I'm finally on holidays. All family, friends and social events have been seen to and we are home alone. I settle down with a book. How long before I start thinking about dancing? About 30 minutes! Then I am into the book shelves to leaf through long forgotten buys from Op Shops and second hand book barns where I can never resist checking to see if there is some little treasure. Often these books were published as long ago as the 60's and repeat material I am already familiar with but sometimes being reminded of the obvious is just as valuable as finding something new.
Recently I read on Maria Hanley's blog on Move. Create. Educate. about placing dots on the floor in a line of pairs for young dancers to learn about skipping down the centre as the waiting dancers move up the lines to their turn. I tried it..it worked well...then added weaving down the lines and side skipping in a zig zag between the dots which is an old favorite. Mmmmm....... a bit complicated in the end for some but with practise it is amazing how quickly the dancers pick it up. And interesting how different groups have different levels of focus. Not only when the same age but older children sometimes have more difficulty than younger ones.
Do you have favorite books you use for inspiration? I would love to hear about them.
Oh my goodness! This is exactly what my bookshelf looks like! Just recently have I started reading "non-dance" books for pleasure. It actually helps! Thanks for the mention in the post. Also, have you checked out Brain Compatible Dance Education, by Ann Greene Gilbert! I would highly recommend it! Her website comes up if you google Brain Dance!
ReplyDeleteThanks Maria, I'll check it out!
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