Creative dance leaves the inspiration of the dance to the young people.
(Cone, 2009)
When planning a creative dance experience it should be 4 things :
- Fun : dance should above all be enjoyable for children
- Safe : the safety of a child is paramount at all times, so the facilities in which you dance must be safe
- Meaningful : dance should bring things to life and provide meaningful experiences
- Child led : Creative dance can only ever be successful if you all the children to explore their minds and choreograph their own piece.
The benefits of creative dance include :
- Increased confidence in children
- Increased physical and mental wellbeing in children
- It develops communication and collaboration between children, their teachers and the wider community
- Improves the self esteem of children
- Creates a visual image and experience of wider curricular topics
During todays lecture, we explored our roles as teachers in creative dance. Here are some of the things I took from the discussions:
- Always show the children that their creativity and ideas are valid.
- Cherish the process, it is not always the end product that is most valuable
- Ensure the environment is safe for the children to learn
- Facilitate when required, in order to add structure and stimulus to encourage creativity.
Children should have the capacity to compose, perform and appreciate dance.
(Smith-Auturd, 2002)
Here is our group composing and performing in our dance workshops :
In our music session, we explored the Glokenshipel and reading music. Reading music is something I find incredibly difficult, having a none musical background. I therefore found it increasingly difficult to keep up with some of the tunes due to being unable to read the notes. This is something I would love to expand my knowledge of in order to be able to read sheet music in the future.
We also were given the opportunity to improvise to Hit the road Jack. This made me extremely nervous as I am not confident in performing infront of my peers, however, when my turn came around I was able to create the 16 beats and I realised it really wasn’t so bad at all.
Here is a video of my peers improvisation :
Improvisation covers the following experiences and outcomes :
- I can use my chosen vocal and/or instrumental skills to improvise and compose, showing developing style and sophistication. EXA 4-17a
- I can use my voice, musical instruments or music technology to improvise or compose with melody, rhythm, harmony, timbre and structure. EXA 3-17a
(Scottish Government, 2008)
The skills I have developed today are :
Creativity – I was able to create a dance and a piece of improvisation and perform both of these infront of peers.
Confidence – My confidence has been developed majorly today in terms of performance. Performance is something that makes me extremely nervous, however, after successful completion of both performances today, I now feel a little more secure in doing so.
Cooperation – All of the tasks I have completed today have been either in a pair or in a group. Therefore I have been able to work with other people and learn from them.
References
- Cone, T. (2009) Following Their Lead: Supporting Children’s Ideas for Creating Dances. Journal of Dance Education. Vol. 9:3, pp. 81-89.
- Scottish Government. (2008). Expressive Arts Experiences and Outcomes [online] available : https://education.gov.scot/documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [accessed 19/11/19]
- Smith – Autard, J. (2009) The Art of Dance in Education (Performing Arts Series). 2nd ed. London : A. & C. Black.
