We attended the ASU High School Dance Symposium. Our students were among the youngest ones there but they had a fabulous experience. Many of them have only taken class from me in the two years they've been dancing. This was the opportunity to take college level classes, gain new experiences, visit a university campus and meet other dancers.
On a sentimental note, my students were taking classes in the very same studios that I took class in. It was pretty neat!
As a teacher, I don't have many opportunities to take class. I was able to take class from one of the instructors that was a grad student instructor when I was still in college. It was so good to "take" class instead of teach it.
Students took six different dance classes, saw an informal performance and had a question and answer session with the grad students and staff. Teachers took a creative movement class, a choroegraphic process class, participated in AZDEO meeting and did a dance and video technology training.
There were things I was reminded of that I have long since forgotten since my college days. The choreography class was amazing. A quote made by the instructor that impacted me was "creativity is a life force, not something that is exclusive".
The whole purpose was to teach choreographic practices in creating meaningful work with purpose. Something I think that I have lost sight of in an effort to teach technique and foundation skills. We had to work in small groups, where everybody was equally heard and valued. It produced a piece of choreography that was creative and had significant meaning for all of us involved. We forget the art lies in the craft and discovery and not in the end products. This is something that I would like to implement more in class.
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