How one NEISD dance team merged art with science to support fellow students
They twist, they cheer and they kick, but now these dancers have also added science to their repertoire!
“It’s the idea that if you sing a jingle, you remember it a little bit better than just reading it,” Valeria Sisson said.
Sisson is the dance and drill director at Reagan High School and has been with North East ISD for 16 years.
Recently, she teamed up with science teacher Matthew Montamat to create an innovative dance routine to help students learn the concept of kinetic molecular theory.
“We’re talking about fire, ice, moving into liquid form into gas form. Sometimes you just can’t necessarily see that. He thought it would be kind of interesting, as dancers, to perform the theory so that maybe somebody that needs that style of learning could visually see it and maybe understand it a little bit better,” Sisson explained.
So, performing to the popular Alicia Keys song, the Diamond Dancers helped bring science to life through contemporary movement and visual representation.
“We got this idea for being little atoms heating up. We were really excited to be ‘Girls on Fire’ so we took this idea and just ran with it,” said 17-year-old senior captain Alexandra Aldridge.
It was a fun way to merge art and science, while thinking outside the box.
“We had a lot of fun with it. there was a lot of improv and it was a challenge for us to kind of think how we could become the atoms and teach the lesson in an accurate way,” 17-year-old dance colonel Janae Porter added.
Sisson said, although the girls are incredibly busy with football season, competition and physical fitness training, her team was happy to take on the project.
“The beautiful thing about my team is that they are always ready and willing. They thought it was fun, cool and different. They are never scared away by a challenge,” she added.
Sisson is a NEISD grad herself who double-majored in biology and dance in college.
She said that many of her past teachers at the International School of the Americas (ISA) and LEE High School for impacting her life.
“I had an incredible dance teacher when I was in high school, Desiree Kloza. She works for North East. Between her and my choir director, Robert Albright, they really inspired me and showed me the path that I wanted to be on,” Sisson said.It’s also another reason she chose to go into the education field herself.
“Really, it’s beyond the education and beyond the dancing, it’s to help [students] become really great people and I hope that I do that every day. I’ve loved every minute of it for 16 years,” Sisson explained.
Putting in extra effort to help those around you is an also important message she shares with her team and said that’s why she agreed to take on this project instantly.
The team hopes that through this immersion and collaboration, their fellow ‘Rattlers’ will understand the complex concept a little bit easier.
“I did get a beautiful email back from Mr. Montamat and the other science teachers that were really excited. He was like, ‘I’m moved to tears; I’m so excited to use this!’ So, I think that there is more of that coming in our future,” Sisson added.
And, she’s inspiring her students along the way!
“You can tell that she truly wants the best for her team each and every day. She goes out of her way to keep us safe, comfortable and want to grow each year. I’m so excited to see what else we do in the future,” Diamond Dancer Alexandra Aldridge said.
To watch the full performance, visit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8gjzqfc8fjwc6yc/Girl%20on%20Fire%20Kinetic%20Molecular%20Theory%202020%20Final%20.mp4?dl=0
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