A year-long holistic dance program for 1st – 3rd graders
Thursdays, 3:45 – 4:45pm
Sept 12th – June 12th
In addition to these weekly classes, students will participate a monthly gatherings with all three of the classes that make up Awesome Art in Motion (AAIM).
(tentative) Monthly AAIM gatherings will take place on the following dates:
October 5th, 1 – 3pm, outdoors at The Discovery Center
November 9th, 1 – 3pm
(outdoor family gathering/performance at the Discovery Center)
December 7th, 1 – 3pm, Location TBD
January 11th, 1 – 3pm, Guiding Star Grange
Feb 1st, 1 – 3pm, Guiding Star Grange
March 1st, 1 – 3pm (Charlene Manor showing?)
April 5th, 1 – 3pm, Guiding Star Grange
May 3rd, 1 – 3pm, Guiding Star Grange
Tentative dates for Performance week at the Shea Theater!
Week of June 2nd, Performance on Sunday June 8th
There will be no class October 31st, November 28th, December 26th, January 2nd, February 20th or April 24th.
Who is this program for?
This is a great class for for 1st – 3rd graders (roughly ages 6 – 8) who love to dance and create in community and are looking for a creative home outside of the traditional studio dance context. No previous dance experience required! 3rd graders who have been in the program in the past and are excited about building their dance-making skills are encouraged to join the Wednesday Flying Kangaroos class.
Program Description
Awesome Art in Motion is a place for kids to come together to be themselves and to learn to love and care for themselves and each other; with dance and the body as central to what we do together. This year the program includes three different classes for students ages 6 – 12. In addition to meeting weekly in their individual classes, students in Awesome Art in Motion come together as a full group once a month, building a very sweet, mixed-age creative community.
The Awesome Art in Motion curriculum weaves together improvisational dance, concert dance techniques, social dance, somatic movement, mindfulness, and student-led art making.
The curriculum is divided into the following units:
- How do YOU dance? What is Dance and Where do we Locate Ourselves?
- Dancing from the Inside Out: Mindful Movement and Somatic Body Education
- Dancing in Community, Dancing Together: Social Dance Practices
- Concert Dance Techniques and Dance Making
Each unit includes a creative project (often student choreography), and an opportunity to share that project with the wider community. This fall students will have the choice to participate in an outdoor, site specific performance in November. In December, after the conclusion of our social dance unit, we will gather will family and friends for a family dance party, along with a chance for students to share what they have been working on. In the winter months we will focus on dance making skills, and in early spring, students will have the opportunity to create a collaboratively made story dance for the stage, designing everything from the movement to the costumes, lighting and music as a group.
Each of the Flying Kangaroos classes will include:
- An Opening and Closing Circle: in which each student is acknowledged, welcomed, oriented to the class and appreciated.
- A Warm Up: a vigorous set up movements to wake up the brain and increase range of motion in the body.
- Content sharing: a time for Anna to share new content based on the unit we are in and the focus of the day. Content will be shared through picture books, conversation, collage or video
- Dance Explorations: exercises in which students are asked to improvise or freestyle based on the content shared.
- Skills Building: learning and practicing new skills related to content.
- Dance Creation: students share dance movements generated from dance explorations and skills building.
Payment
The cost for the full year of this program is a sliding scale of $500 – $1450 for the full year, or $50 – $175/month. Payments may be made monthly, seasonally or in full.
1 full Scholarship spot is reserved for this class. If you are interested in a scholarship, please proceed with the registration process and indicate you would like a scholarship on the registration form. Barter options may also be available.
