There are three major strands through which we experience dance: Create, Perform, and Respond. Heather describes how she’s been addressing these with her K-12 dance elective students to create a window into their depth of knowledge and to cultivate expression.
Graphs and Charts in the Studio Classroom
Are you using visual aids like graphs and charts to reinforce concepts in your dance classes? After all, dancers are often visual learners. Here are five traditional academic aids which can be put to good use in the studio.
Blurred Lines: New Trends in Dance Training
It’s harder than ever to classify dance performance neatly into genres. As a result, our training methods deserve a new approach. Here is how educator, Heather Vaughan-Southard is rethinking tradition and empowering her students.
Class Dress Code: Function Over Fashion
There’s value in seeing a student’s form during class but, especially in public schools, there are benefits to allowing for comfort and individuality. Here’s how Heather talks about dance attire fashion and its function in her dance classes.
Your Words and Shaping Healthy Dancers
Our job is to teach, not to belittle, but dance carries a long tradition of judgements based upon body type and more. Heather discusses how to speak more effectively with students about health and commitment without the snark.
Revamp and Revise Using Evaluation Results
Heather offers questions and considerations to ponder as you look back at your dance program and curriculum and as you look forward to improving it and making a difference in the lives of your students next year.