limited our options in poses. But after a little getting to know each other better and eliminating some options we were able to come together as one whole and make our decision off of who we are.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This taught me a lot about trust because I had to trust my partners throughout the whole process and they never let me down. I also learned about empathy by learning more about people's backgrounds and stepping in their shoes and understanding who they are. Last but not last but not least I learned that working with people is the gateway to true, valuable friendships.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like giving your partner the biggest hug and knowing they will never let go even when you want them to because they aren’t just here for dance they are here for life. I feel this way because no matter what you are always in the arms of the person you trust because they trust you as well. Dance takes so much trust because the simplest movements take so many people just to make them perfect and you have to trust those people with your life.

harper - 7th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partner and I showed empathy in multiple ways. We were able to listen to each other's ideas and then take our ideas combined and create a pose based on our ideas. We listened while we were getting to know each other. We were also able to compromise on our outfits and poses.


When did your partner show reliability during this project?
She showed reliability at a lot of points during this project. With our duo poses I was putting all my weight on her so at that moment she was showing a lot of reliability in being able to support me. She also showed emotional reliability, it felt like she listened to what I said and was able to understand it, which to me is how I feel like I can count on someone.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We decided on a reliability pose, although it had aspects of empathy as well. We kind of just played around with different poses at the beginning not trying to pair it with a specific feeling and once we created our poses we felt that they resonated more with reliability. In both of our poses one person is supporting the other person's weight, so it seemed very fitting with reliability and trust.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
I tried to include things that represent me as both a person and a dancer. There are some things that kind of stand out such as I was hoping to convey the feeling of trust and being comfortable in how my face was and also the arabesque on one foot which to me feels like you have to trust yourself. There are also some things that are up for people to interpret about me. I personally didn't come up with my pose on my own, my grandmother was a ballerina and we have a print of her doing an arabesque with one arm straight out. The pose really resonated with me and I decided to do a similar pose. For me the pose conveys trust and empathy which I feel fit me pretty well as a person, as well as the fact that it's a sort of “traditional” dance move which says something about me as a dancer.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part for me was getting to know my partner. I am a little shy when I first meet someone so for me it was challenging that we had such a short period of time to get to know each other. But also my favorite part was probably once I was able to form a connection and how we were able to create our own poses and also learn about our partners as dancers.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
I feel like it taught me that working with people you're not close with is not as scary and/or difficult as it seems. I also learned that even though sometimes it's hard, being able to trust other people and form connections is a very important skill to develop.
 
Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like being able to count on who you're dancing with and being able to fully express yourself around them.

gabriela - 7th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
When my partner and I worked together, we showed empathy by learning more about each other and what we liked and tried some new poses. It took time to come up with our poses and which mural we chose, therefore we reflected off of each other's ideas and used patience to make a masterpiece.
 
When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner showed reliability by letting me hold her leg up when we tried different poses etc. I allowed her to hold onto me and be as flexible as she could. Throughout the process as I continued to encourage her and show her some reliability we came up with some amazing poses together.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We decided on our poses by working together and using some improvisation to select the poses. We both used pose ideas that resembled empathy and reliability and resembled our personality.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
My individual pose reflects my confidence as a dancer, athlete, and a person. It reflects bravery and perseverance without having to say it and shows my character.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
In my opinion, there was no challenging part in working with my partner. I loved the moments we spent together and in the future I plan to spend more time with her. I love her personality and it was good to know we shared similarities and rarely had differences.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
It taught me to open up to different people and experiences. I trusted her to get through this project as it showed me how to be myself with someone who shares similar things with you throughout their life. After this experience, I wanted to work with different people more comfortably.
 
Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like creativity and reflecting with my partner. My partner supported me through this journey and made trust in dance feel comfortable. It felt almost easy knowing that there was extra support with me.

Harmony - 8th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partner and I showed empathy by working together and listening to each other's ideas to come up with our poses.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner showed lots of reliability as she showed up to every rehearsal and was always there when I needed her.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We both wanted a very trust-filled pose that required two people to rely on each other.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
I chose a pose that showed confidence as I used a strong pose and my head was lifted. This reflects me as a person as I always try to be confident in myself and be strong.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part of this was to get to know each other and build trust but once we did it, it was so fun to come up with the poses together.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This experience taught me how different people can be once you get to know them.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like having a family around you to support you so you can be the greatest version of yourself and feel confident in your dancing.

Tess - 8th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partner and I showed empathy towards each other by being patient when we were creating our duo poses, and encouraging each other's ideas.
 
When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner showed reliability by always showing up to rehearsals and always communicating to me well.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
My partner and I chose our poses by improvising. We stood by the mirror sharing ideas until we found the poses that felt like us.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
To me my pose shows balance. Balance to me means not only having connection with others but with myself, feeling connected to myself is something I value.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
In my perspective, I never faced a challenge with my partner. It felt new and exciting to get to know someone I hadn't been as close with before. One of my favorite parts was seeing how many things Annalise and I have in common.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
The experience taught me that working with others is more than just communication but really leaning in to what making connections really does to benefit yourself.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like security, knowing how you can help, and how to support one another.

Virginia - 8th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partners were very respectful. We all listened to each other's ideas and what we liked and didn't like. During the photoshoot my partners and I completely changed one of our poses without a fuss and a fight.
   
When did your partner show reliability during this project?
One of our poses we all were connected to. My two partners had to rely on me in order to fulfill the real image of the definitions.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We created our poses based on physical touch. One of the poses we did Autumn and Harper had to rely on me or they would fall. We also chose our poses by connecting the definitions of the words to the poses.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
My individual pose creates the image that I am a powerful dancer and strength has guided me to where I'm supposed to be.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
My partners were very cooperative and we didn’t really have a challenging experience. My favorite part of this whole project was seeing the images and the definitions of the words come together.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This experience has taught me that getting to know some new people is beneficial and great things can be the outcome. This has also taught me trust and empathy are very important.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like a conversation without words, a shared breath, and a leap of faith into the unknown, knowing your partner will catch you. It’s the freedom to be vulnerable and strong simultaneously, guided by rhythm and connection.

Jeiza - 8th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partner and I used understanding and feeling by asking each other what the vibe was for the pose or just asking what the word meant to them.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner and I showed reliability because she had to rely on me in her back bend pose.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We thought about how the words made us feel and tried to depict the meaning of the words through our movement.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
I think my pose is very fierce and says that I can't be knocked down.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
My favorite part of this project was getting to work with someone I don't usually work with and getting to see her talents put into the poses.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This teaches me to have trust and empathy in others and give people a chance. 

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like everything because whether you’re lifting someone or dancing with someone, it's cool to know someone has this level of trust in you that you may not usually feel in others outside of dance.

Kennedy - 8th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
Grace and I were figuring out what poses we were going to do. We had different ideas and we didn’t know what options to pick because we didn’t know if we really liked those options so it took us a while, but we stayed patient and we tried new things like the jumps. I encouraged her to try and she encouraged me when I was doing my jumps as well. Eventually we agreed on amazing poses that showed both reliability and empathy.
 
When did your partner show reliability during this project?
She was honest with her opinions. If she didn’t like a pose, she would be specific on why she didn’t like that pose and she was creative with her choice of poses.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
First we picked which mural we wanted to do, but we ended up picking both of them because she liked the empathy better than reliability because it was brighter and more colorful. I liked the reliability better than the empathy mural because I felt like it showed more trust in each other for empathy. We did a soaring to the sky pose to show that we understand and connect to each other's perspectives by stepping out of the world. For reliability we did this pose where she was kind of laying down while I did a leap and during that we were high fiving so it showed trust and encouragement.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
My pose was a scorpion kick and it shows that I'm a talented, flexible, and strong dancer because that pose can be challenging for a lot of people. It takes skill and time so I think that’s what makes my pose special.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part of working together was agreeing on things because we aren't the same person and we have different thoughts and opinions, but we still had fun trying new things and I think that was my favorite part of the project.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This experience taught me to try new things because I would never know my opinion if I never tried it. This also taught me to trust who I’m working with and pay attention because they may have ideas that I would have never thought of.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like freedom of movement.

Lyric - 8th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partner Maya and I were very patient when we were making ideas. We listened to each other's suggestions and made them into life. We both took turns on which poses to do and we picked the best two. We were very supportive of each other’s ideas. We also helped with each other’s solo’s. We did try to do different poses but if we couldn't do that pose, we just had an understanding to try another pose.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
Maya and I had a pose where we leaned into each other. I counted on her keeping me up as I kept her up. When we did our solo’s I counted on her to tell me if she thought it looked good or if I should do something else to improve it.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
Maya and I were coming up with things that involved reliability. The pose of us touching hands and balancing with one leg up while looking at each other resembles the trust that we have or the reliability that we have for each other. This is because we are trusting each other to hold each other up without both or one of us falling.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
My pose really represented how serious I am about dance. I had a fierce look on my face as I looked up to the sky or to the ground. The pose shows how free I feel with dance.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part of working together would be figuring out what poses to do. Some poses we could not do or it looked better in our head. Another thing is we wanted to be creative and original, so we wanted to do something not many people would do which made it harder for us to figure everything out.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
This experience taught me that you don't have to be scared to talk to someone you want to be friends with. It has taught me how friendships can come unexpectedly. Also how trust can be from just someone you just met.
 
Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Trust in dance feels like letting go of fear and knowing someone will be there to catch and support you. It feels safe even when you’re taking a risk.

Jakayla - 8th Grade

How did you and your partner show empathy while working together?
My partner and I showed empathy by listening to each other's ideas. We also were patient with one another and we made sure we were encouraging one another.

When did your partner show reliability during this project?
My partner showed reliability when she had to count on me for our pose. She had to put her trust in me fully and had to rely on me to make sure she didn’t fall.

How did you decide on your empathy or reliability poses?
We both had ideas and tried to figure out which pose we both liked. Then we both agreed on two poses that best fit us.

What does your individual pose say about you as a dancer or person?
It says that I can do anything I put my mind to and express myself in any way I want. It also shows that I’m free.

What was the most challenging part of working together? What were some of your favorite parts of this project?
The most challenging part about working with someone new is that you don’t really know much about the person you're working with. My favorite part about this project is that I got to try something new with somebody new and I got to learn a lot about another person.

What did this experience teach you about trust, empathy, or working with others?
It taught me that you don’t have to know someone to work with them because as you're working, you're getting to know them. Also trying new things gives you different experiences.

Finish this sentence: “Trust in dance feels like…”
Being able to rely on someone even if you don’t really know them. It also means making new bonds with new people and getting to know them through the art of dance.

Shanaija - 8th Grade