The post also appears at Teaching Artist Journal’s ALT/Space. Creating a permanent place for the arts in public education requires some adjustment between the two in order to create a fit — a whittling process that usually affects the art more than the public institution within which it’s finding a home. Given the current trends […]
Entries Tagged as 'choreography'
Choreographers can be inspired by poetry!
January 19th, 2012 · 6 Comments · Uncategorized
Here’s a lesson I’ve used with 5th graders over the years. Often I integrate this lesson with other lessons on Martin Luke King Jr. and Alvin Ailey, since they were contemporaries — all alive & working toward change during the civil rights movement.* I’m posting this lesson just now in response to a Read & […]
Tags:African American·choreography·curriculum·literature·teaching
Dancing your own way
July 17th, 2011 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
My 5th graders want to dance their own way, which has as many meanings as I have students. As I work on expanding their interest in all kinds of music & expressing all kinds of ideas their own way, this video should help. I’m filing it here, so I can use it next year to […]
A musical — with dance, of course
July 2nd, 2011 · 1 Comment · dance arts integration into academic subjects
My students were thrilled to do a musical! Speaking lines! Acting! Being characters — & fairy tale characters at that! Singing! Dancing! We were using the musical Character Matters, by Ron Fink & John Heath at the Bad Wolf Press. It’s a great resource: script, teacher’s guide, CD with songs & intrumental accompaniment. A fun […]
Tags:choreography·dancing·intermediate·music·performance·primary·rehearsal·thinking skills
A backstage story
June 15th, 2011 · 1 Comment · why dance matters
A story unfolded during the lead-up to our End-of-Year Performance this year, which is hanging with me, wanting to be pulled together. It’s about two 5th grade boys in particular. Adiel is a 5th grader in one of our regular classrooms. I’ve been working with him since kindergarten & he’s always been a bit of […]
Letting go
May 29th, 2011 · 3 Comments · Uncategorized
Today’s horoscope — Today is an 8. Write down your thoughts, even if they don’t make any sense, to make space for the new. You may discover that your skills are worth more than you thought. On the days when I read my horoscope, my engagement with it lasts all of about 10 seconds, as […]
Tags:autism·choreography·curriculum integration·performance·reflection·teaching
4th & 5th graders, talkin’ about site-based choreography…
August 5th, 2010 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
I’m just saving this for later… Via Maya Soto & Carla Barragan — thanks, ladies!
Transition back from vacation…
April 4th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
A good vacation is when you have no one but yourself to manage. It’s been a good vacation! As I brought up my lesson plan template for planning this coming week’s classes, I realized why the coming weeks (and months) have been looming large in my mind. Starting Tuesday (tomorrow I’ll be teaching a day […]
Tags:choreography·culture·curriculum integration·lesson plans·performance·teaching
Dancing for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 16th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Lesson Plans
Context: I taught this series of lessons this week in response to a late request for some dances for the school’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day assembly (scheduled for & completed this past Thursday). My initial response was “no can do!” because I’d already planned my classes — focused on introducing the choreographic devices of […]
Tags:African American·choreography·curriculum integration·intermediate·lesson plans·performance·teaching
Creating a time & place for flow
October 25th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Uncategorized
Last Tuesday, my fifth graders clicked into flow, despite the frantic limitations of this year’s 30-minute classes, and it crossed my mind that I might survive. Cause flow is why I teach & what keeps me going. Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or […]