Teacher reflections on the strands of the New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance Pre-K-12:

Dance Making – Dancing and Performing, Creating and Composing.

    First and foremost dance is a performing art and therefore the dance-making strand is at the heart of my curriculum. My students study sequential dance techniques aimed at building their skill and experiencing the joy of dance through doing it fully with their total selves. I scaffold skills that incrementally build correct movement principals. I find that students respond best through a combination of tactics, the most important of these being teacher modeling, repetition, tactile feedback, imagery, and movement initiation analysis. Emphasizing anatomical alignment and somatic movement principals are at the core of my approach to technical training, in order to assist the dancer in achieving sound habits which increase dance technique and prevent injury. In addition, cultivating somatic awareness is essential to becoming a great dancer. Guiding students through their training in a way that increases somatic awareness will result in a more articulate body with a larger range for expressive ability. I use movement exams that ask students to demonstrate skills accompanied by rubrics and checklists. I video students and let them self assess for areas of improvement and areas that need more focus and attention. Every class students have a peer partner whom they are in charge of assessing and providing constructive feedback, which is supported by evidence and suggestions for improvement. I find this extremely effective because students like performing for their peers and want to do well in their eyes.

     In addition to technique, choreographing is an important part of the process of dance making. In my class students manipulate phrase work by utilizing choreographic principles and the principals of design to hone their skill as a dance creator and communicator. Lastly, Students are constantly asked to explore ways they can modify their movement to be more expressive and clear about their intent.

Developing Dance Literacy – Analyzing and Critiquing and Writing about Dance

     My content deals with visual literacy, which is the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented in the form of images.  The goal is to help students think through, about and with images and movement. Often times, visual literacy helps students look for multiple meanings, metaphors and symbols.

Just as a student learns to identify letters and understand the sounds they make and then apply these sounds to make sense of words, and finally utilizing these words to analyze an authors intention, evaluate its effectiveness and then hopefully create their own composition; so must a dancer master the basics of technique and foundational concepts in order to become literate enough to evaluate someone else’s performance or work of art, as well as to be able to perform a choreographic work themselves or eventually create a cohesive work of their own. With these goals in mind Literacy in the content of dance must be scaffold through activities that assess if the student knows the definition of the term, is able to explain how the step is performed, be able to assess another’s execution of the step and of course be able to perform it them selves. These steps require command of written, oral, and visual and movement literacy in dance.

     Reflecting on my own teaching, as well as my inter-visitations with teachers of various contents vocabulary is the key to understanding in all content areas and is essential to comprehension. If a student is to fully grasp the concepts that follow they must first be familiar with the content technical language. In ballet a more advanced step such as a Develop’ consists of a coupe’ and retire’ in order to be perform correctly. Therefore if one does not know the language the teacher will use to explain a new step it will affect their ability to perform the step as well. I will use a scaffolding approach to vocabulary acquisition. First I will pronounce the word for the step going to be taught. Then I explain the English translation. Next I write the word on the board and begin explaining the movement using English action words and images as I demonstrate the movement physically. The goal is for the student to eventually be able to perform the step correctly without my cues. This process will be supported by frequent vocabulary quizzes, classroom word walls and assignments asking students to write written artistic critiques that requires students to use their content vocabulary to explain, analyze, synthesis and evaluate. The movement-language connection is complete when the student only needs to hear the French word or specific term and is able to perform the movement independently with proper technique and no prior demonstration or explanation. This indicates the student has moved toward vocabulary acquisition and performance independence.

Making Connections – Knowing History, Context and Culture, Making Connections Across the Curriculum.

    As a student, performer and now teacher, dance has never been separate from other areas of my life. Dance and being an artist is a way of life. Therefore, I have always viewed the world through a dance lens, and for this reason fluidly find connections between my field and the fields of others. I model this way of thinking with my students and always try to find opportunities to connect what we are learning to what they have learned or will learn in their other classes. I believe this is the most valuable form of education, learning that transcends content and connects areas of specialization by way of thinking, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating. Furthermore I believe in asking my students to demonstrate cross content connections in class daily. I encourage those moments when students raise their hand and say  “this is like in my math class, or English class when…”

   Connecting writing and literary forms to dance and composing a choreographic work or analyzing the work of a master choreographer has been a successful way of integrating ELA into my discipline. We describe, create and evaluate dance in literary terms such as contrast, climax, theme, point of view, tone of voice, metaphor, and imagery for example as we critique the dance making of our own and others.

    Like many of my students math was an area of difficulty during my high school years. Knowing my students and reflecting on this time in my own educational career, I work to relate mathematical principals to those demonstrated in dance. For example every form of dance uses angles, geometric shapes, line segments, diamonds, parallels, right angles, and divides musical beats. In my class we use math to help synchronize dancers timing. In ballet the students use physics to "calculate" how much power they have to use to make a full turn without over or under turning, or the amount of power they have to use to lift that person into the air without straining a muscle. My students even use math for measurements for costumes and shoes.

    Social studies is one content that is inseparable from my dance teaching. I believe that dance inherently expresses cultural values, and histories which are ingrained in the movement it’s self, and it is my job as a teacher to help my students unpack and decode the meaning behind the movement. I do not teach steps I teach the legacy of those who used their body as a way of communicating in an effort that my students will not only continue these legacies but add to them as individual artist who have something to add to the conversation of dance that reflects the culture and time in which they experience life. My student know that ballet communicates just as much about the society and history of people in Europe as the African Dinhe dance of west Africa or the American values expressed by modern dance pioneers. 

     Science by means of anatomy and kinesiology is a daily integrated into my dance lessons. As the body is the instrument with which we strive to articulate our expressions, I believe it is essential for a dancer to know their body and how it works in order to develop it’s skill to their personal capabilities. During any one of my classes an observer will hear the use of anatomical language used to describe alignment, placement and capability for movement. It is with this knowledge that students are able to self –assess areas of physical weakness and imbalances that give them the intelligence to prevent injuries and target areas that will assist in their growth.

Working with Community and Cultural Resources :

    I am so grateful to teach dance in New York City due to the plethora of dance resources available to my students during their training. I take my students to at least two different shows a year that demonstrates a wide range of styles and genres.

   I subscribe to multiple dance magazines in which I assign articles from as well as articles from note worthy online journals and websites in order to keep them continually engaged in building their wealth of knowledge about dance past, present and future.

   I am constantly seeking out opportunities for my students to take part in programs offered by world-renowned institutions that will enrich their training. I have multiple students that I have recommended and whom were accepted into scholarship programs at The Joffrey Ballet School, Mark Morris, The Martha Graham School, and Tish at NYU.

Exploring Careers and Lifelong Learning:  

    In addition to the act of dancing its self, my students learn about various dance related fields and are given opportunities to research, explore and experience what a professional career in other dance related fields is comprised of. For example, this year my students had to submit a proposal to be apart of ether our marketing, fundraising, production, studio management or rehearsal assistant team. Students had to research what these jobs entail and then provide reasons why they would be a valuable candidate for the position. My hope is that by rotating exploration of dance related fields each year, students will have a more holistic understanding of dance as a career choice, and know that just because you may not find a career on the stage it doesn’t mean you can not fill you life with dance through other mediums, and use what you know and love to contribute to the art form off and on the stage.