Chinese New Year offers a wonderful opportunity to incorporate some form of dance education into almost every socio-cultural school subject and creative dance class. As I prepare for tomorrow's kindergarten creative dance class, I realize just how many areas of discovery this topic can cover.
In my recent workshops with kindergartners I have explored 'academic' subjects through movement experiences (active learning). The lessons are 40 minutes long, and I see them once a week. I am amazed at how quickly they learn new concepts through movements. We have explored the water / weather cycle and the food chain. They can recall the lesson, the terminologies and concepts learnt, and relate the ideas back to me, verbally and through movement. I wonder whether they would be as competent to recall these modules, had the been sitting at a desk for 40 minutes (passive learning).
Movement experiences are very limited in the traditional learning environment. Why? Sir Ken Robinson, well-renowned educator and creativity expert links this idea of learning in public education to industrialisation. In this anime adapted from one of his lectures, he goes on to argue why the public education system should change. What do you think?
1-4 Head roll (down, left, back, right) 5-8 Cambré sideways towards barre 1-4 Recover 5-8 D/Plié, rise to d/pointe, straighten legs,
lower heels [arm in 2nd]
1-8 2 Grand Pliés in 1st [with 1st port de
bras] 1-4 Cambré forward, recover 5-8 Cambré backward, recover
1-4 Head roll (down, left, back, right) 5-8 Cambré sideways towards barre 1-4 Recover 5-8 D/plié, rise to d/pointe, straighten legs,
lower heels [arm in 2nd]
1-8 2 Grande pliés in 4th 1-4 Cambré forward while in a deep lunge (fondu R, pointe tendu L) and recover to L tendu derriere 5-8 Parallel lunge, front leg bent, straight back leg calf stretch
Notes:Ensure the exercise
is performed in a slow, controlled manner.Remind students that it is a warm-up and they need to ‘fill’ the music
with the movement.
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.
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.
One of the biggest time consumers in teaching young children is allocating and maintaining space. SPACE in dance class is essential for safety and organization. When I came across these affordable round, flat, washable, orange bath mats at Ikea I knew I had found 'gold' for my toddler and preschool classes.
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.
