Heather Gemperline and Professor Marilyn Berrett, Contemporary Dance
Today’s educational climate emphasizes test scores, often resulting in children sitting still in their seats. However, research shows that children are kinesthetic learners and that being involved in dance can improve the academic scores that society values so much. Anne Green Gilbert, an internationally renowned researcher and dance educator, asserts that dance “develop[s] neural pathways through movement patterning that are essential to language acquisition, reading readiness, and mathematical ability”. Her research further shows that “perceptual/motor ability is related to the acquisition of more complex [cognitive and social] skills.”
There are only 11 full-time dance specialists in elementary schools in Utah and only some children can afford to dance at studios. This research showed the need for affordable dance opportunities. We believed a daCi Utah Day of Dance would allow children who do not regularly have access to quality dance experiences to have an opportunity to dance with their peers and highly-skilled dance educators. We gathered together a planning committee and called it the daCi Utah Board. Our board was made up of public school teachers, university professors, college students and arts activists within the Utah dance community.
We began planning in December 2009 and met monthly until September 2010. We decided upon the theme, “So…WE Think YOU Can Dance!!!”, and a date, September 25, 2010. We received a large in-kind donation from Daybreak in South Jordan, Utah to use their community center as our location. The planning process consisted of implementing advertising strategies, collecting highly qualified teachers, writing grants and requesting donations. Apart from the organization process I prepared a group of multi-aged elementary students from Rees Elementary in Spanish Fork to perform a thematic dance piece at the daCi Utah Day of Dance.
On September 25th we began registration for the Day of Dance at 8 o’clock in the morning. As participants arrived and waited for the opening ceremonies to start we had university students lead dance games. At 8:30 am we gathered together 8 board members, 12 volunteers, 8 teachers, and over 120 participants, mostly children, to warm up. Two other volunteers and I led a warm-up that prepared the participants’ bodies for the day. We explored different genres of dance, just as they do on the hit TV show “So You Think You Can Dance.” The participants then divided into groups according to the color of their wristband for their first of three rotations.
For the first rotation, half the participants were divided into three rooms each with one team of creative dance teachers. Through dance and the creative process children made meaningful connections with new friends and discovered more about themselves. The other half of the participants experienced Hip-Hop in the main gym or Musical Theatre in the dance studio. On the second rotation the two halves switched, but before the switch we had a 10 minute snack break with apples, cheese sticks and granola bars provided by Reams and Harmon’s grocery stores.
After the first rotations we had our informal showing in the gym. In advertising for our day we had invited anyone to bring original choreography to share. Rees Elementary was the only school expected to perform. So, to fill the sharing time we had those who learned the “Cold Feet” routine in Musical Theatre perform, followed by the Hip Hop students. As we were about to announce the last performance two young students from Redwood Elementary raised their hands to perform solos. We put on some music for them and they delightfully surprised us all with their hip-hop and break dance skills. The Rees Elementary Dancers then performed a creative dance based off Latin influenced dance styles “Zumba” and “Macarena.” We finished the sharing with a structured improvisation piece titled, “Paper Dance” performed by the volunteers.
Before our final rotation we enjoyed each other’s company and sack lunches. For the last rotation we combined two wristband colors with one team of creative dance teachers to create and rehearse a piece to perform. Once the participants finished their dances and took a break we came back together to watch and applaud for each others’ creations. The dances the children created were breathtaking, imaginative and inspiring. The way they worked with one another and enjoyed performing made our hearts warm.
The obvious joy of the children while they performed and danced was only part of the evidence of what a great day it was. Enthusiastic verbal feedback from spectators and participants told of how magnificent, phenomenal and fun the day’s experience had been. Collected surveys reported a similar story. A grandmother reported that her two granddaughters with selective mutism, associated with choosing not to talk in public, came on a bus not knowing anyone but made friends and even dared to talk to their new friends in public while participating in the day.
This experience had many challenges including planning a date. Preliminary low registration numbers were stressful, but we did receive a lot of support in the form of money, time, and food for this project. We had funds to provide not only an affordable registration fee but even scholarships for those who could not afford the cost. We also sponsored two buses for children to come from farther distances. We have considered expanding the day of dance to accommodate more participants but have come to the conclusion that the quality of interaction is better with a small group. The daCi Day of Dance was originally planned to happen every three years. Because of the overwhelming positive feedback and requests for it to occur every year we are pleased to announce that daCi Utah Day of Dance will occur annually from now on.
Rees Elementary School Dancers
References
- Gilbert, Anne Green. “What are some of the Benefits of Brain-Compatible Dance Education?”
Seattle, Washington: Creative Dance Center. http://www.creativedance.org/resources/articles - Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program. “Participating Schools.” my.uen.org/myuen/
- Marilyn and I are both members of dance and the Child international (daCi). Since 1978 the daCi organization has actively sought to bring dance to children throughout the world. DaCi USA is a subchapter of the organization that provides seed money for states (daCi Utah) to host their own intergenerational Day of Dance for their community.