When your opinions don’t hold sway with your students, consider using Heather’s approach and have your dancers listen their way in to the work of famous choreographers.
dance composition
Creating Classroom Choreography with Purpose
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.
Exploring Limitations With Your Students
Heather’s middle school dance students research limitations in dance by mapping phrases, making observations, and finally working within set limitations.
FAQ: Why Don’t You Play Music With Lyrics?
Without a doubt, one of my most commonly asked questions by students of all ages is, “why don’t you play music with lyrics?” It isn’t that I refuse to play music with lyrics but for so many reasons, I find music without lyrics better supports my teaching philosophy, my mission, and my lesson plans. Here’s […]
“Black or White” to Black and White: Dance History and the Music Video
“The only thing new in dance is you.” A friend shared that quote from an Ohio University professor years ago and it has stuck with me. Every year I find myself chuckling to myself as I listen to kids claim movements as “their” choreography when really many are sampling from the limited palette of movement […]
Exploration ➙ Structure ➙ Choreography: Helping Students Make Their Own Dances
A reader, looking for resources to assist in helping the students create their own dances, asks for recommendations. Included is a list of books and manuals on dance composition and improvisation plus my own quick tips for working with younger age groups as they begin their exploration of choreography.
