The Big Dance PYP Exhibition

The Big Dance

PYP Exhibition

Twenty middle school students participated in the 2012 Big Dance, a huge global dance event held in Nijmeh Square in Downtown Beirut on May 18th - the same day the Olympic Torch arrived to the UK. Over 1,000 students from schools across Lebanon erupted into a choreographed and well-rehearsed dance routine inspired by the Olympics and provided to the schools (through a DVD) by the British Council. Broadcast live, they were performing simultaneously with thousands of others around the world. Participants were part of an attempt to set a new world record for the largest dance routine across multiple venues. Big Dance was founded in 2006 by the Mayor of London in partnership with Arts Council England. It is part of London’s Legacy Trust UK program. The school dance program aims at increasing cross-cultural relationships between participating countries while encouraging children to adopt a healthy lifestyle. More than two million people have taken part in the project since it began.

The Primary Years Program Exhibition (PYPX) was held in May and opened to parents. The exhibition marks the last PYP project before fifth graders graduate to the middle school. Their final project encompasses all the skills they have been learning since preschool, which include research, inquiry, communication, presentation, social, writing, and IT skills. Every PYPX project is required to have a service component. Fifth graders are divided into groups – with a mentor (teacher or parent) assigned to each.