KWU Dance at Salina Public Library
Written by Merissa Bailey Rios on November 18, 2024
On November 14th, the Kansas Wesleyan University dance team brought energy and laughter to children as they read aloud, incorporating fun dance moves into their performance.
The Salina Public Library hosts a variety of events daily for all ages. Hosting different themed Storytime events weekly, with different guests every time. The KWU dance team was ecstatic to read and dance along with the families that attended.
Here is a link to the Salina Public Library, as well as their monthly calendar.
Student Experience
The Kansas Wesleyan Dance team has a great group of students who are active in school and in the community. These volunteer opportunities open doors for students within the community.
One dancer found this experience to be the most impactful for her future career. Grace Hutchinson, a senior majoring in Elementary Education, is eager to start her teaching career. As she enters her final semester, she’s more ready than ever to step into the classroom. She expressed her enthusiasm, saying, “this was the perfect service opportunity for me because I want to read to kids every day for the rest of my life and I loved dancing around with them!”
Storytime at the Public Library
The event began with some fun dances to help the kids burn off some energy, getting them ready to settle down for reading. Once all the wiggles were gone, some of the dancers went up front to present the book titled “Can You Dance Like a Peacock” by Rekha S. Rajan. This book encouraged the kids to get up and have dance breaks where they could dance like a peacock, bee, or flamingo. After reading the book, the children enjoyed some more fun dance videos. The event concluded with our KWU dancers teaching the kids how to cheer and do turns, just like they do during football and basketball games.
KWU Dance
Last season the KWU dance team won the title of KCAC Champions for the first time in nearly ten years. With the dance team preparing for next season, they are working hard to maintain this title. Here is an article featuring the first dance competition of the season for KWU dancers: Coyote Classic event.
KWU dance will take the dance floor again in January and has already begun its practices. This will be an exciting season to keep up with as the dance team fights to stay on top.