K-12 Curriculum
The Zen Art of Improvisation
Advance class
Improvisation has become a staple of the dance world. It is used as a tool for creating, a measure of ability and utilized by most current choreographers somewhere in their process or work on stage. The act of improvising is often intimidating and challenging; as you must listen, reaction, make choice and stay full present in the movement all at once. The class begins by going through our habitual movements, without judgement to find what bring us joy then examining our patterns to find counterpoints to the cliché actions in order to discover new and exciting ways of moving while honor our personal aesthetics and technique.
Dance is still fighting an uphill battle to be separated from physical education curriculum and moved to the arts departments in most schools. For this transition to occur, we need to justify our existence and prove our worth when compared to visual art and music. Emphasizing the unique ability of dance to teach goal-setting and self-discipline is the key to winning this argument.
The core objective of any somatic practice is to forge a strong mind-body connection, which leads to self-discipline. As a dance educator, I work to find clear and concise ways to empower my students with self-awareness, thereby deepening their understanding of themselves so that they are better all-around students.
Organizing dance movements into Six Core Skills: flexibility, strength, weight shifting, balance, traveling and spotting, allow each student to easily identify their strengths and weaknesses. Worksheets and journaling guides them on how to build on what they are already good at, and find ways to improve in the area they need to develop. Regular check-ins with individual students about what they struggle with, and encourage them to keep a positive mind-set. Showing them how to harness their focus to achieve what they desire teaches goal-setting and good choice-making. Students become autonomous and thus empowered to be their best selves.
Yogea
all movers
Using vinyasa (flow) yoga as the movement language to explore the elements of dance and Laban theory: body, effort, space, shape and dynamic: push/pull, spiral/ curl and extend/ flex to deepen mind-body connection