#1StudentNWI: Morton In Action

#1StudentNWI: Morton In Action

Singing, Dancing, and Chinese Culture

Fall is always a busy season for Morton. Whether it’s a sporting event or a performance through the Hammond Academy for the Performing Arts (HAPA)- there is never a dull moment.

Excitement roared throughout the Morton Senior High School auditorium on the night of Friday September 16th, as Charms of China displayed their U.S. premiere of "Let the Moonlight Bring Us Together," a show that honors the Chinese Moon Festival.

The show, brought from China courtesy of the Confucius Institute at Valparaiso University and the Jiangsu Performing Arts group, consisted of several music, dance, acrobatic, martial arts, and opera performances. The performance left the audience in awe as it exposed them to the chinese culture and implemented the 1Student-Morton-September-02chinese ideal of familial unity.

Governor Sports in Action

The Governor boys soccer team made history on Monday night, September 11th, as they played against Lake Central. The game was an easy win for the Governors, as they defeated the Indians 3-0. Luckily, their victories do not stop there. At Senior night, on September 19th, the boys won against Hammond High, 11-0!

Fortunately, the boys soccer team aren’t the only victorious athletes at Morton, the Governor football team played on Friday, September 16th, and won 49-19 against Gary West Side. After diligently preparing during the week of September 18th, the Governor boys won their Homecoming game against the Gavit Gladiators!

Student Highlight

1Student-Morton-September-03Echo Brambert is as busy as a high school student can get. As a sophomore at Morton, she is involved in quite a lot! Echo is athletically gifted, as a member of the Morton volleyball team. However her talents do not end there, at the Hammond Academy for the Performing Arts, Echo is a double major. She is currently majoring in acting and has been involved in HAPA productions, such as the Spring 2017 production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a band major, she plays several woodwind instruments, including the clarinet and bass clarinet.

For most students, summer is about relaxation and taking a break from learning. For Echo, that wasn’t the case. As a member of the band program, Echo was granted with the life changing opportunity to attend a music program in China this past summer. Through the efforts of fundraising, she was able to attend the program at the Confucius Institute, where she was able to study chinese music and culture.

“I had never been so happy- the Confucius Institute is like the Juilliard of China,” Brambert exclaimed.

Once there, she would would spend her days listening to lectures, witnessing performances, and learning how to play the Dizi, a Chinese flute. Everyday, Echo would walk to the institution at 8:30 am and return to her hotel very late to rest.

“Even though we spent a lot of time learning music, we still got to experience the Chinese culture and sight see- I even got really good at using chopsticks,” Echo remarked.

Overall, Echo was grateful for the opportunity to study at the Confucius Institute in China this past summer and hopes that other HAPA students will be granted with the same opportunity.

Teacher Highlight

1Student-Morton-September-04The start of the school year is always a busy time for teachers. However this year, Ms. Dominiak-Treasure seems to be the busiest of all. A typical teacher is normally tied up in teaching and grading papers. However, Ms. Dominak-Treasure has more to worry about than that. As the sole dance teacher at the Hammond Academy for the Performing Arts, she’s responsible for not only teaching dance skills to her students but also preparing them for the upcoming dance performance.

Dominiak-Treasure started to officially dance around the age of four. From there, she remained committed to the art. Later on in life, she went on to attend Hope College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts.

“My biggest influence on my pursuit of dance education was my Hope College Counselor, Maxine Debruyn. We fought on the issue because I didn’t want to make a career of it but she insisted that I pursue teaching and choreographing at a college level,” Dominak-Treasure explained.

In doing so, Dominak-Treasure has choreographed several dances every year for the HAPA dance performances. Normally, she has months to prepare for a show. However this year, her dancers discovered that they would only have six weeks to prep for their show "Falling into Dance."

“The theme this year concerns colors, rather than picking something emotionally, mentally, or physically deep- I wanted the students to have fun,” she remarked.

As the show approaches, Dominak-Treasure is excited to see each choreographer's work come to life. However, she is particularly excited about a few of her pieces. The piece, “Orange, Yeah That’s Right,” is a comical tribute to the color orange and its lack of popularity which, features numerous non-dancers (including parents) from the HAPA community! The emotional piece that Dominak-Treasure hopes will impact the audience is “Little Girl Blue.” Through the use of floating orb props and proper lighting, she hopes to place the audience in the mind of an unhappy girl who cannot escape a frustrated state in her mind.

What’s coming up?

As the fall sports season comes to an end, the Morton cross country team will be racing at Riverside Park on September 30th, for their conference meet to defend their title as the Great Lakes Athletic Conference Champions. The following Saturday they will run at Riverside again, for the IHSAA Sectional Meet.

The Governor football team has one last home game this season. On Friday, October 15th, the football team will have their Senior Night to honor the Senior football players and cross country runners of the Class of 2018.

For those interested in visual arts, The HAPA dance department’s Falling Into Dance 2017, will run September 29th and 30th at 7 p.m. The performance is choreographed by HAPA dance teacher, Mrs.Dominiak-Treasure; previous HAPA Alumni; and even HAPA dance students.