Philadelphia Chickens: The Imaginary Children’s Broadway Musical Revue that I Could Play on Repeat
A torch song to chocolate chip cookies. A diva’s belting song about the pleasure of being contrary. A jazzy pajama time dance party. There is a lot to love about Philadelphia Chickens: A Too-Illogical Zoological Musical Revue from Sandra Boynton and Micheal Ford!!! From Amazon.com: Grammy nominee. #1 New York Times bestseller. And, with 960,000 … Continue reading
Misty Copeland’s Picture Book
Misty Copeland is Keeping Her Name (and classical ballet) Hot with the Upcoming Publication of Her Children’s Book: Firebird Misty Copeland became a household name with her recent commercial for Under Armour….check out the end of this post if you haven’t seen the ad yet…and it looks like this ballerina’s fame is only expanding. I … Continue reading
Rhythm & Isolations with the Picture Book: Cha-Cha Chimps
I fell for Cha-Cha Chimps the first time I read it to my son. This raucous little rhyming countdown book by Julia Durango (illustrated by Eleanor Taylor) is made for little movers. (Recommended for preschool through lower grade classes…ages 2-9.) Like the Bojangles book Rap A Tap Tap (which I blog about here), Cha-Cha … Continue reading
So You Want: Showtunes-Style Jazz Music for Kids? –Cool Jazz Cats
Highly Recommended: Cool Jazz Cats by Maria Bostick Included on the back of the album is the praise: “A fun frothy ice cream soda of a record…the melodies and rhythms are irresistible!” [Family Fun Magazine] –and I couldn’t agree more! Cool Jazz Cats has a Broadway feel and stays on the right side of … Continue reading
Axis Dance Company
Did you know that there is an avenue of contemporary dance called “physically integrative dance”? San Francisco Bay Area’s AXIS Dance Company doesn’t just provide lip service to the phrase “anyone can dance”…they prove it every day. How do you combat the stereotypes, fear and general discomfort that can surround physical disabilities? Perhaps with a … Continue reading
Ballet for Bonding with Baby
Ballet and Babywearing? Yes! Parenthood and adult ballet classes are each intimidating in and of themselves…but apparently together they are magic! Below is a link to a KSL Utah news segment reporting on one such class…Ballet with Baby Utah…and how naturally the babies are responding to the mother’s movements. Watch it here! Ballet with Baby … Continue reading
5 Modern Dance Books
5 beautiful books to introduce dancers to modern dance, dance history and famous dance artists. Enjoy! The Human Alphabet ~Pilobolus “An alphabet made of… PEOPLE!” ~ A fun book for dancers young and old. Pilobolus dancers use their bodies and colorful costumes to make all the letters of the alphabet and a picture for each … Continue reading
Found: Cartoon Defense of Music & Dance Education
Why teach the arts? I wish this question didn’t need to be asked and answered so often. But since our culture does seem to require a defense of teaching music and dance…it’s nice to have little inspirational videos like this one that make the case for us. “One doesn’t make the end of the composition, … Continue reading
Teaching Meaningful Apologies
What makes a “good” apology? How can a child “say it like they mean it” if they haven’t yet learned how to “mean it”? How much class time should a dance teacher take up with working through apologies when we have so much choreography and technique to get through in an hour? The schedule … Continue reading
Why Dance?
Two months ago I had the honor of being invited by a Junior Girl Scout Troop to sit on a panel for a Question & Answer about being a professional woman. One of the questions that I was asked during the panel has been churning in my working brain ever since. It was such … Continue reading
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