STRUCTURING CREATIVE DANCE CLASSES
While there is no one-and-only correct way to structure a creative dance class, there are possibilities worth considering.
Watch this creative dance class and notice how it is structured -
Take a moment to tune in to what you noticed.
What stood out to you? How did the class begin? How did it progress? What did it include?
Below are some ideas to get you started with what a creative dance class might include. See what resonates for you, what would you include if your goal is to help children develop their outside-the-box, problem-solving, unique, creative ideas and vision?
Introducing the class content and goals, this might be as simple as “today we are going to explore the idea of community, our goal is is to create a dance together that communicates what community means to us”.
Depending on the context and the age of children, you might invite children to arrive and check in. This could be going around the circle with children naming something about their day, or sharing a movement to express how they are feeling.
Tuning in to and warming up the body. This is where you get the muscles moving, blood flowing, breath deepening… All the physical aspects that our bodies need to be fit, healthy, and ready to move fully and creatively. If you want to help children connect with their proprioceptive sense, this is a good place to do that too. (More on that in another post.)
Structured improvisations that introduce dance elements and get creatively flowing. The entire class might be improvisational for younger children and older children can often be the most creative and spontaneously embodied when they improvise. This is because they don’t have time to think! The moment we start thinking, we can censor our ideas, and fall into preformed notions as to what dance “should” look like. In improvisation, children’s creativity roams free and their bodies can move with their own organic intelligence.
Teaching a dance phrase to help children see the creative possibilities. The purpose is not for children to learn and dance it “perfectly” but to open up their ideas about what creative dance can be and express. It is a part of the process rather than an end goal.
Older children might ultimately extend their creative work into choreography. This includes creating dance phrases that can be remembered, which allows children to engage in the processes of rehearsing and refining dances.
Ending. Beginnings and endings of class help create a container that provides familiarity and safety. Endings might include physical aspects such as allowing the body and energy to cool down gradually. They might also include a way for children to reflect on their experience. This might be as simple as inviting them to share one thing that they enjoyed the most in the class.