… a place where the best dancing is the everyday stuff… on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays & a few days in between…
Entries Tagged as 'why dance matters'
Why Dance Matters: photos by Jordan Matter
February 3rd, 2012 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Because dancers have more fun… express themselves fiercely… embody how everyone else is feeling… capture the essence of an interaction… I’ve seen one or two of these photos before, but what a collection!
Tags:why dance matters
Dance Program: The Video
January 15th, 2012 · 5 Comments · Uncategorized
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 […]
The power of a hula hoop
December 19th, 2011 · 3 Comments · Autism
Early in my first months of teaching my students with Autism, I discovered that hula hoops held a special power. One day at the end of class, we’d been working hard on structured activities with variable success: lots of cajoling of individual students, with them alternately joining and wandering away from our activities. Exhausted, I […]
Tags:autism·why dance matters
John Bohannon, Black Label Movement & big ideas
December 4th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
Wow. This is fabulous. If your pursuit has to do with dance, education, science, learning, humanity, a new world order, WHATEVER, then you’ll enjoy this post from TED: John Bohannon & Black Label Movement. Thanks for passing it along, Maya Soto!
Wow! Mid-year progress!
January 9th, 2011 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
I have to admit I had to sort of draaaaaaaag myself out of winter break last week. Fiiiiiind my plan book. Reorient myself to whiiiiiiiich students I’d be seeing. Adjust my calendar to make up for the four extra weeks I’m spending this year on world dances because my pre-assessment revealed students with a woooooooeful […]
Whispers barely heard in the current cacophony on education
November 14th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Uncategorized
Yipes. I’ve had too much on my plate of late to blog. But this is still a place to capture & share thoughts for later.. Play is a central condition for learning. There are & have always been teachers who know that play is central to learning. When I have time, perhaps I’ll elaborate on […]
Tags:African American·dancing·intermediate·lesson plans·management·primary·why dance matters
Keeping the Faith — The Prison Project
May 9th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
Last night I saw this year’s final performance of “Keeping the Faith,” a stunning performance by 21 women using dance, spoken word & visual art to shed light on their lives and selves. One of the most moving performances I’ve ever attended, it was well worth a 3-hour commute to the rural setting of Mission […]
Tags:achievement gap·advocacy·obstacles·performance·why dance matters
Why Dance Matters: more voices from the dance classroom
May 2nd, 2010 · Comments Off · Guest Voices, why dance matters
by Randy Barron, a dance educator who is putting his own classroom experiences into the blog Classroom Choreography… At the end of a short Classroom Choreography residency in Arizona, I asked students to reflect in writing on their experiences making dances about poetry. One of my 5th grade students (a boy!) said on his closing […]
Why Dance Matters: it’s playful
April 30th, 2010 · Comments Off · why dance matters
Each day at 2:10, as I bid farewell to my 6th class of the day, students who are out for recess start knocking on my outside door. The knocks keep coming all the way through recess, and the questions are always the same: “Can we dance today?” “Can we come in?” “Can we show you […]