Serenity Harris and Kiyannah McGee Capstone

Posted by Serenity Harris in Capstone on

For our capstone (senior project) we decided to run a dance mini course. We started the mini course in quarter one and continued the mini course for all four quarters. We wanted to run a dance mini course because dance is something we are both passionate about. Not only that but freshman year, we were both in a “SLA can dance” mini course and we enjoyed it. We then decided that we would run a dance mini course ourselves. The way our mini course would work is in the first week, we’d play hide and seek as an icebreaker. Then throughout the next few weeks we would teach dance choreography and then give the kids a chance to choreograph their own little routine. The purpose of our mini course was to not only teach choreography to some of the freshman at our school but to also help them get more comfortable expressing themselves through movement. Although we had a lot of fun doing our mini course, there has also been some challenges that we had to face. A big challenge we had was not being able to continue dances that we wanted to continue because we would get new kids every few weeks. Since this has happened we were not able to completely finish dances like we wanted to, but we did get to dance enough to get on film and enough for them to learn something new. Overall, from our mini course the only thing I would change is our preparation. Our mini course was good but it had the potential to be better if we were more prepared going into each Wednesday.

The first source I found was an article called “Teaching Choreography - 4Dancers”  The citation can be found below. The article started by comparing a dance choreographer to a teacher.  This article is helpful to us because it explains the difference between choreographers and teachers.  It helped me to understand how although Serenity and I may be good dancers/choreographers teaching it to another group of kids is totally different. The article helped us out by explaining some techniques that can be used while teaching a dance.

"Teaching Choreography - 4Dancers." 2 Apr. 2013, http://www.4dancers.org/2013/04/teaching-choreography/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2017.



The next source that I found was found on a popular website “Nytimes.com”. The title of the article is “Dance; ABC’s of Choreography: Teaching the Unteachable”. This article compared the different styles of teaching when it comes to dancing. This article is a very helpful article because it helps us to seek more ways of teaching.

Anderson, Jack. "ABC's of Choreography: Teaching the Unteachable?" The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/15/arts/dance-abc-s-of-choreography-teaching-the-unteachable.html The New York Times, 14 Mar. 1998. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.



The next article I read was titled “12 Traits of Terrific Dance Teachers”. The name of the article is really explains what the article is about. The article talks about characteristics that a terrific dance teacher would have. Serenity and I figured that this is a very helpful article to read because we want to be the best dance teachers that we can be. This was an important piece to me because I think being supportive is a good quality I have as person so being able to incorporate it in dance made me excited. This article was helpful because it gives us advice on how to be a good dance teacher.
"http://www.danceadvantage.net/great-dance-teachers/ Dance Advantage. N.p., 07 Jan. 2015. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.


The next article I read was posted on the Huffington post. The article was titled “A letter from your Dance Teacher”. This article was formed in a letter from a dance teacher. The letter is written to  a dance teacher from another dance teacher.  This article is a very helpful article because it discussed how we can become better dance teachers from the perspective of another dance teacher. I was able to make connections to some things that were said in the letter. For example, where it says “ You want to be great. You want to work. You want people to see all that you have to offer.This article is helpful because it gives us advice from another dance teacher’s perspective.

Beckford, Keesha. "A Letter From Your Dance Teacher." The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keesha-beckford/a-letter-from-your-dance-teacher_b_3319783.htmlTheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.


The last article that I read based on techniques of teaching was an article posted by Edweek.org. The title of the article was “School integrate Dance into Core Academics”. The article starts off by comparing dance to photosynthesis. The article states “Photosynthesis may be an unlikely topic to inspire an opera or ballet, but in a 2nd grade classroom here recently, the children were asked to use dance to help them learn about that process.” Later on, the article continues by talking about how dancing connects to science and education. Since our school is a science school I thought this article was a very helpful article because it helps to compare the important pieces of my school to my capstone.

Robelen, Erik W. "Schools Integrate Dance Into Core Academics." http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/11/17/12dance_ep.h30.htmlEducation Week. N.p., 06 May 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.



This article begins expressing how beautiful and unique dance is as an art form. Some people still believe that dance is not a sport. As a dancer, I feel otherwise. Dance is no longer just a hobby or an afterschool activity. It is a profession that a lot of people get paid for. It is a hard profession to get noticed in. You have to be extremely talented and unique to get hired for the good gigs. The article tells how dance is a good way to express one’s emotions and feelings. There are so many different genres and styles that all countries contribute to."Different Types of Dances and Dancing Styles Across the Globe - Buzzle." 8 Aug. 2016, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/types-of-dances-and-different-dancing-styles.html. Accessed 6 Feb. 2017.


After doing more research, I decided to research the most common styles of dance her in the U.S. to get a more feel for what styles of dance we should teach. I then found out that the most popular styles of dance here are  Ballet ( including pointe ), Concert dance, Contemporary dance, Lyrical dance, Modern dance

And Jazz dance

I feel that this article is very important because it helps us to get an idea of what styles of dance that we should teach, Since Serenity and I both have a history with dance and different styles of dance the kids have different styles to chose from.

"Dance." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

https://www.britannica.com/art/dance/Types-of-dance


This article is about the different origins of dance styles. A lot of “partner dances”, or duets, are seen as just latin dancing. Little do most know that various amounts of latin dances have different origins and influences from different countries. Samba, as an example, is a Brazilian dance, but with African origin. Tap dancing is a form of dance pretty popular in North America in the entertainment business that requires special shoes and floors for the target sound. Tap was also a dance created by Africans, but during slavery times. It was a way to keep themselves and each other entertained.

"Types of Dance - Categories." Types of Dance – Dance Types, Categories and Styles. N.p., 2017. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

http://www.dancefacts.net/dance-types/types-of-dances/



This next article is lists the Top 10, most well known, dance styles in the world. It starts off by defining dance and how it affects the people who do it. It is describes as a social interactant, an exercise, a profession, and a hobby. The article mentions that is also a way for people to tell stories and express themselves. The dance styles on the list are as follows: hip-hop, tap dance, yangko dance, belly dance, kathak, Gangnam style dance, Break dance/B-boy/B-girl, ballet, which also has its own styles, salsa, and line dance. I haven’t heard of some of these styles.

"Types of Dance - Categories." Types of Dance – Dance Types, Categories and Styles. N.p., 2017. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

http://www.wonderslist.com/10-most-famous-dance-styles-in-the-world/


The last one isn’t really an article. It’s more of an informative section of a website used to help people who would like to take classes at this dance studio learn what the classes are about. It was a little confusing. It mentioned things in the contents that didn’t necessarily make sense or correlate with past knowledge of dance styles. “Dance revolution” is the name of the dance studio that created the website. They made a list, as the other articles have, that is as follows: Open, lyrical, ballet, jazz, acro, hip-hop, kinderhop, glee, conditioning, tap, pointe, and yoga. Each “style” has a brief description. The part that was bewildering was how glee, conditioning, and yoga were alleged “styles of dance.” None of those are actually styles of dance, two of which don’t even include dancing.

"Styles & Techniques." Dance Evolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

http://danceevolution.ca/styles-techniques/

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