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  • Our Seasons

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    Illustrator Grace Lin's artwork always catches my eye on a bookshelf, and I recently picked up the 2006 book Our Seasons by Grace Lin and Ranida T. McKneally.

    This book might be best used as inspiration for teachers who are wanting to explore the theme of seasons with students in 2nd-5th grades.

    The book is text heavy, with detailed descriptions to explain seasonal changes, such as why leaves change color, why you can see your breath, etc. But as a teacher, the book's format and various elements will definitely get ideas rolling for a dance project.

    Throughout the book, there are haiku poems, such as:

    Punching the blue sky,

    The wind shows off its power.

    Ki-ki almost flies.

    The overarching questions are beautiful, and can inspire dance ideas….

    1. What makes the wind?

    2. What is snow? 

    3. What makes a thunderstorm? 

    This book is a great example of one of the many ways to use a children's book within a dance class; sometimes a book can simply start ideas rolling for the dance teacher.

  • An Island Grows

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    I am always on the lookout for books about islands. Exploring the concept and imagery of islands, within a dance class, is a great way to talk about self-space and general space. It also goes hand in hand with the concepts of stationary/axial movement and traveling/locomotor movement. 

    An Island Grows, by Lola M. Schaefer with illustrations by Cathie Felstead, is a picture book telling the story of how volcanic islands form. The book begins "beneath the sea," and ends with an island inhabited by people. 

    You might not make a dance about the story, per se, but the book can be a nice introduction to a lesson for students in K-2 classes.

     

  • I Dreamed I Was a Ballerina

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    I Dreamed I Was a Ballerina is not a new book, but many readers might be unfamiliar with this book. It is out of print but easily found used and affordable on the internet.

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art created this book. Using details from memoirs, the story is the personal tale of one of the most famous ballerinas of all time, Anna Pavlova. The picture book tells of her first time going to the theater, falling in love with dance, and dreaming of becoming a ballerina. For many young girls, this is their dream as well. The book pairs Degas artwork with the story – a lovely match. You can explore this book along with the new ballet book Invitation to Ballet, which also uses Degas images.

    I Dreamed I Was a Ballerina is a great addition to any library collection, as well as a great book to explore with children in grades K-3. 

     

  • Underground Dances

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    Many of Denise Fleming's picture books are fun to use in dance classes – full of action words and animal inspiration. Her latest book, Underground, is a wonderful new addition. 

    I have a small collection of books about plants and animals underground. This theme is fun to explore in preschool and kindergarten dance classes. 

    Use Fleming's new book to inspire improvisation activities or a group dance. This picture includes numerous animals and creatures that go underground – digging, tunneling, and burrowing.

    For teachers and teaching artists who have iPads, you could get the ebook version of the story to have on hand. The ebook is available on iTunes for $12.99.

     

  • Using Picture Books with Middle School Students

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    The possibilities with picture books are endless! 

    This fall, I taught a Dance Elective course for students in grades 7 and 8. We explored the concept of "story" in many ways, and one project involved children's picture books. Our goal was to have the students choreograph 3 different dances, and then perform the dances for younger students. I teach at a K-8 school.

    The middle school students loved this project. We started with a stack of about 20 books. We looked at all of them – looking for "movement inspiration and possibilities." I brought in most of the stack, and a few students brought in some book options from home. Allowing the students to select their "top choices" helped to support the initial "buying into the project."

    In the end, the students selected:

    1. Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, with illustrations by Marla Frazee
    2. Fortunately by Remy Charlip
    3. Like a Windy Day by Frank Asch and Devin Asch

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    As the teacher, I had pre-selected a stack of books that "lend themselves to movement." Use this blog to help create a stack of 12-20 books.

    Over the course of several weeks, the students worked hard on the choreography. We played with imagery, choosing whether to recite the text within the dances or not, music, and costumes.

    When teaching middle school students, and working towards culminating performances, it is always important to consider the set up for the students. How can they do their best work? How can you support them to perform, feel comfortable, and take a chance? Performing for younger students still gave them the opportunity to perform in front of an audience, and it was a safe venue to perform.

    The project culminated in several mini performances for kindergarten and first grade students in our dance studio on campus. Prior to the performance, the classroom teachers read the three books to their students. 

    It was fun, joyful, and engaging for both the teenage dancers and our young audience members.

    During our Fall Dance Concert, which included all dances from the course, the students performed these dances for their parents as well. In the end, the dances "stood on their own," and the families enjoyed seeing this project.

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  • Magic and Whimsy Series: Tuesday

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    David Wiesner's 1991 Caldecott Medal Book Tuesday is pure magic and whimsy. The (almost) wordless picture book tells the story of a day when a group of frogs fly through the town. 

    The book is a great springboard with students in grades 1, 2, and 3 to explore a variety of ideas through movement: flying, stealthfulness, moving en masse, and traveling pathways around town. The book can lead to improvisation activities with a group, or even a magical group dance. 

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  • De la cabeza a los pies

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    Today, while browsing the dance resource library at the Luna Dance Institute in Berkeley, I stumbled upon a version of Eric Carle's picture book From Head to Toe, and in Spanish! This simple, delightful book gets young ones ages 1-6 moving and exploring. It is an accessible book to read at home with your child, use during a storytime at a library, or use as a warm up in parent/child dance classes and preschool dance classes.

    Looking at amazon.com, De la cabeza a los pies is reasonably priced in paperback. Used copies are also available. 

     

  • A Dance Library in Berkeley

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    Today I visited the Luna Dance Institute's new space and its dance resource library. If you live in the Bay Area, I encourage you to find out about Luna, its programs, and its library.

    Luna is one of the leaders in dance education in the United States. They run workshops for dance teaching artists, classroom teachers, early childhood caregivers, and more. They facilitate important discussions about who gets to dance, what we are teaching, and why dance is important in education and in children's lives.

    Their library includes books on dance, dance education, educational theory, child development, and more. 

    http://lunadanceinstitute.org/

     

     

     

  • My Other Blog – Dancers Using Technology

    Hello and Happy New Year! If you are a dancer, please check out my new blog about the many ways dancers, choreographers, dance companies, teaching artists, and arts administrators use technology.

    http://www.dancingwords.typepad.com/dancers_using_technology

     

     

  • Dancing Feet

    There are numerous picture books with the theme of feet. Whether you use the book as a springboard for a new warm up, an introduction to a lesson, or inspiration to create a foot dance or foot dance film, here are some fun selections.

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    Barefoot: Poems for Naked Feet by Stefi Weisburd with illustrations by Lori McElrath-Eslick

    Fun poems exploring the many activities we enjoy with bare feet

    The Soles of Your Feet by Genichiro Yagyu

    A playful picture book with foot facts and details

    Hooray for Feet! by Susan Pearson with illustrations by Roxanna Baer-Block

    Poetic text exploring the many ways feet move; use the text as a starting point for improvisation

    The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

    Classic Seuss text and illustrations – "left foot left foot left foot right….feet in the morning…feet at night…"


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