Dance Teacher Blog: Teaching to the CA-State Dance Standards

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Dance Teacher Blog
Teaching to the CA-State Dance Standards
By Brandy Curry 

Jose Limon was taught to the
California State Standards

So you just landed an incredible job...teaching dance AND now you have to come up with curriculum and lessons that comply with your states' State Dance Standards!  What?  Or...you've been teaching dance in a classroom and a private dance studio for over 15 years and now you have to re-adjust your curriculum to comply with the state standards?  I've heard it all!  Worry, no more and decide from this moment on that teaching to the standards will not water down your activities, lessons, choreography, or assessments.   Your students will still master technique and improve.  They will be just as fulfilled, and engaged as they were before.  Now you will create a model and a formula for your classroom.  

California Dance Education Association

Teaching to the state standards can save your dance program money and make your program academically and artistically balanced.  Connecting your current dance curriculum to the state standards creates a rigorous program that is both intellectually stimulating and vivacious.  Forcing dance educators to comply with the standards does not force a stoic program, it creates a resourceful educator, and a progressive dance artist.  The achievement of the dance student that is taught to the standards is: a career in dance, retention of lifelong learning skills, well-preparation for collegiate dance programs, and a professionalism fit for the stage.   Jose Limon was groomed in a Los Angeles County high school that had an excellent performing arts program that followed the California State Standards.  As I've said before, isn't this what we want all of our students to achieve "Jose Limon" status?  Yes, please!

For a complete PDF of the CA State Standards visit: CALIFORNIA STATE STANDARDS-DANCE VPA 

Dance Teacher Blog: Summer Intensives for Dancers

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Dance Teacher Blog 
Summer Intensives for Dance
By Brandy Curry

I may be a bit too excited about Summer Intensives for young dancers ages 8-18.  However, I have a valid reason.  I loved attending Dance Summer Camps, Summer Intensives and Dance Competition and Conventions when I was growing up.  I met so many great dancers, and stayed in contact with these dancers as we were entering different phases of our careers from college, to touring, to training.  I loved meeting dancers from Michigan and Ohio.  (Seriously, there were so many dancers from those two states.)

Living in Los Angeles my students are exposed to so many amazing intensives from Joffrey West to Debbie Allen Dance Academy.  But what makes these intensives so worthwhile are the faculty, and the students whom travel from all over the United States (and, Europe).  I love that my students come back in the fall with stories, and incredible experiences.  Some of the dance intensives below require a dance audition, but most are open classes.

SUMMER DANCE INTENSIVES LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 2013
(Check the School's websites for Summer 2013 dates)

The (Alvin) Ailey School 
Brockus Conservatory of Dance and Musical Theater
California Dance Theater
Cecchetti USA
City Ballet of Los Angeles
Debbie Allen Dance Academy
Edge Performing Arts Center 
Idyllwild Arts Summer Program
International Dance Academy
Joffrey School of Ballet-LA (Joffrey West)
Liv'Art Dance 
Los Angeles Ballet Academy
Millennium Dance Complex 
Westside School of Ballet

Out-of-state parents you can plan an incredible summer vacation around your dancer's summer intensive.  Map out the surrounding area and use Travel websites and plan a vacation your family will talk about for years to come.  

Dance Teacher Blog: Rubrics for Dance Teachers

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Dance Teacher Blog
Rubrics for Dance Teachers
By Brandy Curry

Remaining objective when grading dance performance is tricky business. You must give an equal opportunity for those dancers not as advanced as other dancers. However, your quiz or assessment must be fair and give students enough feedback so that they may improve whether they are a beginning dancer or an advanced dancer.

I use rubrics for grades K-12, and for all of my quizzes, tests, and of course final examinations.  I even use a rubric for short quizzes on choreography memorization.  I think that participation and memorization are the most important criteria for grading dance.  When my students are are Grades K-3 I adjust the importance of the criteria to attention and follows instructions.  Figure out what your end result is?  Do you want them to improve on vocabulary and terminology, is participation and cooperation your need for assessment?  I enlarge my rubric to 8 x 11 paper or poster size 11x17 and show my students the rubric prior to the test.  When I'm giving a final examination I post it in the classroom a day or two prior to their examination.

RESOURCES FOR RUBRICS
RubiStar 
Teacher Planet

Here is an example of a Rubric you can find at RubiStar.com 

Dance Teacher Blog: Teaching Performance & Theater Etiquette

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Dance Teacher Blog
Teaching Performance & Theater Étiquette

Kodak Theatre Los Angeles

Teaching the basics about theater étiquette is so important for any performing arts student.  This also makes for an excellent lesson and topic of discussion for Junior High and High School students.  I take about a week to teach Theater Étiquette and give a fun quiz at the end.  I always say, "If any of you walk into a professional theater I want them to know you are well trained."

This coincides with the lesson on dance étiquette, room étiquette, and dance basics.  Performance is an intricate part of dance in K-12 education.  In California it shows up in our Dance Content Standards:
Visit: http://www.cde.ca.gov

2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Creating, Performing, and Participating in Dance

Students apply choreographic principles, processes, and skills to create and communi­cate meaning through the improvisation, composition, and performance of dance.

CONTEXT OF THE LESSON

1. Explore the rehearsal process
2. Discuss rehearsal habits, rules, étiquette
3. Help students discover their own good, habits, rules and étiquette
4. Tell stories about your own theater experience
5. Teach perspective;  the Directors perspective, the audiences', the Stage Managers
6. Go over roles: Director, Stage Manager, Choreographer, Production Manager, Technichians
7. Remind students they are part of a cast, or an ensemble
8. Costume étiquette: Always hang it up yourself!

A great book to share with your advanced students, or Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-12 is Dance Performance From Rehearsal to Opening Night by Kristin Kessel.  It has great topics on theater étiquette that will help guide and prepare your dancers for the big day!  

 "It is important to be present at every scheduled rehearsal.  Each one is an opportunity for you to learn and participate, and is the next step towards a fabulous show.  You are part of a team that can only succeed if each member contributes equally.  If dancers are missing from rehearsals, how will the show improve before the recital?"  

~Kristin Kessel Dance Performance From Rehearsal to Opening Night

Break a leg!

Dance Teacher Blog: Lesson Plans for Dance Teachers

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Dance Teacher Blog: Lesson Plans for Dance Teachers
By Brandy Curry

Weekly Lesson Plan Template
TeacherPlanet.com

My first two years of teaching dance in K-12 education I skated by without writing a lesson plan.  I know, I know!  I preach creating lesson plans, either weekly or daily.  I personally do the following:

1. Yearly Lessons (Pacing Plan) either in content format or calendar format
2. Monthly Lesson in calendar format
3. Weekly Lesson Plan using a template from TeacherPlanet.com (SEE PHOTO)
4. I prepare a daily lesson plan for substitute teachers, evaluations, or if I need a more cohesive plan

Creating a lesson plan has saved me time in organizing my classroom as well as organizing my music, costumes and props if needed, etc.  Sometimes these meticulous lessons turn into exquisite choreography pieces.  One of my lesson plans for my Kindergarten Creative Movement class turned into a fun activity that I turned into choreography for our Spring Showcase.  

Brandy's Sample Lesson Plan for iPad

LESSON PLAN WEBSITES FOR EDUCATORS
TeacherPlanet.com
LessonPlans4Teachers.com

TECHNOLOGY & LESSON PLANNING
I have recently taken my lesson plans to the next level with
exciting bells and whistles by creating everything on my iPad.  (The template shown is for my iPad.)  I connect my iPad to our television or Smart Board and my students can now read what the activity or lesson will be for that day.   I also use Keynote which is Apple's version of PowerPoint and I make Digital Flashcards.  (SEE PHOTO BELOW)

Brandy's Digital Flashcard

Dance Teacher Blog: Finding the Right Books for Your Dance Classroom

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Dance Teacher Blog
Finding the Right Books for Your Dance Classroom

My Dance Books

I love dance books!  I love any book about any type of dance.  It's one of my "dancers tricks."  I always felt it kept me in the artistic world a lot longer than my more agile, more talented peers.  That's hard to admit, but my love of books from an early age, helped create longevity in my dance career.  Instead of burning out by age 18, I was refreshed and renewed.  I tried yoga because of an article I read in Dancer Magazine when I fifteen.  I read a beautiful biography on Nijinsky, A Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky,  when I graduated college that opened my eyes to my own form and style of dancing.  (Nijinsky: A Life of Genius and Madness  by Richard Buckle is also an excellent book!)

Whether the book is a dance book geared towards elementary aged students or a young teen, you can create lessons, stories, dance history assignments all around the pages of a book.  In a recent article in The Horn Book Magazine Jill Homan Randall writes: 


"Books about dance can articulate the language of the art form, providing definitions and correct terminology to help children really understand what dance is all about.  They can also help paint an accurate picture of life as a dancer by showing the hard work and day-to-day experiences of people who practice the art."-Jill Homan Randall January 2013

Read more about Jill Homan Randall and her list of "Good Dance Books" on her Blog

I have a little dance library in my studio that may inspire a barre combination in my ballet classes or a picture book that may help me teach lines, and shapes to my creative movement dancers.  My 6th grade Contemporary class is learning about Bill T. Jones, Pilobolus and Martha Graham.  I have pictures, you tube videos, and books for my lesson.  It's nice to have that voice that is not your own teach your students something new about dance.  I also hear from my school's librarian how my dance students often select dance books for their non-fiction book reports.  A 5th grade student doing a report on Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring is pretty impressive.

MY FAVORITE DANCE BOOKS FOR TEACHING
Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet Gail Grant
Modern Dance Wendy Garofoli
Basic Principles of Classical Ballet Antatole Chujoy
The Pointe Book Second Edition Janice Barringer & Sarah Schlesinger
Teaching Beginning Ballet Technique Gayle Kassing & Danielle M. Jay

MY FAVORITE DANCE BOOKS FOR MY STUDENTS AGES 5-18
DANCE Bill T. Jones & Susan Kuklin
DANCE From Ballet to Breakin'- Lorrie Mack
Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Ballet of the Elephants Leda Schubert
The Ballet Book Darcy Bussell in association with The Royal Ballet School
Tales from the Ballet Louis Untermeyer
Dance Performance From Rehearsal to Opening Night Kristin Kessel
Let's Dance! George Ancona


No matter the age of your dance students they can all learn something about dance that isn't just about learning a new technique.  Perhaps it's opening their imagination to create a piece of choreography, or it helps them define a piece of movement.

 "A good book about dance inspires children through words and images.  It opens up the world of dance training, backstage experiences, performing, and celebrating through movement.  Together with words and pictures we will stretch, jump, turn and leap.  A good book about dance shares the magic and joy of the art form in all of it's roles in cultures throughout the world." Jill Homan Randall What Makes a Good Book About Dance?

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.