(dramatic music) - It's like you're pushing your body to the limit, but your emotions are also getting pushed to the limit.

It feels like you're glowing.

- I've been dancing since I was three.

Whenever people would ask me where I wanted to go to high school, I was like, "I'm going to Jefferson so I can be a Jefferson dancer."

And I would have their posters, like, up on my wall.

- It's like you have on a mask all day, and then when I come to dance practice, I get to take off that mask.

It's really stress-free.

Yeah, so dance is me.

Like, that's all I can say.

(upbeat music) (serene music) - I'm really inspired by everyone who's come before me and I feel so lucky, and it's also, like, a lot to think about and, like, carry because, like, I feel like I have this legacy on my shoulders, especially as, like, a senior.

(serene music continues) - Yes, this is my, oh yeah.

I'm a senior.

Like.

(laughs) I'm actually really excited to be a senior and, like, be a part of, like, the 50th anniversary.

Like, oh my god, I don't even know how to explain it.

I just have so many feelings about it.

It's very heavy, I'll be honest, but it's really encouraging.

It's encouraging to the point where I wanna push myself more.

- I mean, the 50th anniversary, it's kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around it 'cause it's, like, every year, that's a lot of kids who are just like us and who really just, like, love this form of art.

- Come in, everyone!

(dancers chatter) Sit for a second.

Let's talk through what we're gonna do today.

Everybody.

Big circle.

We're gonna start with Miss Lauren's piece, "Beneath the Break" 'kay?

Then let's do Harlow's.

Let's do hip hop.

Let's do Piper's.

We also have to do "Old African" right?

I also would like to run "Rhythm" in there, and "New African."

What am I missing?

Stretching side, right arm seven leaning, and.

(music) Plié first.

Being a Jefferson dancer meant, honestly, the world to me.

It was something I think I only dreamt about.

I mean, my years in the company were '83 to '86.

Then I came back in '99 to take over as artistic director.

- [Bunky] The amount of dedication it takes to be a Jefferson dancer was exactly the kinda push and drive I needed.

- 'Cause you were an athlete.

You were playing basketball.

- Oh yeah.

Basketball player and yeah.

Convert, completely converted myself.

The intensity, the energy that I put out when I'm performing?

There's no greater joy.

- Left.

♪ You can reciprocate ♪ - I never thought that I was going to be a teacher.

- Yes.

I never thought I'd be a teacher.

That was not even in my spectrum.

I enjoy it so much though.

I can't express how much I enjoy teaching these young artists right now.

Yeah, I got it now.

(huffs) Okay.

From the side, you go out and fifth, out and fifth, développé, enveloppé, and pas de bourrée, and over plié.

Step up to fifth, pas de bourrée, then you're on the other side.

Is that clear?

Out, ba.

Dee, da.

Yeah.

That's probably where you got it from.

(laughs) Pas de bourrée.

Other side.

One, and a two, and a three, and a four.

Développé and enveloppé.

We do have high expectations.

They know how difficult it is, they know they have to be pushed, and they know they're being watched by alumni and they wanna be just as good, so they work really hard.

They want that for themselves.

- [Musician] Bunky, any requests?

- We will get into push-ups, sit-ups, the whole nine.

Five, six, seven, eight, down, one, two, three, four.

It is a delicate thing when you are pushing them, and that's a balance for us sometimes when we are knowing who to push, when to push them.

We both come from a nurturing place, but nurturing with expectations because we believe they can all succeed.

♪ Halo ♪ ♪ Halo, ooh ♪ ♪ Hit me like a ray of sun ♪ - You got this.

Stand up tall.

Standing leg, standing leg, standing leg.

Good.

- The words "I can't" does not exist in our vocabulary.

- [Bunky] I always say, "Find another way to say it."

"I'm challenged."

"This is hard."

You believe I can do this?

Yeah, all of those things are daily reminders for them.

♪ The risk that I'm taking ♪ - [Harlow] Seven, and a eight, and a.

- [Jayuan] Oh, so it's, like, a ripple.

- Yeah, it's like, seven and a eight and a, all over the place.

- [Jayuan] Yeah.

- Seven and a eight.

- Yeah, come on.

(music) - It's a piece about how our dreams and our unconscious thoughts, they can be kind of scary sometimes.

I feel like they can also show us a lot about ourselves.

- We spend so many hours.

I think Bunky and I see them for five hours a day, probably longer than they spend with their own family and friends.

We created a safe space that we can all feel comfortable and be real with each other.

We can't fake our way through life.

We're gonna get through it together.

♪ I think you know what this is ♪ ♪ I think you wanna uh♪ ♪ No, you ain't got no Mrs.

♪ ♪ Oh, but you got a sports car ♪ ♪ We can uh-uh in it ♪ ♪ While you drive it real far ♪ ♪ Yeah, you know what this is ♪ ♪ Yeah, you know what this is ♪ - I think being at Jefferson has affected my life in every single aspect.

- Oh my god, school would be so much worse without the Jefferson Dancers.

♪ Strike a pose ♪ ♪ Hoo-wee ♪ ♪ Strike a pose ♪ ♪ Uh ♪ - I was super shy in middle school.

I didn't have a ton of friends and I would not be the same person without it.

♪ Go get the mop for me ♪ ♪ I'm cleaning up the posers with no apology ♪ ♪ You Debbie downers need to drown with animosity ♪ - Jefferson has so much community and love and I've never felt more of it than I do in the dance program, so to be a Jefferson dancer, to me, means, like, carrying that on, as well as dance, and it's, like, art and it's inspiration, and it's doing stuff for your community.

(music) - [Piper] It's titled "Through," and it's the concept of you can try and cover up how you feel, but it will eventually get to you and you need to feel your emotions to get through them.

(music) - Sometimes, I hate to say this, but I find myself in tears when it's senior year 'cause I'm like, "Like, we're just scratching the surface of who you are and what you are as an artist or as a dancer, and you're going to go off into the world," and that process is just beautiful in so many ways.

- I'm always like, "I'm gonna be like, 'I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry.'"

I'm definitely gonna cry.

(laughs) Like, I'm getting taken away from my home.

Like, dance.

Like, Jeff.

Like, the JDs.

It's really, like, a place where I build up my community.

- [Interviewer] It won't be the end of dance for you though.

- Oh, no.

Oh no.

This is start in my career.

Yeah, definitely.

- There's a lot of history here in this building, this 1909 building, and, you know, a lot of talent has walked through that room.

(sentimental music) I'm a little bit sad that that's going to be gone, but I'm also excited for the future of the school and to have a new space where, you know, we can have another 50 years of the next generation that will be as creative, and inspiring, and resilient, and hardworking.

- [Dancers] Thank you!

(Steve laughs) - Thank you!

[Dancers Chatter) - Oh, I should've worn mascara if I was gonna be on camera.

(Steve laughs) Look.

- She forgot her mascara today.

Oh, you have some on.

- No.

- My lashes look good.

- Wow.

Are those real?

- Yes.

(Steve laughs) (music)