Every spring, Hayes students spend roughly ten weeks preparing for the annual musical. This school year, Hayes put on a rendition of Disney’s “Descendants.” The musical, which lasted two hours, uses a hip-hop dance style and is intended for younger audiences, so the performance is high-energy and fun.
In order to properly prepare for the show, actors started practicing the dances for the show right away. Two of the three rehearsals in the first week were focused around choreography.
The cast’s dedication and resilience paid off and, at the end of the season, the students were celebrated through their performances. After each show, the cast bows on stage, and the audience praises them with applause.
While the recognition at the shows is nice, the musical cast deserves more attention from the school.
Students who are a part of the cast in a musical at Hayes should receive a gym credit for their efforts. The hours put into dancing, both during rehearsal and at home, are more than sufficient to receive such a credit.
At Hayes, students are required to participate in two seasons of a sport or to take two gym classes in order to earn a gym credit. There is even a self-study option, where students can create a slideshow with evidence of their physical activity.
Oddly enough, acting in the spring musical has a higher guarantee of regular exercise than, at least, the self-study opinion for a P.E. credit.
The self-study physical education class can be completed either during the school year or during the summer. For the course, students are required to track their physical activity per day and to take pictures as proof.
The issue with this is that there is no actual way to prove that students actually did any of the work. Students can easily lie about how many hours of activity they put in, or could even stage the pictures.
On the other hand, actors in the spring musical are guaranteed to put in the work. They simply have no other choice. During the musical season, participating students practice the dances at nearly every rehearsal, which are often four to five times a week.
In addition, during practices, the dances are hardly ever run through once. Students have to repeat the dance and constantly adjust to new ideas and choreography given by directors.
Depending on what the show is for the year, the amount of dance numbers will differ but dancing is a key part of musical theater, so every musical put on by Hayes incorporates dancing.
The actors who commit to the spring musical are putting in significant time and effort towards bettering their physical health. And, if Hayes allows students to create a slideshow for a physical education credit, they are even over-qualified to receive a gym credit.
It’s time the school district reconsiders their policy to address this disparity.
