school & ballet

So, things have been crazy for me. I have been working on my thesis like mad. It's about twelve pages long at this point so I'm just over halfway but I've got to crank it out this weekend for sure. With work and my other classes I've been having to put it off this week. But now, I'm pretty much done with everything except for my finals in acting and yoga which I'm pretty much all the way prepared for so I can focus on that and get it done.

I've had three ballet classes now. The second went much like the first but the girls were more attentive. Each week they are paying more attention and they are able to remember the games and exercises we did the previous week. We are starting to build on some basic principles (although very slowly). This last class, I brought one of my bigger stuffed animals to help them learn how to leap and they really liked it. The stuffed animal is a sea cow and I told them that his name was Seymour the Sea Cow and that he was taking a nap in the middle of the floor so they have to quietly run up to him and jump over without making noise or stepping on him. They loved it. We also played "chasse around the rosy." It's just like ring around the rosy but you chasse instead of walking/running. It sometimes works better than other times because the girls sometimes start going in opposite directions. They also LOVE freeze dance, the older girls especially. The little ones don't really grasp the concept of sitting out and having a winner so I just give them assignments for when they freeze like make a shape or balance or do an "elevator." The little ones also liked playing with different kinds of music, and expressing how it made them feel. We did happy songs, scary songs, sad songs, and so on and they tried to express the emotion of the music through movement. They were doing really well. Each week we have been working on our Spring Dance and they actually remember it so I think I might try to choreograph a simple peice so they can do a small recital for their parents on the last week. I really enjoy teaching. I think next week, we will make crowns and practice bourrees with them balancing on our heads.

I've been having a really great time with all the closing banquets and final get togethers. Last weekend was the Senior Dinner. I got to dress up and have a great dinner with friends and see lots of people I've met throughout my time at Westminster so it was awesome. We had our last AMP meeting. The closing dinner is next Saturday and I'm so excited for that. Last night was the Honors Spring Banquet and it was surreal to be a senior there but it was very fun and nostalgic. I'm going to miss the many Westminster communities of which I have been priveledged to be a part. I definitely want to be an active alumni and give back when I can. I have really grown as an intellectual and a person and have many wonderful people at the college to thank for that.

I have some photos from Red Noses and these events that I'll have to put up when I get time. But now, back to work and my thesis...

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The First Class

So last Tuesday was my first time teaching beginning ballet. It was crazy and fun. But mostly crazy at first.

I spoke with the girl who referred me and asked her about how she did the classes. She gave me some tips and ideas and showed me some of her class journals where she wrote her lessons and activities. That was very helpful. She mentioned that she liked to break things up sometimes by reading books and then having the students dance about things in the book.

I bought this book from Barnes and Noble that came with a CD of selections from some ballets. It's not as cute as I thought it would be. It's geared for an older audience than I thought and I don't know if the stories will hold the attention of the littler girls. It might work for the older class. But the CD is nice.

Before class, I wrote out a plan of things we could do and they definitely took a lot less time than I thought they would. The class is only 45 minutes but The attention span of those girls is TINY! A break in the middle of class to get a drink took up a ton of time, though lol. Here was my rough idea of how things would go (which worked much better for the later class and had a lot of improvisation and repeating in the first class):

1. talk about the rules:
   no one talks when Miss Ali is talking
   raise your hand if you hav a question
   one person talks at a time
   no playing on the barre or with the piano
   be nice and it's OK to make mistakes and not get things right away
   
2. warm ups: bluberry pie/pointing and flexing toes/touching toes and laying down/cat-table-dog/skipping around the circle
   
3. "barre work": elevator game/try tendues/cinderella spins/positions 1 and 2
   
4. shapes:
   talk about how space and therefore shape is an element of dance, ask the students what their favorite shapes are and explore how we can make those shapes with our bodies: arms, legs, torso, hands, feet, etc.
   
5. Across the floor: skips/spring runs/chasse/leaps
   
6. Middle of the floor:
   Springtime dance -- what is exciting about Spring? What can we dance like?
   flowers/bunnies/trees/the wind (it was windy today)
   
7. Dancing Game:
   do your Springtime dance to music. Freeze and do elevators when I call out
   
8. cool downs:
   run in a circle, skip, walk
   sit down and do stretches from the beginning including bluberry pie and toes
   
9. curtsy/bow

I learned a few things from the first class that I can improve on for next time. (We don't have class this week because it is Spring break for the high school where I'm teaching.) First, I let the girls talk to much. They like telling stories and talking directly to me. I need to make sure we only talk about class and that I maintain control of who is speaking and when. Second, I need to figure out the best way of grouping them. I tried lines but that didn't work very well. We mostly would stand in a circle which is easier for them to get into but that didn't work out very well if not everyone is paying attention and it becomes a distraction. I'm going to have to think about this one for a while. Third, I need to bribe them with a reward at the end for good behaviour. I basically forgot about this but will definitely remember for next time.

I have some ideas to use next time. I think I will find a book to read, and maybe try some props. I'll see if I can scrounge up some scarves or headdress type things. Maybe little tutus or costume pieces. I will also try and teach some spins and leaps. The girls liked to do those during the Spring dance.

I'm trying to remember the types of things we did in my beginning class. But I was a lot older. I was eight when I started so I don't really have any idea how people handle the little three and four year olds. I wonder if my old studio would let me sit in on a class to get some ideas. Anyways, at the end of the day, I was tired and a little worn out but it was fun and I am looking forward to the the next class with hope and a renewed determination to give some good ballet basics.

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