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Academy of Notre Dame Dance Program Marks 20 Years of Excellence, Empowering Confident and Compassionate Young Performers

What started as a club that would meet during the school day where students would make up their own dances, has transformed into an award-winning dance program that has changed the lives of students for the last 20 years. 

Pam Devenney began her tenure at the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in 2004 as a health and physical education teacher. Having already built a program twice at her previous school district in Maryland, Devenney was brought on by Notre Dame to build dance as a curriculum into the health and physical education department.

Jay Gorodetzer Photography

Meanwhile, Dolores Sajeski, a beloved math teacher at Notre Dame, had been moderating the dance club looking for someone to take it and turn it into the program she knew it could be.

“Pam was literally the answer to a prayer. I was praying a miracle would occur – Pam was that miracle!” Sajeski said.

Up until that point, students were meeting during Community Time in Cuvilly Gymnasium making up their own routines. 

Community Time is a period of the day at Notre Dame where every student builds their organization, time management, and leadership skills. They can attend club meetings, meet with teachers, and collaborate with their peers on projects and homework.

Jay Gorodetzer Photography

Sajeski approached Devenney who did not think twice about taking leadership of the club.

“She [Devenney] had a dance background, tons of energy, and unbelievable creativity. Everything I could have hoped for and more,” Sajeski said.

Sajeski stayed on and helped Devenney in her early years, recalling memories of when it was just her and Devenny in a “big Suburban” driving students to and from competitions up and down the East Coast.

In 2004, Devenney officially established the Notre Dame Dance Company. With less than ten dancers, the Company would meet when students were free and only performed at a handful of school events.

In the fall of 2016, the Notre Dame Dance Program moved into the newly renovated Connelly Arts building with a collegiate-level dedicated space for the Company. With Middle School and Upper School Dance Companies as well as other courses offered to students, Devenney was off to the races. The Academy would be forever changed.

Jay Gorodetzer Photography

In the fall of 2022, Alexa Chambers ’09 came back to the Academy to direct alongside her former teacher in what she calls a full-circle moment.

“It is really cool to go from student to now teacher and give back to Notre Dame what they gave to me,” Chambers said.
Devenney sees the long-term benefits to the well-being of students who take her classes.

“We have to create a safe space so students can be brave and take chances. You have to feel safe to be able to be brave in dance,” Devenny said.

For Devenney, it is important that her students understand that they will make mistakes, that there is no perfection in dance, and that the same is true in life. Devenney and Chambers pride themselves in leading a program that welcomes dancers no matter their skill level or years of experience. Currently, there are over 240 Notre Dame students participating in dance curriculum. 

Jay Gorodetzer Photography

Over the last decade, the Notre Dame Dance company has won a multitude of awards and accolades at regional, state and national competitions. 

Chambers said there is joy in the everyday teaching, but there is an indescribable feeling when you see the spark in a student’s eye when they nail choreography for the first time – it is a happiness unlike any other.

“I wake up every morning and think – I get paid to be part of these students’ lives in a way nobody else does,” Devenney said.

The studio is a place where Devenney encourages her students to put aside their stress and problem-solve in a different way than they might in a traditional classroom. When working with her students, Devenney pushes them to not give her the problem but to give her the solution. Devenney said that she teaches her students to be creative problem solvers.

In a competitive industry and just twenty years of the Dance Company, thirty percent of Devenney’s students have continued their careers in the arts.

Being able to give students the space to build their confidence at such an important age is a privilege for Devenney and Chambers.

Chambers said that she and Devenney allow their students to discover who they are in a safe space and carry that confidence beyond their time at Notre Dame.

As for her hopes for the future, Devenney wants the program to continue to be a place where all students are welcome – no matter their experience level. 

“If I make an incredible dancer, I am happy. If I make an incredible person who can handle what life throws at them and be empathetic, then I have done my true job as an educator,” said Devenney.  

Since 1856, the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur has educated, empowered, and inspired young women for a lifetime of compassionate leadership and service to others. The Academy offers girls in grades 6 through 12 a challenging academic curriculum within a vibrant spiritual community. For more information, visit their website here

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