Dear Dance Colleagues,

We are so excited to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the National High School Dance Festival. The Festival will be held Thursday, March 18 through Sunday, March 21, 2010 at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, FL. The Festival is presented by the NHSDF organization in conjunction with New World School of the Arts and Artists Exchange International. The four-day Festival will welcome over 1,500 students in grades 9-12 representing their high school. Note that Private studios are not eligible to attend.

The Festival is four days of sharing, learning, performing and dancing with friends and colleagues from across the nation as well as abroad. Along with exciting Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the Festival will feature six Adjudicated Concerts (two evening Gala concerts, two late afternoon Showcase concerts and two mid-day informal concerts). The first Showcase Concert will feature student choreography, where a Festival committee will honor our most talented student(s) with the Outstanding Student Choreography Award.

The Festival also offers a full day of Scholarship Auditions, over 200 Master Classes in subject areas including ballet, modern, jazz, tap, hip hop, musical theater, salsa, African, Pilates, Massage, Stretch, Injury Prevention, Nutrition and more. In addition, there will be Commercial Exhibitors and Special Interest Workshops for faculty and students. An outstanding nationally and internationally renowned Festival Faculty waits to inspire you. Live music will add an exciting element to the classes.

Your most talented junior and senior students (and some sophomores) will have the opportunity to register for Scholarship Audition classes, in hopes of being awarded summer scholarships to prestigious schools and festivals as well as scholarships to Colleges and Universities. Over $1.3 million in scholarships were offered at the 2008 National High School Dance Festival in Philadelphia.

New World School of the Arts, a Florida Center of Excellence in the Visual and Performing Arts, provides a comprehensive program for high school and college students in artistic, creative and academic development through a curriculum that reflects the rich multi-cultural community of Miami. The school is located in the heart of downtown Miami, Florida, with lots of sun, palm trees and ocean views. It is on the Miami Dade College (MDC) campus, which includes additional studios and facilities which will be used by the Festival. Dance in Miami is very active, with many local ballet, modern, jazz and ethnic companies. The arts are flourishing in Miami, and the mix of cultures inspires artists, scholars and audiences alike. Miami is a great setting for the festival – a vibrant, truly international city. All classes, performances and auditions will be held at New World. Its studios and theaters are all within a short walking distance from most of the Festival hotels. The Opening and Closing ceremonies, and Showcase and Gala performances are at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts (3½ blocks from the school), built in 1926 as a silent movie palace. It is now the "Grand Dame" of South Florida’s arts and entertainment showplaces, with its shimmering stars and golden balconies suggesting another era when performances were "events".

Because we anticipate heavy enrollment, we strongly encourage you to register your school early. Initial Festival Registration deadline is November 16, 2009.  Deadline for Full Festival Registration (i.e. students, faculty and chaperones) is January 15, 2010.

Registration will be accepted on a first come, first paid basis. Schools who are accepted to perform will have priority registration until December 16, 2009. If you wish to bring more than 25 students, you will be placed on a wait list, which will be opened after January 15, 2010.

The National Festival is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the talent of our students and the quality of the dance programs that exist in high schools across our nation. We welcome the challenges of bringing the 2010 National High School Dance Festival to you and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Daniel Lewis, Dean of Dance
New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL

Kathryn F. Kearns, Ed.D, Founder/Executive Director
National High School Dance Festival