This week we had our first input of Dance with Zara. Dance was the discipline I felt least comfortable in and I was slightly relieved to be engaging over the computer rather than in person. I felt far less self-conscious and more focused on learning rather than on opinion of others. In my own time at school, Dance was limited to social dancing at Christmas time . There was no opportunity to create dances of our own design and creativity was not encouraged.
This is in stark contrast to Dance in the Curriculum for Excellence. Dance is included in both the Expressive Arts and Health and Wellbeing experiences and outcomes. It is a creative pursuit that should be child led and teacher facilitated. Part of this facilitation is teaching children the ten basic skills of Dance:
- Balance
- Gesture
- Hop
- Jump
- Kick
- Reach
- Roll
- Slide
- Turn
- Twist
Children should be invited to make their own variations of these skills and choreograph their own dances in response to different stimuli. Below is an informal transcription of the dance my group created in the workshop. This child led activity allows the children to problem solve and build resilience by thinking creatively (Cone, 2009).
Before this input I had not considered how Dance could be used in Health and Wellbeing. Below is a video showing how Dance can be used to process traumatic events such as natural disasters. In 2011 Christchurch, New Zealand an earthquake devastated the local area. Artists collaborated with schools to explore the event with children in a sensitive and meaningful way. This allowed children to understand what had happened and educator to understand the impact the earthquake had on their pupils.
This could in useful in my own future practice as children come to terms with the impact the Coronavirus has had on their lives.
References
Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and Creation of Minds. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Cone, P, T. (2009) ‘Following Their Lead: Supporting Children’s Ideas for Creating Dances’, Journal of Dance Education, 9(3). pp.81-89. doi: 10.1080/15290824.2009.10387390
