I have parents who aren’t too sure what this dancing business is all about. They don’t necessarily speak English, many don’t have time to come to school and talk about it, most come from a different culture or world view. So I made a video and put it on the website. Truth be told, it […]
Entries Tagged as 'performance'
Dance / Panama
August 25th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
It was a great summer! Among other adventures, we spent three weeks in Panama — and finally saw traditional dances on our last night in Panama City. It reminded me a bit of the dances we saw in Merida, in the Yucatan, several years ago — but quite unique as well, especially in the way […]
Tags:culture·performance
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 great resource: Bad Wolf Press
June 27th, 2011 · 3 Comments · resources
It’s great to find a resource that really helps! Every March I have to start pulling together 6 or 7 dances for an end-of-year performance. Every school has its own schedule and rhythm for performance — based on student demographics, the focus of the school, the parent population, logistics, and money — so I operate […]
Tags:achievement gap·curriculum integration·logistics·performance
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 […]
Performance aftermath
June 5th, 2011 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Today I made it to the exhibit Nick Cave: Meet Me At the Center of the Earth at the Seattle Art Museum — its last day here! I’ve had it on my list to go since before it even arrived, so when I realized today was it, I called a friend, grabbed breakfast & took […]
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
Persistence — learned in dance class
February 11th, 2011 · 5 Comments · Uncategorized
Yesterday I was preparing 4 groups to perform on Monday. It’s always touch-and-go. I want whatever we’re rehearsing to challenge them to practice new skills. But I don’t want rehearsal to usurp too many of our sessions together. I taught my 3rd graders a lovely dance I learned from Sanna Longden last week — “I […]
It’s early yet…
September 15th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
This year we have 3 fifth-grade classrooms instead of 2. Two of them share a space, while the 3rd is located between the two 4th grade classrooms. Among 5th graders, anticipation about their end-of-year choreography (that’s June of 2011!) is so high that they arrived to dance class on the first day last week, worried […]
Note to self: boys & girls dance differently
June 27th, 2010 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Well, duh. In some styles of dance, of course, boys & girls, men & women learn the same moves — contemporary, modern, tap. But in most cultures, as well as ballet & jazz, boys & girls, men & women have distinctly different styles. Coming from a modern background, when I first started teaching in the […]