Ski, Skate, and Snowboard at the Olympics

I have loved watching the olympics the last few weeks! One night, as I watched I thought maybe I could incorporate some of the sports and movements into my creative movement class! Last monday, we explored skiing, skating, and snowboarding! Here's what we did!

1) Skiing- I explained that it's a very straight type of movement. Arms swing and and knees really bent! Of course they wanted to do the fancy stuff (haha!) We went in straight pathways while making our bodies really straight. It's actually quite a challenge!

2)Next we did skating, the most fun! We stretched our arms, did jumps, and spins. Some of them even tried with a partner! I explained that skaters need to have really great balancing shapes, so they had fun practicing these. I loved seeing all of their ideas.

3) Last we tried snowboarding, which was a little difficult, but interesting. We did lots of bends in the knees and jumps with two feet off the ground at the same time. We also practiced glueing our feet to the floor and doing a surfing motion, moving our bodies forwards, backwards, and side to side without moving our feet. This is very silly but has a really great movement quality!

I tried to dissect the movement of each sport and put it into words that the young dancers would understand. I hope that when they watched the olympics this past week they could see the movements that we did in class in each sport. Even though the olympics are over today, I am thinking we might try this again tomorrow since they enjoyed it so much, and of course there is still so much snow in NYC!

What about you? Did you do any lessons about the olympics with your classes? I would love to hear!

10 Questions at 4dancers Today!

Have you checked out 4dancers.org yet? Well, I am featured there today, but that is not the only reason you should check it out! It's an amazing blog for dancers, dance teachers, and anyone who is interested in dance. Dancer and Writer, Catherine offers great features and profiles, and posts little tidbits of advice, jobs, and reviews. Check it out if you haven't already! Do not wait another day! You will love it! :)

Hidden Treasure

I found this great CD on itunes yesterday. It's like a hidden treasure! I have been looking for music to help link all of the ballet vocabulary I have been teaching my 2-3 year olds like FOREVER!!! Bingo! There are 2 great songs on this CD that do just that! There's one that goes through locomotor movements such as marching and chasse, and it also adds in words like battement and saute. The other sings though a stage performance, "tip toe on the stage" then links the ballet movements together to make a dance.

I don't like to use these songs to initially teach the steps to the dancers, but I believe it's a great addition to my class and will hopefully become a favorite to the girls! :)

What about you? Do you use any songs to link your ballet steps together for your young dancers? I would love to hear!

(Wake Up and Wiggle, By: Melissa Barnett)

Dinosaur Dance

Have you ever done a dinosaur dance? I did one today! I am fortunate to have a class of all boys in one of the clubs I teach at the preschool! It's great, because of course it's such a contrast from what I teach in ballet class with all girls. I love to hear the boys ideas- their imaginations go on for days, and can make up an entire story in about 3 minutes flat.

The boys loved the dinosaur dance, after all it was their idea! They asked me if we could do a dance about dinosaurs. I told them that I might even have a dinosaur song(amazing!) I found it, but first I wanted to make sure we talked about different kinds of dinosaurs and what their contrast was. Do they fly? Make the ground shake when they walk? What do they eat? How can we show little dinosaurs vs. giant ones. They loved it, and so did I! It's such a new way of moving and creating! Thanks to the boys for making my day!

Think Spring- Shape up your week!

I always feel so anxious on Sunday nights thinking about all that I have to do in the week ahead. Do you?I had the idea to write about it and thought maybe that would make me feel better. Plus, I am really looking forward to spring, so I thought I would post a delightful picture to make you think about beautiful flowers. New York is supposed to get another snow storm this week. (yuck!) I hope it's not true. Time will tell.

Let's see, here is what's in my schedule this week. Tomorrow I have a really fun Olympics lesson planned for my creative movement classes. I will write about that tomorrow. Tuesday I start new ballet classes at the JCC and I am meeting a friend for dinner to talk about the life of a dance teacher. I always love gaining insight from someone who shares a similar life. Wednesday seems to be a normal day, with a little extra babysitting thrown in to support eating lunch daily. Thursday and Friday I start at a new school for City Ballet. I always love meeting new kids and teachers. They usually love to meet me too. Thursday I plan to take ballet class, an addition to my schedule that I hope will be routine every Thursday evening. I even got some new leo's and tights to feel more like a dancer/dance teacher! YAY! I also have a new gym membership that I hope to try out this week.

That seems to be the shape of the next 5 days! What does your week look like? Anything fun? Anything you are dreading? I would love to hear!

P.s. I started something new this weekend, reading for pleasure! I know it sounds so simple, but it makes me feel good and gives me an outlet besides thinking about dance all the time. (not that I don't LOVE to do that) I am reading The Happiness Project... I highly recommend it! I already see and think about things differently! :)

Prop Shopping

I have been feeling a bit down today, I think I am sick of winter! Anyone else? While trying to pull myself out of the slump, I thought I would do some fun prop shopping! The props I use are really wonderful but I have been using them for a while and I think the kids are getting used to them. I thought if I could find something exciting and new, it might help put a smile on everyone's face!

The hoops above you can assemble together! Perfect for someone like me who carries all the props around! What creative props do you use?

(props from Oriental Trading Company)

A Ballet Book

A few weeks ago, one of my students brought in this book that she bought at the bookstore. I loved that she brought it in to share with her friends at class. She left it and I keep forgetting to give it back to her, I promise I will give it back! While it has been in my possession, I have been deconstructing it. These students in the book are older than the dancers I teach in my ballet class, but I love the way it takes the dancer through a dance class. Stretching, the positions, the barre, and across the floor are all shown in the book.

It shows the importance of practice at home, getting ready for a recital, and it connects fairy tale stories children read before bedtime to ballet. (ex: Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake)
I would love to write a book like this someday. I have always wanted to write a children's book! Have you ever thought about writing a book about your expertise? Ahh, another goal to add to the list!

(Book by Jane Feldman)