Skip to main content

Variation and Improvisation: Different Means to the Same End



Jordan and Jenny taught students two different ways of body expression. The former through a variation and the latter through improvisation. Both ways contributed to unleash the expression of body shapes and  images in motion.  One follows a preconceived designed based on the teacher's choices of movement, based on a specific music and lyrics. The other recurs to the use of free movement for the students to find their own way of expressing themselves. Both added to the students' repertoire a totally new idea about what dance teaching methodologies can look like.

Bellow, there are students' affirmations:

"My favorite part about Jordan’s class was how positive she was. Everything from the warm up, which was designed to boost our energy, to her attitude during the combination, was very encouraging. She very clearly got the message across that it is okay if you are not perfect in class, which I think is a great thing to learn in a dance class. I enjoyed the atmosphere of Jenny’s class. The dimmed lighting with the slower music helped me get in the mood for the class. I thought that her warm up was done very well; it was a good way to get both our bodies and our minds ready for our own improvisation." Patricia Victor
"I loved Jordan’s class. It made me feel full of energy and empowered. Her attitude made me want to try harder to get the steps and feel confident about by body! She is a sweetheart and you could tell she really practiced her routine!. [About] Jenny, I really enjoyed Jenny’s class, although it was completely different from the first class I enjoyed improvising and meditating at the end. Her tone of voice was very relaxing and made us feel comfortable in the class." Sara Valbuena

"Warm up and choreo was well planned and executed and FUN!. Affirmation for Jenny: the exercises flowed well and the objective of the class was met." Ellen Mitchell

Comments

  1. Ellen MitchellMay 1, 2018 at 8:27 PM

    Jordan's class really got me moving and sweating!! The message of body image and self-confidence is so important in today's world, and her class really helped me feel great about myself! The freedom of Jenny's class was great, as well. It allowed me to express myself through movement and do what feels good in my own body. Both classes boosted self-confidence.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ArtlanderMay 7, 2018 at 10:42 AM

    Also, they were able to relax in their role as teachers. Perhaps that is why it felt so free.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sports Dance and Cultural Perspective through Movement

Rawan and Saskia both shared with us lessons on how, topics that may seem unrelated to dance, can become the means by which an educator can foment critical thinking and body expression about dance, but through movement. --------------------------------------------------------------- RAWAN Sports Dance Lesson Plan Age: 7-8 years old Objective: Students will be able to improvise different sports actions and contribute to group movements relating to a sports theme. 1.       Warm-up To get familiar with the space you’re going to travel freely around the class Travel freely in space 1. Using large movements (as far away from each other) 2. Using small movements (as close to each other, but not touching)                         Now that you are familiar with the space, lets all move to one side of the room, and for...
3 comments
Read more

Ballet for the Blind and Nutrition Games

Don Quixote Keiko planned a ballet class for blind and visually impaired children, one on one, using styrofoam tubes to help them sense arms positions.  Adriana planned for a great class on how to eat healthy foods. She also taught students how to measure portions so that eating is as nutritious as possible. See her lesson plan bellow. Healthy Active Kids Instructor:Adriana Bevilacqua Subject(s) and Grade Level: Dance 6 th grade Unit Topic:Movement and Nutrition Lesson Topic:Food groups and portion control Date(s) 04/15/2018 LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE I.               VISION-SETTING OBJECTIVES   To give the students a foundation for healthy eating habits and how movement can enhance overall health. STANDARDS LANGUAGE ESOL STANDARDS MATERIALS: music, speakers, nutrition pyramid, portion contr...
3 comments
Read more

Dance And Science: Integrating Math and Biology through Dance Activities

New Research About the Power of Dance to Teach Dance Ruqaya and Ellen taught lessons that proved it is possible to use dance as a way to illustrate science concepts. Ruqaya began with Math signs written on big pieces of paper. Every sign had an equivalent in movement. Once the students were familiar with the representation of the signs in movement, she gave them a new activity. This time they had to solve a mathematical operation and represent it through the body with movement. The result was very effective and demonstrative in terms of how dance can help teachers to make Math fun and easier to understand. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Hemoglobin is a transport protein for oxygen found in red blood cells Ellen was equally persuasive about the approach she used to teach about the circulatory system and how important it is for the respiratory system. She took the first part of the class to explain the way O2, carried by the hemogl...
3 comments
Read more