One thing I love about the arts is that in many, if not all areas of the world, art is used to reflect culture. We can learn much about other people, their traditions, customs, and lifestyles by studying the art they produce.
In November, during Native American Heritage month, a guest come into all of the second grade classes who shared Native American social dances with the students. My class learned about the potato dance, where a potato (or tennis ball in our case) is placed in between the foreheads of two people and they are expected to march to the beat of a drum. The students found this to be quite hilarious. In December, I taught my class an Israeli dance, Zemir Atik. We learned about the history of the dance and the lady who created it. Walking, clapping, and snapping on the beat was a little bit tricky. This was their first attempt to learn and then recall specific choreography. Some students greatly excelled at this and others I think preferred the creative dancing we had been exploring in lessons previously. Whatever their preference was, I was proud of them for being able to remember the dance in the following weeks when we reviewed it and performed it for another class.
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AuthorMy name is Lindsey Christensen and I am an Arts Bridge scholar. I am excited and grateful to develop as a teacher through the ArtsBridge program. I love dance and I love sharing it with others. Archives
January 2019
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