As some of our students have returned to on-campus learning and others will hopefully be back soon, we wanted to highlight a piece of our ASH history and one of the special physical landmarks of our main campus. “The Dance of Life” sculpture was unveiled dates back to on October 8, 1990, when it was officially unveiled. The sculpture with fountain was a gift to ASH from our then school-to-school partner BOCES II, a school district in Rochester, New York, . and iIt was commissioned to commemorate the opening of our current Wassenaar campus;, making it one of the oldest landmarks of our school.
 
A neighboring artist Selma Weerenbeck, who to this day lives across the street here in Wassenaar, created the “Dance of Life”, especially for our school. To some, it may look like an abstract piece of art, but there is more to this landmark than meets the eye. The “Dance of Life” is made of three kinds of metal, representing the three school levels – elementary, middle and high schools. The copper piece (elementary school), stainless steel (middle school), and brass, (high school) are of increasing heights, to represent the different ages and grade levels of our students. The copper, steel and brass pieces wrap around the fountain to reflect the integration and growth of the students in all three schools; the school levels build on each other to move forward and up into the open space of the future. Each metal takes a different pathway or “form” representing the way the students grow; each child may develop the same way as the next, but the path they take to get there helps define who they are as individuals, and together as a school community.
 
If you look closely you will also see that the pieces are touching, intentionally, as each school is an important part of our school and the #ASHexperience. “The Dance of Life” also has a greater and more universal meaning, that of personal growth and global consciousness; as each person grows up, they circle around their soul, body and spirit to lift themselves up to a higher level of consciousness and state of mind. In essence, the sculpture represents harmony – between the different stages of life we all experience and between the differingdifferent student bodies we have at ASH.
 
The next time you pass by this sculpture, stop, take a minute, and appreciate the beauty and meaning of “The Dance of Life,” a true embodiment of ASH school spirit! The colors of the metal have aged beautifully over time, but the meaning is still as fresh as yesterday.

#ASHexperience