Meet Sophia | Binford Dance Company Feature | Year Six
The Binford Dance Company was established in 2016. It is an audition-based student dance company from Binford Middle School, an arts integrated school located in Richmond, VA. Company members study Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Improvisation, and Composition within the Binford dance program. The company has performed throughout the community including: The 2019 Superintendent’s State of the Schools Address, Generation Dream, Richmond Public Schools Fine Arts Festival, Strawberry Street Festival, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology, Petersburg Home for Ladies, and Cedarfield Retirement Community. The company also had the opportunity to perform in the music videos “Have It All” and “Love Is Still The Answer” by Jason Mraz. The Binford Dance Company inspires students to find their own voice through performance and choreography while learning valuable skills in the rehearsal process including collaboration, respect, and confidence.
This year the company dancers met at the VMFA and chose their favorite spots to showcase their movement and choreography they have learned through this year’s dance curriculum.
MEET Sophia
SOPHIA - 7th grade
I have been dancing since I was 5 years old. I started to take dance classes at my elementary school, during kindergarten. They mostly focused on one style of dance, ballet, which was the start of my dance journey. After the classes ended I went to Grace Arts for a few years and took Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary, and Tap. My favorite dance style then and now was always Contemporary and this is because of two reasons. I love to write and tell stories, so putting together telling stories and dancing made Contemporary one of my favorites. The other reason was because Contemporary is also about expressing yourself through dance and that is what helped me to start liking to dance better. After I took tap I stopped going to dance class for a while and started other things, but I still liked to dance more than other sports. When I came to Binford I was thrilled they had a dance company. My first year I tried out and I didnt get in. That didn’t stop me, and the next year I did! So now, here I am telling my story.
