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
Video How-To Resource for Teachers
is the at-home colleague I sometimes need. I often turn to Dance Teacher Magazine’s on-line collection of teaching videos. The variety is impressive: tap, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, ballroom, modern, anatomy, creative movement, yoga for dancers! Click a picture for the link to Dance-Teacher.com. (The listing for the entire collection can be found here). … Continue reading
How I Introduce The Nutcracker – Jeffers’ Book
Late summer might seem an odd time to be posting about The Nutcracker, unless of course you are a dancer or dance teacher and you have already been making early preparations for the holiday show for months now. The Nutcracker is the most famous and accessible of the full-length ballets. The studio where I teach presents … Continue reading
Dancing Holidays: HALLOWEEN
Halloween is a holiday that nearly all of my dancers get excited about! It is (almost) universally inclusive, and I find that the same children who are attracted to dance class are attracted to Halloween for the make-believe & the crazy costumes. Below are my picks for bringing Halloween into the dance classroom…or dance into … Continue reading
6 Class Management (Discipline) Tips With Young Ones
At my studio, regular year classes have been in session for a month now, and so naturally some of my young students’ “first days of school” attention to extra-good behavior is wearing off as they get more comfortable in their surroundings. Time for–6 Class Management (Discipline) Tips with Young Ones…in this case, meaning about ages … Continue reading
3 Ways to Freeze Dance – Without “Outs”
Children seem to LOVE Freeze Dance… . …and I seem to hate being a “judge” of who is moving or not after the music stops. I’m all for games, but I prefer to play games that reinforce what we’re learning in class and ones allow everyone to participate for the entire time, rather than having … Continue reading
Get Them Tapping with a Bojangles Book!
I love this book. I love the writing, the rhythm, the brevity, the pictures, the subject…love. The first time I read it, I was having a horrible substitute teaching day at an Oakland elementary school and this book was a little beacon on the reading rack. I read it to the kids, and went home … Continue reading
How I Introduce: First Position
First position is harder than it looks…let this little girl show you! . . I love the teacher comment at the end…”It’s ok if your shoes aren’t doing it.” …and also all the ways the little girl tries to “fix” the problem. You can see her little mind and body piecing it out. This also … Continue reading
How I Introduce: The Sleeping Beauty
Pre-ballet can encompass an amazing scope. Yes, I teach 1st position, pointed ankles, ballet skips, posture at the barre, standing in line, sharing props, how to not eat your ballet skirt during class, and also, dance history. Not all of my little ones will go on to dance through high school or beyond, but they … Continue reading
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