by Katherine McGinity, Luna Teaching Artist

As a child, I loved the transition from summer to fall as it indicated the beginning of school. Crisp air, new books and a sense of excitement and possibility made this my favorite time of year. During this time, I would often daydream about the end of the school year, not because I wanted the year to pass by quickly, but because I wondered how I would be different and what I would learn over the course of the year. I tried to imagine a smarter, stronger, more skilled version of myself that would be able to look back at my “September self” and see changes. It can be more difficult to hold onto this sense of excitement as an educator diving into a new school year; it is easy to get lost in planning, shifting schedules, contracts and budgets, and all the anxieties that come with teaching. Re-centering at the beginning of the school year has become an important practice for me, as it directly benefits my students and myself.

I’ve started approaching the beginning of the school year in much the same way I did as a child—by focusing on what the end of the year will look like. How will I be changed by the experience of teaching? What do I want my students to understand deeply by June? This process asking questions and setting goals is part of “backward design”, a pedagogical tool for creating unit plans and lessons that I learned from Patricia Reedy while taking my first dance education course. By holding the bigger picture of both the beginning and the end of the year for myself and my students, I find it easier to focus on what is really important to me: practice and possibility. Refocusing on the macro view of the academic year makes the logistical micro elements shift in order of importance and become more manageable.

The idea of backward design is to identify the end goals for a class, session or population of students, determine how you will assess progress, and develop a plan that works backward from your goals. I love asking questions like: “What is really important for my students to know by the end of the year, and what are the steps I need to get them there?” Working backwards allows skills and concepts to unfold in an organic way. For example, if my end goal is having my students create their own folk dance at the end of the year, I can determine all of the collaborative skills and elements of space, time and energy they will need to understand in order to be successful in this endeavor. If I value good audience skills, I can decide on all the elements needed and place them in a flow where each skill is nested in the previous concept. This feels more coherent to me than starting at the beginning and guessing what I should do next, with no anchor. I like to think of my plans like a blueprint for a building—it makes sense to me to design the building first, determining what will make a sound foundation to support the structure. After planning, I can be confident and focused about what I am building, rather than laying bricks at the outset and hoping for something stable and beautiful.

Backward design also encourages assessment and reflection, which have become essential elements in my teaching practice. Assessments are built in, as it is necessary to have adequate evidence that the anticipated results are being met. As an educator I am able to focus on what my students need to learn, how I can measure their progress, and what I may need to shift based on their individual needs. I can also apply backward design to my own learning process as a teaching artist, by identifying my desired “destination” and creating a road map that will get me there. I encourage fellow educators as they launch into their busy year to take a moment and consider what the final days of school will look like.

by Cherie Hill, Luna Teaching Artist

Imagine seven different points within the body: the ankles, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, ears and top of the head. Now explore moving these points in various fashions. Let the ankles bend and straighten, the knees circle, the hips stretch and so forth until you reach the highest point, the crown.

On Wednesday, April 16^th I was fortunate to take a contemporary dance workshop with choreographer Norbert De La Cruz at Gibney Dance Center in Manhattan, NY. This workshop was one of my first “official” contemporary dance workshops and I found his style to be physically and artistically fulfilling. Prior to the class, I was oblivious of contemporary dance class structures, and while De La Cruz was teaching I was surprised at how similar his structure was to Luna Dance Institute’s (LDI). Like our lessons at Luna, Norbert’s class began with a warm-up, followed by explorations, and a deeper improvisation, and ended with performances of a student-made composition.  As a dance educator and contemporary art-maker I was ecstatic to experience this method of teaching at a professional dance level. I left the studio feeling confident that our teaching methodologies at Luna are preparing our students for the contemporary world.

At LDI, many of our lessons focus on a concept that is problem-solved with the body. Two of my favorite concepts that De La Cruz introduced are connecting and disconnecting points in the body and maintaining a space hold. Utilizing two of the seven points De la Cruz defined during the warm-up, dancers chose two points to connect and disconnect, creating an imaginary line. After creating the imaginary line we took a step back to observe and then we played with the line by smothering body parts, shifting space, changing plane and switching points of contact. I thought about my students studying Laban directional scales and how I compare them to dancing different horizontal and vertical lines. I smiled and thought to myself, “Wow, my students as young as they are would really enjoy this!”

For the space hold exercise we imagined holding a sphere with two hands. The sphere could be anywhere in relation to our bodies. We could hold the sphere in front of us, on our side, behind us, high in the air etc. After playing with having both hands on the sphere we improvised holding with one hand and then with various body parts. I moved towards and away from the center, under and over it, placed the sphere at different angles, and played with the size and parts of my body that connected and disconnected. Throughout the activity I felt comfortable to dive into the improvisation and take some challenging and fun risks. Again, my mind returned to my students and contemplated on what they would do. I then realized their innocence and uninhibited actions have a strong influence on my own dance practice. I heard my inner teaching voice whisper, “How about this? Can you do it on a low level?” I was having a ball being a dancer on the floor engaged in creative dance-making.

Towards the end of the workshop each dancer provided a couple of movements based on the concepts we explored to build a class phrase. Norbert applied his beautiful knowledge of artistry to ensure all of our movements connected and flowed physically and aesthetically. After performing the phrase a few times in small groups we watched each other add improvisational moments. I was excited to see professional dancers from various dance backgrounds perform the phrase with commitment, versatility and ownership. Watching them dance together felt revealing and profound. I thought to myself, “I wish the school classroom teachers I work with could see this, because if they did, they would understand more thoroughly the great depth of thinking and dancing their students are engaged in.”

Participating in Norbert De La Cruz’s contemporary dance workshop was an enriching highlight to my trip. I had no idea the workshop would align so closely with our teaching values at Luna. I felt powerful and comfortable moving in the class and it seemed that all of us in the dance studio, no matter our dance background, were able to relate to the material, create something new and leave feeling accomplished. It is this feeling of certainty and self-knowledge that I crave for my students. Since teaching at LDI I have seen students take physical and emotional risks, and exhibit a deep understanding of their bodies in relation to space, time and energy. I believe that creative expression and improvisation are preparing them to be versatile dancers, and quick acting intelligent human beings ready to enter a forever-changing world.