8:20 a.m. Performing arts teacher Christien Polos begins his day with an independent study dance student, senior Hannah Weighart. Polos helps Weighart prepare to perform in the upcoming dance show, Progressions, by suggesting she spend more of the performance executing moves closer to the ground. Polos, an experienced choreographer, also mentors Weighart through her job as the assistant choreographer for this year’s musical.

9:05 a.m. Polos arrives in the Library Lab and begins preparing the room for the Arts Infusion Lab with students in the Opportunity For Change program. As the students trickle in, Polos prompts them to continue work on designs for a mural that will hang in the OFC hallway. Polos helps students come up with designs that are the result of self-reflection, including words that describe their motivation to join the OFC program. Then the students begin searching for images and designs they would like to see on the mural.

11:10 a.m. Choreography class begins with students stretching and warming up independently. Students practice steps from the routines they have created for their choreography projects. The project, which is called “Learn from the Masters,” requires students to select a famous choreographer to study and then create a dance based on the choreographer’s movements. This is the final day of class before break and the students are presenting their projects to the rest of the class. After each small group finishes performing, other students chime in with compliments and constructive criticism. Polos praises the dance of a specific group, based on choreographer Bob Fosse, telling them their dance has improved dramatically since the last time the students presented.

1:20 p.m. Students arrive at Polos’ G-block beginners dance class, which is currently two weeks into its tap dancing unit. Polos said he has collected shoes over many years in order to have enough for each member of the class to borrow. Polos talks to a student who has lost one of the metal bottoms, or taps, on their tap shoe. He then leads a guided warm up from the front of the room. Students warm up for tap dance by practicing simple routines, which lead to more complex rhythms while lively jazz music plays in the background. Polos waves his arms in the direction they are tapping to help guide students. After the warm up, students split up into smaller groups to practice their routine to the song “Walking My Baby Back Home” by Nat King Cole. After the groups perform, Polos applauds and suggest they focus on tapping more carefully to make a synchronized sound. Students then break into even smaller groups of two to four people and     work on their own creative pieces. Polos walks around the room, frequently checking in with individuals to make sure everyone in the group influences the creative process, while offering suggestions for how to make the pieces better.

3:04 p.m. After school, Polos leads practice for this year’s musical, “Hairspray.” Two boys stand at the center of the room singing and dancing along with a recorded tape. Polos gives suggestions on the steps to the dance. Then the cast progresses through the rest of the musical from the beginning. Polos focuses on guiding junior Talia Roland-Kalb, who plays the lead role of Tracy, through the steps for the song “Good Morning Baltimore.” He also asks the other cast members to get into character and to add more excitement to the scene by acting like they are doing their hair.