Welcome Back to Dance! 9/20/19

Welcome Back to Dance!

I have enjoyed seeing everyone back at school over the last 2 weeks and have met some wonderful new BSI students.

This week, our youngest dancers are defining and exploring both personal and general spaces. Some fun new dances being learned are the “Robot Dance”, the “Sparkler Dance” and the “Macarena”. In second grade, we have begun a unit called My City- My Community, and these students are learning about skylines. The dancers are thinking about the shapes of buildings and how we can work collaboratively to create a skyline with our bodies. It is fun to learn about our communities through dance.

Third grade students are finding connections between dance and literacy by examining the letters and syllables in their names. How can our bodies create shapes that represent these language arts concepts, and can movement help us deepen our understanding of these ideas?

In fourth grade, students are learning about setting goals and defining successful group work. These dancers are applying strategies learned as they work in large groups to solve various movement problems. Below, class 402 created one long diagonal line in size order without the use of their voices.  Well done!

Fifth graders have started the year with a Hip-Hop/Anti-Bullying unit. Students are learning about dance technique, the history of hip-hop and how movement can help to express important feelings.

And finally, our oldest dancers in the middle school dance elective, continue to focus on technique and composition. Dancers are exploring body alignment and awareness by creating machine dances using muscles, body parts and joints. Students have also begun establishing a technical warm-up including isolations, flat back, plies, round ups, and different kinds of turns.

Looking forward to a wonderful year of dance!

Have a restful weekend!

Ms. Diane