Informationprogram Table of Contents

Home , Acro dance, Merce Cunningham, Paul Draper (dancer)

IntroductionASSISTANT DANCE TEACHER CERTIFICATION& Course InformationPROGRAM Table of Contents

1 Assistant Teacher Certification Material 4

2 Intro to Dance History 11

3 Further Exercises 18

2 Introduction & Course Information

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Important Copyright Notice This manual has been created by the International Dance Teaching Standards, as a resource for dance teachers. Information in this manual has been collected from various sources, complied through online resources, websites, written text, academic books, research articles, audio files, video, and photographic images. When possible credit to the original author and site of all materials included has been given. For full articles, every effort has been made to trace ownership of copyrighted materials. Should an error in print occur, or if questions arise pertaining to the use of these materials, please contact our office and we will make the necessary corrections in future printings.

3 AssistantIntro Teacher to CertificationDance History Material

4 Assistant Teacher Certification Program

List a few reasons why you love to dance:

______As ______teachers it is our role to uphold these very same reasons for the dancers we are helping in our classroom. Dance is a positive hysical space for p movement and exploration.

Think of your favorite teacher –or-‐ the best teacher you know, what are some of the qualities they have?

______The ______qualities we find admirable in other teachers are the ones n we will strive to demonstrate i our assistant teaching.

Please list five safety hazards you can think of that you might find in or around a dance studio:

1______2______3______4______As 5______assistant teachers we must always be looking for these safety hazards and removing them from the classroom or other areas if needed.

List a few things that you assistant can do as an teacher that would help the teacher:

______5 ______Assistant Teacher Certification Program

If there is an emergency in the studio and the teacher is dealing with a situation, what should you do with the ldren? other chi

______What ______are some of the hazards of using hand held props ______in kinder (5 yrs of age and under) classes? How can you help make sure that dancers stay safe?

______‘______Lesson transitioning’ is hen w we are moving from one activity/purpose to the next in a class setting. We want transitions to be as efficient and fast as possible. List five different things we transition in/out of during a lesson:

1______2______3______4______When 5______we assistant are teaching very young children (2-‐3 and even 4 years old) what are some of the emotions they might be experiencing when they come into class?

______When ______children are in grade 1 and -‐ 2 in school (5 7yrs) they are more used to being in a social environment than those children aged 2-‐4yrs. What are some of the emotions that children -‐ 5 7yrs old might be experiencing when they come into class?

______6 ______Assistant Teacher Certification Program

Young children entering the dance studio may not have very much social interaction time with other children yet. Their time in the dance studio not only teaches them gross motor skills (big body movements like hopping and skipping) but also is a large part of their social development.

You may behavior see s such as:

-‐Pushing/Shoving -‐‘Hands on’ mirrors/other children/inappropriate touching -‐Inability to share -‐“She/He Budged!” -‐Excessive running -‐Not listening -‐Exploring away from class

When the behavior is interrupting the lesson, hurting other children, unsafe or inappropriate son the les must be stopped and the behavior must be discussed with the child. The teacher responsible is primarily for doing this, however as an assistant you can help make class be as efficient as possible by staying near the child that frequently becomes off task and helping them direct their focus/guide them/encourage them, . etc In these early ages of child development, the social training is just as important as the dance training child is receiving.

7 Assistant Teacher Certification Program

Emotional Development of Children -‐ 5 7 years:

• Dancer developing self-esteem is a central issue at this age. • Dancer is learning to use standards like grades or home runs to measure his performance. • Dancer is learning to become independent. • Increasing separation and independence from parents are healthy steps in the dancers development. • Dancer is beginning to compare them against other people's expectations. • The dancer is becoming aware that she/he is one of many people in the world. Up to this time, most children are focused primarily on themselves. • At age 4 & 5yrs, dancer will still enjoy being with mom or dad. By age 8, the dancer will probably be more focused on their peers. • The dancer is developing the social skills to make friends in this period of life. • The dancer is a wonderful mimic. They imitate both good and bad adult behavior. • The dancer should be able to communicate well with others without teachers help. • How other children perceive the dancer will affect her self-image. 8 Teacher Assistant Certification Program

In a perfect scenario all of our young students are participating in class, they are sharing, taking turns, following instructions and on task. Of course sometimes that doesn’t happen though. Now that we know children are developing socially and emotionally as well as physically when they come into our dance studio we need to think about when behaviors should be tolerated (such as exploring, being off task) and when they should be stopped immediately. Behaviors that should ALWAYS be stopped immediately:

-‐Anything that is unsafe or dangerous for the dancer or anyone near the dancer -‐Anything that is invading someone’s personal space/comfort -‐Anything that will damage studio property

If a young child ome has bec off task and the behavior is not something critical such as the above, we need to evaluate how and if we should intervene or if we should allow the behavior. Sometimes we should allow the behavior, as it may be a natural thing for the age/social development of the child.

If it is determined that we should intervene, here are some basic strategies you can use:

-‐Make eye contact with the lead teacher and see if they indicate with a body signal that you should approach the dancer and try and bring them back on task. The teacher may or may not use their voice to do this as verbal (speaking) attention to the off task behavior may reinforce the off task behavior and other children may also start becoming off task. As the assistant teacher position yourself near the off task child and see if “proximity control” (you being close to the student) fixes the off task behavior.

-‐Use the child’s name to collect their attention to bring them back into focus. -‐Lower your body position to be in eye contact (same height) as the child. -‐Use positive encouragement, ie “wow, this looks like a lot of fun, shall we do it together?” -‐Ask the dancer to demonstrate (children like to perform) ie, “can you show me?” -‐Encourage and reinforce dancers who are on task, ie “wow, Suzie, such good listening, it looks like you are ready to start the next activity.”

It is important for assistants to discuss with their lead teacher which behaviors the lead teacher would like them to stop behaviors and which the assistant should allow. In addition the assistant should discuss with the teacher how they can be most beneficial helping. As well what What limitations behaviors there might might be ‘ be over if stepping any, ’ as the an assistant assistant should not overstep the teacher? teacher. ______9 Checklists for Teaching Assistants

Ο Does your love and passion for what you do show?

Ο Is your voice animated and energized?

Ο Are you smiling and full of energy?

Ο Does your body reflect the energy you want from the students?

Are you doing the movements ‘full Students out’? ( will not know what ‘full out’ means if there is no example in the classroom, as the assistant you are the Ο example)

Make sure you say each students name at least once during class not Οincluding attendance. Make eye contact with the dancers.

Do all that you can to make every dancer feel comfortable by being Οaccepting of different body types, personalities and reasons for dancing.

Regularly check safety for hazards (ie, bobby pins on the floor, water Οspilled on the floor, etc)

Ο Keep a positive attitude and be a role model.

Be on your feet moving and helping. If you are not helping you probably more hassle for the teacher and in such case it’s probably better if Οyou aren’t present. Make sure you are contributing.

Always know the choreography! Know the recital dance if there is one. The teacher will have many other young children dances and it becomes very hard for them keep to separate all the steps for these similar dances. As the assistant it is your responsibility to always know the choreography to help the teacher should he/she be mixing up the choreography with that of another dance of children the Be same age. prepared that you may or may not have to go on stage with the group at sometime.

10 Intro to Dance History

11 History

“Through the ages, dance has been performed for religious, social, cultural and theatrical purposes. One could dance for good weather, to appease the gods at the time of harvest, or to celebrate the birth of a child. Dance can be done indoors, outdoors, in palaces or on street corners. You can dance in Pointe shoes, sneakers, ballet slippers, or on your own naked feet. All cultures revere dance.”

Ballet The earliest forms of ballet were elaborate events taking place in the courts of Renaissance Italy, which later developed further in France. The oldest surviving ballet score is that of Le Ballet Comique de la Reine (The Queen’s Ballet Comedy), performed in 1581 by court dancers for Queen Catherine de Medicis. Later on, King Louis XIV (1643-1715) even participated ballets, many of them created by the Italian-French composer Jean Baptiste Lully and the French choreographer Pierre Beauchamp. Beauchamp is reported to have defined the five positions of the feet. Ballet as as dance style grew in popularity, encouraging the formation of dance companies and professional dancers.

Female dancers arrived were allowed in the ballet after Louis XIV established the Academie Royale de Danse; up until then all the dancers were male and wore masks in women’s roles. In 1681, Le Tri- omphe de l’Amour (The Triumph of Love) was the first to feature female dancers. Dancing on the toes began to develop around 1763 with slippers strengthened with darning; blocked toe shoes would not be invented until later, allowing dancers to stay on their toes for more than a few moments.

12 For the next two hundred years ballet as a style continued to develop, combining more fantastical and romantic elements; and tutus and box toe shoes were introduced. In the 1940s, the American Ballet Theatre and The New York City Ballet were established, and more companies emerged throughout the USA and Canada. Ballet is considered to be the cornerstone of most modern dance styles, still evolving from its traditional forms through creative choreography.

Ballet meets Modern Modern dance began to take shape in the 1920s and 1930s with works by American dancers Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey; and Mary Wigman from Germany, among choreographers such as Kurt Jooss (The Green Table) and Antony Tudor’s psychological ballet. These dancers moved ballet from fantasy and into realism, reflecting the human experience in expressive movements.This modern style also progressed the use of the torso and in more floor work.

Flamenco A genre of both music and dance, flemenco is a strongly rhythmical style native to Spain and tra- ditionally performed by gypsies. Flamenco was almost lost to history in the 1930s after a civil war (1936-1939), which was followed by the Second World War that ended in 1945. Besides the Flamen- co Opera, which saw troupes bringing the style into theatres, it wasn’t until the 1950s that flamenco was once again enjoyed by the people on a larger scale.

Foxtrot Harry Fox, a vaudeville actor who was born Arthur Carringford in Pomona, California, in 1882, developed a ballroom dance style characterized by combinations of slow and quick steps. The foxtrot was first performed in 1914 in New York.

Merengue Merengue is a style of partnered dance with alternating long- and stiff-legged steps, originating from the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It has enjoyed wide popularity in the Domincan Republic since the mid-1800s, and is also prevalent throughout the Caribbean and South America.

Mambo and Cha Cha Mambo is a dance and music style originating in Cuba in 1943, combining swing and Cuban music to produce a highly-rhythmic feel. Cuban bandleader Perez Prado is attributed to introducing mambo to nightclubs in Havana; and Latin American band leaders took up the dance that became a fad in Amer- ica after 1947. As the mambo continued to rise in popularity it developed a side style known as the triple mambo, eventually known as the cha cha (or cha cha cha), which consists of three quick steps and two slower steps on the one and two beat.

Polka Attributed to a peasant girl named Anna Slezak in 1834, the polka is a half-step dance and accom- panying music style of Czech Bohemian origin. In 1835, it became fashionable in the ballrooms of Prague and appeared in England and the United States in the 1850s.

13 Merce Cunningham was born in Washington in 1919; and grew up studying tap, ballroom and the Graham technique, eventually dancing in Martha Graham’s company from 1939-1945 as well as studying at the school of American Ballet. He combined what he learned about modern dance and ballet to develop with own technique known for involving a flexible spine and complicated footwork.

Waltz Italy and Austria saw the first versions of the waltz gracing their ballrooms in the 1600s, derived from simple yodeling melodies. It gained popularity in France a hundred years later, and different versions were introduced: from a partnered, line of couples to an independent dance. The close-hold and rapid turning movements gained as it developed caused opposition to the style, with religious groups calling the waltz sinful. Relative ease of learning also caused dance masters to feel threatened. In 1799, after the French Revolution, the bourgeoisie adopted the waltz and it spread to Boston, USA, by 1834. Two accepted forms of the waltz exist today: the Modern Waltz and the Viennese (Quick) Waltz.

Swing Swing dancing originates from the popularity of jazz music, the Charleston, Lindy Hop and Jitterbug in the 1920s and 1930s in clubs prominently frequented by the African-American community in New York. As the steps of the style progressed, tap and jazz moves were integrated into the overall dance. Into the 1940s regional styles developed influenced by rhythm and blues music.

Tap Derived from Irish solo step, English clog and African dance movements, tap is an American style recognized by its rhythmic footwork patterns. Tap started to emerge within slave groups in the United States in the early 1800s and, by 1828, the dance was showing up in contemporary theatre in black- face minstrel shows. In the early 1900s leather-soled shoes were fitted with metal plates, or taps, and adopted by famous white dancers like Fred Astaire and Paul Draper after the 1940s. Gene Kelly later integrated ballet and modern dance movements.

Acrobatics Acrobatics originated in Ancient Greece – the word in the Greek language meaning “to walk on tiptoe” – and the feats of agility and strength were depicted on Greek and Egyptian artwork dating back to 2000 BC. Present day acrobatics take place in acro dance, gymnastics, martial arts and other types of sports and performance such as figure skating and synchronized swimming.

Jazz Jazz was a result of Southern African-American culture colliding with European sounds in places like New Orleans, St. Louis, Memphis and Kansas City where jazz bands played to mixed race crowds. Dance styles such as the foxtrot, rag, Charleston and other swing steps merged to form the upbeat contemporary form we know today.

14 Tango The tango was originally a female solo dance, brought to America by Spanish settlers and eventually gaining African and Creole influences as it slowly gained momentum throughout Europe in the 1900s. Later, the Andalusian Tango was performed by one or two couples walking together using castanets. New York became the hot spot for tango in 1910 and was further popularized by Rudolph Valentino, an Italian-born American actor, in 1921.

Break dance There is some confusion over the origins of break dancing and the style shares credit with Brazilian natives, Portugese rulers and African slaves. Break dancing started as a dance called the Capoei- ra, which combined fight moves with ground work. The dance further progressed in New York in the 1960s and into the 1970s, when deejay and record producer Afrika Bambaataa convinced his street gang to battle rivals through dance instead of violence. Break dancing gained more popularity through the 1980s and 1990s through use in movies and musical theatre.

Hip Hop One of the newest forms of dance, hip hop began to develop in the 1970s as New York City deejays experiemented with emphasizing the beats on tracks and speaking to clubgoers as they danced. Rap as an art form was also taking shape this way, By the 1980s hip hop as a dance and music genre went mainstream and 1990s saw gangsta rap come onto the scene, igniting controversy over lyrics and subject matter. Since the turn of the century, hip hop has become one of the most popular forms of dance, with different regions of the world developing their own styles, including popping, crumping and street jazz.

American dancer, choregrapher, actress and activist Katherine Mary Dunham (1909-2006) was the director of the only self-supported Black dance troupe at the time for 30 years, which she opened in 1933. The dance group was a school to teach young Black dancers about their African heritage. The Dunham technique became integral to Black jazz dance and is still taught to modern dance students. Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis

Using the internet, encyclopedias, books, magazines or other related sources you have access to, research the following people and write down a few facts about them

GREGORY HINES ______

GENE KELLY ______15 ISADORA DUNCAN ______MARTHA GRAHAM ______

CHARLES WEIDMAN ______

RUDOLPH LABAN______

DORIS HUMPHREY ______

GEORGE BALANCHINE ______

KAREN KAIN ______

BOB FOSSE ______

FRED ASTAIRE ______

GINGER ROGERS ______

16 RUDOLF NUREYEV ______

MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV ______

MARGOT FONTEYN ______

ANNA PAVLOVA ______

AL GILBERT ______

VASLAV NIGINSKY ______

MERCE CUNNINGHAM ______Pick three more influential dance figures and list three facts about each 1. ______

2. ______

3. ______17 IntroFurther to DanceExercises History

18 Leading Warm Up & Stretch:

A warm up should leave dancers ready to begin their dance class safely. Their muscles should be warm and their heart rate should be up, their body should be stretched. When leading ing stretch the flow should take a natural progression. Start with the upper body and work down. Avoid getting up and down several times. Use the chart to below draw out your warm up. Draw stick figures to show the natural progression of your warm up stretch.

19 Leading Warm Up & Stretch:

Draw stick figures to show the natural progression of your warm up stretch.

20 21 COLOUR THE MUSCLES

22 COLOUR MORE MUSCLES

23 WORDSEARCH REVIEW

safety acrobatics emergency tango hazards patella kinder classes fibula lesson transitioning adductor behaviours IT band self-esteem flexibility ballet turnout modern strength mambo teaching 24