Dance, the other form of play! Lina

Just like music, it is nature for people move their body with the rhythm of the music.  Frankly, I regard this body movement as a type of the dance. Many people are afraid of dance and always say that they can’t dance.  One reason I hear quite often is that they concern too much about their body shapes……

I consider dance as the other form of play which is also a part of social movements! For anthropologist Johan Huizinga (1955), play is anything but serious (p. 5). It is a space for joy, freedom and liberty.  So most of time, dance involves doing something that is not exactly “real.” it is “double edged, ambiguous, moving in several directions simultaneously,” ( Shepard, 2001, p 4 ).  Dance should be described as the state of being “busily engaged,” to “leap for joy, rejoice.”  I aim to use dance to free my student's body!  As the dance itself is the way to “carry out or perform (an action) in all types of way to express certain emotion.  “It is a mood, an activity, an eruption, of liberty,” Schrechner explains (p. 79).  So the dance is an extension of movement which can provide students opportunities to interpret ideas, feelings, and impressions through body.  Through dance students can both shape their own dance expressions and learn through using the body to explore, create, and perform.  Dance can also build a kinaesthetic awareness and sensibility.  Moreover, it facilitates students to make connection with and appreciate of dance from other times and cultures.

However, in many public schools, the curriculums are more stressing on dance making and the terms of movement which neglect the essential part of dance that is creativity.  Most teachers spend time on training students to remember the movements and sequence of the dance.  This limitation makes dancing boring to students.  Moreover, it also falls to meet to apply dance to enrich students’ understanding (understanding of encompasses feeling and empathy, understanding of human experience), enhance their ability to resilient and facilitate their ability on creating works with aesthetic features (Bergmann-Drewe, & Brown, 1999). 

   

So what can we do as non-specialist primary teacher to teach high quality dance in my class?

1. Teach to a theme and bring the music on as a background. In this way, teaching is focused on creativity, rather than recalling the movement. 

2. Fit dance into a cross-curriculum so that students will have a meaningful and relevant context and knowledge with which they can develop from their dance.

3. Give children a chance to develop their physical and movement skills, to choreograph their own routines and to perform.

References:

Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo ludens; a study of the play-element in culture. Boston: Beacon Press.

Shepard, B. (2001). If I Can’t Dance: Play, Creativity, and Social Movements. New York: City University of New York

Bergmann-Drewe, S., & Brown, A. K. (1999). Creative dance inspirations: Facilitating expression.     Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 45(3), 324-324-327. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.utas.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/228632102?accountid=14245