by Patricia Reedy – InDance
Back & Forth
Patricia Reedy – In Dance
So-Cal Family Dance off to a powerful start
Ruth Torres, Maya Luz Gordon, Meg Glaser Teran and Rosemary Robertson spent a day together planning multiple sessions of family dance in three southern California counties: LA, Ventura, Orange. It is a pleasure to be working with them to develop leadership and program planning skills thanks, in part, to a generous donation from the Dizzy Feet Foundation.
Make Dance Education a Right of Every Child
Make your dance voice heard for the next four years and beyond by signing this petition to the Obama administration. This petition in accordance with the The Child’s Bill of Rights in Dance, compiled by the National Dance Education Organization, requests that all children in the United States of America have as their right, access to quality dance education at all levels of schooling. 99,000 signatures needed by 2/15/13, so please sign now: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/ then click on open petitions and filter for the key word “education”.
Classes are filling!
We are still accepting registration for our Winter Studio Lab classes, though a few classes are already closed. Winter session runs January 21st through May 15th. Curricular progression of composition-based dance for children 5-17. Creative dance offered for children 3 years old and 4 years old and parent-child/waddler toddler classes also available. Check here for full schedule. Contact Jochelle (jperena@lunadancecreativity.org) for more information or specifics about placement.
Time for Yoga in Schools
by Patricia Reedy, Luna’s founder
I recently read an article about parents threatening a lawsuit over yoga in schools because they were concerned about using taxpayer resources to promote “Ashtanga yoga and Hinduism, a religion system of beliefs and practices.” (“Parents Threaten Legal Action over Yoga”, October 22, 2012, SF Chronicle). While I have no interest in entering the debate about religion in schools, as a dance educator I am curious about the emerging popularity of yoga and meditation practices for young children in schools. Since the early 20th century developmental theorists began publishing research on how children learn, it has been well documented that children learn through movement, action and experience. My work at Luna has been a continuous effort to advocate for dance in schools and community. My interest in bringing dance to all children is because of the creative expression found in the art form, but I find common ground in the “dance is good for the brain” argument. Frequently, participants in our Professional Learning Institute try to fit dance pedagogy into their own desire to teach yoga, because, “teachers want it.” For several years now, I’ve questioned why? Why would schools allocate precious resources to yoga but remain reluctant to add dance, movement or recess time? This is perplexing because most educators know that young elementary age students in particular need lots of time practicing locomotor movements. Biologically, their bodies require running, jumping, start-and-stop action, leaping and galloping as they learn to skip. While as an adult, I love and appreciate a regular yoga practice, I have questions about the appropriateness of such a disciplined activity for young children—particularly outside of the context of a religious, cultural or family context. I’ve asked myself, “is it the discipline teachers like?” “Do they like seeing all of the kids quiet and in control?” I’ve heard teachers comment that yoga teaches children self-control and I do not doubt that outcome. It is curious to me, however, that controlling children’s behavior and taming their natural impulses to move, fidget, run, race, jump and drape is increasingly a high priority for the adults who work with them and who know so much about how children learn. It is even more surprising at a time when many of these same adults complain of children’s passivity, their lack of engagement, the “obesity epidemic” and the hours spent in front of a screen. IF (and I intend the capitalized emphasis) we have such limited time for children to be in their bodies, why aren’t we allocating it to the large motor activities that we know is right in their zone of proximal development?
Teacher Profile: Jakey Toor
Jakey Toor is an itinerant dance teaching artist, working with the San Francisco Unified School District’s Visual and Performing Arts Department (VAPA). She teaches weekly dance classes to the entire school population at four sites: Argonne, Longfellow, John Muir and Cesar Chavez elementary schools. On the average, Jakey teaches six classes per day, meaning that on any given week she works with 600 students, 30 classroom teachers, and 4-6 principals and vice principals.
When asked what brought her to this work, Jakey replied, “a very clear idea of what I didn’t want to do, passion for movement and a fortunate happenstance.” With a BA in theater, a portfolio of solo performance work and TA experience, she found herself with sufficient credits for a multi-subject credential and supplementary authorizations to teach both theater and dance in elementary settings.
Jakey approaches her work with an inquiring mind. Initially, she was not comfortable with the idea of socializing students and continues to question whether the teaching she is required to do aligns with her values. To help her with that, she established a blog, Artists in the Classroom as a grounding, virtual space to maintain her reflective practice habit. When asked what she does to keep herself engaged, inspired, open and ready, Jakey responds that “because reflection, documentation, writing and technology keep me engaged and inspired, I process, share and keep track of my experiences through blogs.” She takes class to “stay on the ball and in my body” and sleep is high on her priority list. She sets an alarm clock to tell her what time to go to bed. Jakey also meditates on a daily basis.
After three years of teaching 1,700 children each year, Jakey’s lessons learned include:
1) Self care. Sleep is essential. “If I have to choose between prepping or sleeping, I’m better off sleeping, even if it means that I walk in a little under prepared. For me, the presence that comes with rested, wakeful-ness is more valuable than a full completed lesson plan.”
2) Be Yourself. “Being genuine, honest and real will get you far. There is no need to convince anyone of anything. Just do your work and be who you are. Bringing your authentic and present self to the table is enough.”
3) Neither a Victim nor Martyr Be. “I am not a victim of the teaching profession, my schedule or my work load, nor am I a martyr. I am choosing to engage with the world as a teacher and I have the ability to ensure that I show up present, operating from a rested, happy and healthy place.”
“Every site I work with has a very unique culture. I feel like a sort of cultural chameleon, constantly experimenting with and creating my role and the role of dance at a site. I feel like it is imperative to have positive, productive relationships with EVERYONE. If people don’t like you or find value in what you do, they aren’t going to help you or champion your cause. So, if I want a site to be on board with dance, 1) I have to provide a service that people perceive as valuable, and 2) I have to welcome and include everyone, every step of the way. That means I am in constant communication with the principal and teachers, and also the support staff and custodians. Because if I don’t have a good relationship with the custodian, and s/he mops the floor after lunch on Friday’s, our class isn’t going to happen. Or, if a principal doesn’t find value in students dancing, they aren’t going to let four classes come together and rehearse their performance piece during “core” instructional time. All of these little things matter and add up and result in dance becoming a valued part of a school’s culture.”
Jakey is a great documenter. Check out this video. For an example of Jakey’s typical day, class structure and stories from practice, click here.
Expecting the unexpected
by Alisa Rasera, Luna Teaching Artist
It was an unexpected moment in middle school dance teaching when one of my special education classes took their dance learning to a whole new level! It was the last class that I would be witnessing them do for a while as I am about to begin a maternity leave. We were working on a group score that they were choreographing with my guidance for the structure. The para-professionals and classroom teacher were all participating and assisting as needed. I think that day there were 7 students (special ed classes are small). So after we finished making the dance (some was slightly improvisational) the students performed it a couple of times with their teachers while I watched. They even tried it with a few different tempos of music. After realizing that they really didn’t need their teachers to do it with them, I suggested the adults become the audience and the students use each other if they forget what comes next or just make it up.
They did! My students with quite significant disabilities performed their dance together for the first time without adults, from beginning to end and I was blown away. I’m not sure what I thought would happen, but felt enough trust and had faith in their abilities that they could do it. They were very proud of themselves as were their teachers. Confidence was spilling out of them in a way I had never seen before. When I have shared before about teaching special ed and “keeping the bar high” this must be what I meant!