Dance Teacher Blog: What is K-12 Dance?

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Dance Teacher Blog: What is K-12 Dance?
By Brandy Curry

The ballet cast of Tchaikovsky's Ballet Sleeping Beauty1890 

I get asked all the time why I teach in education versus teaching at a private dance studio or why I choose to teach children instead of working with professionals.  The answer is simple: I'm not just teaching the choreography, dance tricks, and advanced technique, I'm teaching a 200 year old tradition to students whom may not otherwise get exposed to it.  Be it ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop or modern, teaching dance in education solidifies our great dance world.

José Limón was taught how to dance in my school district LAUSD.  Do I think I can make the next José Limón?  Of course I do! Why not?

"The gap between a private dance studio and K-12 Dance in school is narrowing.  Many private dance studios and professional dance companies are building enrichment arts and education programs that hold master classes in K-12 schools.  Instead of Arts programs dissolving, they are evolving and giving K-12 schools a reason to have dance as an academic and performing art class in their schools!  There is now a tangible forum and a necessity for dance in schools."~ Brandy Curry 2009


DANCE ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS 2013
Debbie Allen Dance Academy
Limon4Kids
Silverlake Contemporary Ballet
Performing Arts Workshop Los Angeles
Creative Kids Los Angeles
Beyond the Bell
Star Education

One of my favorite things about teaching dance in a K-12 school is the focus on one particular element of dance that may be used in the form of an assessment, quiz, or test.  Instead of teaching pique turns, I get to focus on the academic and intelligence of learning how to turn, learning where the foot and head are placed, etc.  Teaching Dance History is a fundamental part of dance in K-12 education.  There are great textbooks out there that help set the tone of dance in an academic setting.  At first, I was skeptical about teaching a piece of choreography, and then giving a quiz on it it.  Seemed impossible.  (I will talk about Dance Rubrics later in this blog.  In the meantime visit: http://rubistar.4teachers.org) Once I developed an optimal rubric, I watched my dancers improve, and their grades climb to high marks.

A proper rubric is very similar to private dance studios giving examinations to their students in the Royal Academy of Dance R.A.D syllabus, Imperial Ballet Syllabus, or Cecchetti USA syllabus. Making dance an academic in K-12 education is keeping dance in forefront of the performing arts.  While there are great music, and great drama teachers in K-12 education, dance teachers have the advantage of being part of the physical education curriculum and the performing arts curriculum.