Fall class offerings

Creative Movement classes for kids ages 3 – 6

Registration for the Spring 2012 semester is around the corner.  If your child is currently enrolled and wishes to continue, no new paper work is required, just email me for place confirmation – missjoanw@earthlink.net

Registration for Athena Montessori and ACE Academy begins November 25th.  Click on Registration below, print and turn into the office with payment.  You will be notified by email when your child place has been secured.

Athena Montessori Academy 1503 Morgan Lane 78704  Registration
Tuesdays 9:45 – 10:30  for 4 – 5 yr olds  / Tuesdays 10:45 – 11:30 for 3 yr-olds  /  Wednesdays 2:15 – 3 for ages 4.5 – 6 yr-olds

ACE Academy 3901 Shoal Creek Boulevard 78756
Thursdays – 2:30 – 3:15 for 4 yr-olds & 3:15 – 4 for 5 – 6 yr-olds

Ballet Austin Academy 501 West 3rd Street 78701 Registration
M – Th various class times.  Contact the Academy at 476-9051 or visit www.balletaustin.org for more information.

For more information about any of these classes, please contact me at 512-517-3214.

 

What’s happening in class

Kids love kittens, so for the next few weeks our theme will be centered around all the things those cute, fuzzy, comical kittens can do.  We’ll chase and dance with ribbons, pounce on imaginary mice and catch butterflies in the garden.  We will be learning about the concept of Space – pathways, direction and place.

 

Summer time

I attended the Summer Dance Institute for Teachers workshop in Seattle and it was the most informative experience that I’ve ever had as a dance teacher.  Anne Greene Gilbert is a wealth of information and creativity.  I am currently integrating many of her ideas into my teaching.

http://creativedance.org/institute-workshops/sdit/

 

What’s happening in class

Our theme the last month has been springtime -  birds, butterflies, pollination, gardens, flowers and bugs.  We’ve been progressing with basic ballet positions and steps, balance and strength.  We are winding ‘up’ in preparation for the next level of dance class – creative ballet – which is the transitional phase from creative movement to ballet technique.  The stories continue but the attention to detail, choreography and concepts are emphasized.

 

What’s happening in class.

The theme these next few weeks centers around baby kittens.  Kittens are playful, curious and have amazing balance.  We are continuing our exploration of shapes, levels and pathways and moving on with some more advanced dance steps.    Along with a movement story and some games. we are learning a short dance sequence in preparation for observation week, March 1st – 5th.

 

What’s happening in class this week.

This week and next we are learning about spatial concepts. Shape, Level, Direction, Size, Place, Pathway. Through games, songs, and props we are discovering the many ways in which we can move. 

This week we are identifying shapes, then playing with transferring those shapes onto our own bodies.  We experiment with diamonds, triangles, circles, ovals and pentagons, then change our shapes as we dance.   We also play with combining two or more shapes at a time.  We are putting together ‘shape’ sequences, performing ‘shape’ improvisations, and playing ‘guess my shape’.

 

What’s happening in class this week.

For the last two weeks we have been ponies – complete with pony tails. We have learned how to walk, prance, gallop, spin and leap.  Last week we went to a mountain meadow and met a pegasus who helped us find our way back to our barn.  This week we are going on an adventure where we meet a circus trainer who asks us to be in her circus!  Big fun at the big top!

 

What’s happening in class this week.

For the next two weeks we will dance about winter. Snow clouds, winter wind, snowflakes, snow angels, building a snowman, dancing like Frosty  and ice skating. Our lesson explores qualities of movement – light and floating,  quick and quiet, melting, freezing and sliding.

 

What’s happening in class.

The holidays always provide really great material for my classes: giving gifts, opening presents, the Nutcraker, frosty the snowman, toys.  As a continuation of our Nutcracker theme from a couple of weeks ago – we are now in a toy shop.  I am the toymaker, and a very good one at that.  As a matter of fact I’m famous because my toys can dance!  In this story the toys come to life with the help of a magic fairy.  When the toymaker wakes up, she is surprised but thrilled to have real children dancing in her toy shop.  She invites them to make some of their favorite toys in the shop, play games and decorate a gingerbread house.  Make believe is so much fun!

 

Baby Birdies in a Nest

In all my classes I start with a theme.  Here we are dancing the story of baby birds that hatch from their eggs.  As we grow and learn new tricks we become stronger.  When a storm comes and blows us out of the nest we all have to learn to fly with straight strong wings.  Hmmm – sounds like a metaphor for real life.

Teaching through story allows the children to become immersed in what they are learning, so the movement has meaning. In this particular lesson we learn how to move in close proximity to other dancers (spatial awareness), about the mechanics of reaching a straight leg to the front, side or back (tendu),and how to use our ‘strong’ legs and ‘reaching’ arms to lift us off the floor (leaps).

Look for more stories soon.