Do you now remind your students to smile as they enter their dance examinations or auditions? Angeline’s article challenges the practice of telling dance students to smile en route to an exam, noting that it may hinder instead of help many students. We ask you, what are some alternatives?
dance education
From Questioning to Concert: Making Concert Dance Work
In the era of standardized assessment, there is a lot of talk about “teaching to the test”. While this generally refers to classroom teachers catering content and delivery to what may appear on those standardized tests, there is a fair amount of that happening in the dance classroom, too. What should be an exhilarating adventure […]
Why Dance Matters: Survival of the Fittest
The dance classroom is more than a studio; it is a laboratory. It is the training ground for an unforeseeable future. In the age of standardized testing, arts environments can provide the safe havens where mistakes are treated as discoveries and expression is celebrated. Higher order thinking is a natural part of the performance and […]
Careers To Consider: Teaching Americans to Love Dance in K-12
What is it like, teaching dance in public schools? Is this career right for you? Learn more about teaching in public education, the credentials you’ll need to work in this environment, and what to expect on the job from a K-12 dance educator.
What The Ailey School’s Melanie Person Knew When She Was Twelve
Co-Director of The Ailey School, Co-Chair of The Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. program, and former Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerina, Melanie Person answers ten questions: on leg extension, encouraging ballet students, what studios could do to better prepare students for college, and what she knew when she was twelve.
Talking About College Dance With K-12 Students
Not all dancers become professionals. However, the arts produce creative thinkers, able to connect pathways that standard students may not initially consider and dancers tend to be successful in many other aspects of education and life. So, starting as early as Kindergarten, dance can be used as a gateway to discuss college with students. Here’s how one educator begins the conversation at different ages and includes families in the dialogue.
