Creative Movement: Are You Zealous Teachers Ready to Move?
Let’s talk about today’s post, “Creative Movement: Are You Zealous Teachers Ready to Move?”
Like many teachers, each school year I taught, inspired and motivated hundreds of students. Well, it feels that way sometimes. Because I taught theater for over thirty-eight years, there are many subjects within the subject of theater that I can teach. One year’s challenge: Creative Movement.
Now, before you think you must have a lifetime of ballet lessons and toured with the Alvin Ailey Dancers, I want you to think again. Or maybe you are like Grace (in the above photo) who just loves to dance? If you have taken several dance classes, many acting classes and yes, movement classes you are probably equipped to teach youngsters about creative movement. Remember, when you are a teacher, generally you know more than the students about the particular subject, especially if they are elementary grade level.
Creative Movement: Are You Zealous Teachers Ready to Move?
Several years ago, the idea for this class came to me while observing my Intro. to M. Theater students struggling with dance steps. I thought, “Jeez, they can’t even keep straight their left foot from their right. Poor kids. Maybe I need to teach them about movement first before we jump into dance steps. No jazz squares for them.”
Consequently, when my principal asked me what other classes I would like to teach I suggested creative movement as a possible subject. Trust me, I hadn’t really thought it through AT ALL! I never expected my principal to jump on the idea, but she did and here I am to share about my experiences.
Researching Creative Movement
That summer I began my research. First, there were not many useful creative movement lesson plans on the internet. Usually, I look at what someone else has used and go from there, tweaking it for my needs. But when I couldn’t find much to use as a stepping off point, I got smart and looked on-line. I was thrilled to find several books that looked like they would be helpful. Boy, was I lucky and right!
The two books I have used religiously that year are Creative Dance for All Ages by Anne Green Gilbert and Lesson Plans for Creative Dance by Sally Carline. Laugh all you want, but I love the straight forward and no nonsense titles of these books which is perhaps the reason I noticed them first. I used Anne Gilbert’s book for the first semester and Sally Carline’s for the second semester.
If you are looking into teaching creative movement with your students, I highly recommend these two gold mines. I had taken some dance classes in college. When I was a child, my mother wouldn’t let me take dance classes, because she thought they were sill. Of course, during acting classes we studied characterization through movement. Plus, I had a wonderful movement class while studying for my Masters. NONE of these compared to these two books. No kidding here. These are tremendous.
Creative Dance for All Ages
Creative Dance for All Ages is divided up by theory and method. She explains the importance of creative dance, the elements of dance, the various expected outcomes, various materials you’ll need to teach the class effectively (a CD player, scarves, ribbon wands, a drum or wood block, etc.) I purchased Body Sox, too because I think they are terrific help especially for shy students.
As you might expect, Gilbert shares about planning the length of the class depending on the age of the child or adult, for that matter. Within each chapter, she advises the reader on lots and lots of exercises to do with the students. Gosh, I could go on and on about this book. You just really need to purchase one. It’s expensive, but I think it is worth its weight in gold.
Lesson Plans for Creative Dance
Lesson Plans for Creative Dance is equally great. This book is divided up into grade levels and includes diagrams of dance steps, music suggestions to aid in the lesson plan, little stories to share with the students so that they can better visualize the movement requirements and a host of other cool items. My students and I have enjoyed the enormous array of music suggestions.
Because of this book, I’ve downloaded different types of music to my Ipad. It’s comforting to know that it is right at my fingertips at any moment. Many times, the students have asked the title of the music piece as they are creating. Most of my classes are mixed grade levels, so I learned to vary the lessons week to week hoping to satisfy everyone’s intellect.
We held an open house for the parents to see what all we’d learned. First, the students demonstrated various elements of dance (pathways, self and general space, speed, weight, effort, etc.), then they shared three dances based on threes stories with music and maybe even create a new piece spontaneously.
I saw such growth in my Creative Movement students that year. They began the class inhibited, awkward and quickly tiring from these exercises. By the end of the year, they embraced every lesson, naturally integrating movement into their acting and performances. Success! Whew…
If you are looking for a creative movement unit, check out: Movement Unit
And now I am creating drama lesson plans for special holidays or days.
Elements of Drama: Movement Thanksgiving Themed
What experiences have you enjoyed with creative movement? Do you have anything to share?
Contact me at dhcbaldwin@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you!
If you’d like to hear about more of my experiences, check out: