USING IPOD APPS IN CLASS

I have been mourning the loss of my classic ipod for several months now.  I was in denial for a while and even went to the extreme lengths of watching and performing youtube 'surgery' to try and fix it.  But alas, it had flatlined!!  So a few weeks ago I bought an ipod touch to use in dance and movement classes.  I have been excited about the potential use of apps in class, and today I finally got the opportunity to use one very successfully in class.

MY TOES ARE OUT TO GET ME

Poetry in ballet class?  How does that work?  Well, applying dance to other areas of a student's life (cross-curricular teaching) is a wonderful way to help improve movement skills and enrich other areas of his/her life. 

DANCE AND LEARN

In this age of digital entertainment children choose television or video games over physical activity.  Plenty of publicity informs us that their inactivity and poor eating habits will affect their health and well-being as they grow.  But it is also becoming increasingly clear that there is a direct connection between physical and academic development.

EXPLORING COLOR THROUGH MOVEMENT

Picasso's 'The Dream'

I am always trying to add depth and value to my classes.  Perhaps then one day while sitting in science class one of my dance students will be able to recall data from dance class!!  Yesterday's post got me thinking about how effectively the color spectrum can be explored through movement.  Different colors vibrate at different speeds and travel at different wavelengths.  Tempo can be used to illustrate the different velocities of each color.  Blue vibrates faster than yellow which moves at a faster speed than red.  Wavelengths can be explored through short and long non-locomotor and locomotor movements and/or movement sequences.  Any other ideas on how to represent color in movement and dance?

CHILDREN WHO HAPPEN TO DANCE

I have a new student who is all smiles when she is in class.  Her excitement and enthusiasm is exhilirating!  She is focussed, attentive and keen to learn.  Of course, these types of students make teaching and training a much easier and joyful experience for us.  But it should be our goal as dance teachers to inspire and light a passion within each and every student.  I wonder what percentage of dance students go on to professional dance careers?  What happens to all those other tens of thousands of dance students?  Do we neglect to give them value for their thousands of dollars spent and hundreds of hours in dance practice.  I hope not.  I hope we ensure that the value of dance does not lie in its movement alone otherwise these students could gain just as much from soccer practice or tennis (and have spent alot less money).  No, the value of dance lies in its status as an art and in its diversity as an educational and therapeutic tool.  Think about how you can improve the value of your teaching by not just looking at each child as a dancer, but by looking at each child as a human being (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual) who happens to dance.