Blogging from the Heart

People often ask me about the great music they hear in our classes. I spend at least an hour a week online researching and buying new music. This keeps classes fun and exciting for you and me. So here is a listing of some of the songs on my IPod right now:

Salsa Babies/Salsa Burn:

• Micaela by Sonora Carruseles

• Mas Que Nada by Black Eyed Peas

• Mi Mulata

• Rhythms Del Mudo Cuba- Various Artists

• Yamulemau by Joe Arroyo

• La Vida Es un Carnaval by Celia Cruz

• Get Low Merengue Remix

• Cha Cha Heels by Rosabel Featuring Jeanie Tracy

Fit Hop:

• I Gotta a Feeling/Meet Me Halfway/Rock that Body/Missing You by Black Eyed Peas

• Way I Are by Timbaland

• Sexy Chick by David Guetta

• Hotel Room Service by Pittbull

• Sugar by Thug Matrimony

• Blah, Blah, Blah by Ke$ha

• Morning After Dark by Timbaland Featuring Nelly Furtado

• Shake by Ying Yang Twins

• Right Round by Flo Rida

• Get it Shawty by Lloyd

Naughty Hottie:

• When I Grow up by The Pussycat Dolls

• All Nite (Don't Stop) by Janet Jackson

• I Got it From My Mama by Will I Am

• Gimme More by Britney Spears

• Tik Tok by Ke$ha

• Love Game by Lady Gaga

• Whatcha Say by Jason DeRulo

My Personal Playlist right now:

• Beggin by Madcon

• Bullet Proof by Le Roux

• Hard by Rihanna

• Empire State of Mind (Part II) BreakDown by Alicia Keys

• Dum Diddley and Where is the Love by Black Eyed Peas

• Little L by Jamiroquai

• Show Me what I'm looking For by Carolina Liar

Keep checking back! I'll try to post new music listings every month or so!

I just got back from a wonderful day at St.Boniface School as a guest presenter at the Arts Alive Conference. This amazing one day event invited elementary school students from Catholic Schools across Edmonton to participate in a day full of Fine Arts activities they might not be able to experience on a regular basis. What a fabulous way to engage young, creative minds and expose them to the gifts and joy that the Fine Arts offer.

While I was fortunate to get to share our new Salsa Kids program with over 100 children today, I must admit I was overjoyed to have many boys in my sessions today. In fact many of these boys were some of my most energetic and enthusiastic participants. This delighted me as boys are generally in the minority when it comes to my dance programs and dance in general.

This is a very unfortunate situation. We seem to be in a time in our western culture where dance has become a feminized activity. Boys are not encouraged to express themselves through movement, unless they are participating in sports. For some reason over the past 100 years dance has become an acceptable pass time only for girls and women. Boys and men who are interested in dance have often been strongly discouraged by friends and family members. The many benefits of dance seem to be ignored for boys.

Historically dance has been a form of expression meant to pass along culture, music, celebration and history. Not only did men and women dance together but men danced alone and in groups, passing along these traditions and expressions to their sons. In many parts of the world this approach remains a large part of culture and life, where families and communities dance together. Dance is a social activity where people learn to collaborate, work as a team, and respect each other, in many ways very similar to sports.

Also, let's not forget the physical benefits of dance. In the last 30 years Canadians' fitness levels have continued to decline at a rapid rate as a new study from Health Canada has revealed. Our children's generation will be the first whose life expectancy is less than that of their parents due to obesity related illness and disease. Dance encompasses endurance, strength, and flexibility, all critical to overall health and wellness. For boys who do not enjoy sports, want to express themselves through movement, and enjoy music, dance would seem an excellent way to promote fun physical activity. But parents hesitate putting their sons in dance for fear of the social stigma, which has left us with a generation of young women who love to dance and no male partners in sight.

My hope is that as dance becomes more popular in mainstream culture thanks to shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing with the Stars" we will start to see more and more boys and men getting involved with dance. When I attended this year's concert tour of SYTYCD Canada I had to chuckle every time a male tour member would come on stage as the predominately female audience went crazy! Women love a man who can dance. Male dancers are amazing athletes! They are strong and powerful! Even my husband has said to his teenaged, younger brother, he wished he'd spent more time in dance class in his young adult years as it is a skill so many men lack, yet so many women find desirable. Not that getting a date should be the only reason why boys participate in dance (although it might be the ticket to getting more men involved initially).

As Anne Green Gilbert discusses in her article Boys Need Dance: A Balance of Strength and Grace when dance is taught using a concept based approach it can help boys develop their emotional intelligence, increase self esteem, and even give them the skills to become better athletes overall.

The way dance is presented seems especially important in continuing to foster a love of dance in boys if we are to change the current cultural views of males and dance. For example, I was a guest instructor in a Analysis of Movement course this fall at the university. I was teaching the practical section on aesthetic movement. Previously this section of the course had always been focused on the students creating Creative Movement pieces. But the professor contracted me to try a new approach by using Hip Hop dance to complete the same project for one the classes. Upon evaluating the projects and grades for both the class that did the assignment using Creative Movement and my class that used Hip Hop, the professor noted that the students outcomes where very similar, but the male students' level of enjoyment and overall participation was much higher in my class. By offering the male students the experience of participating in a culturally current, male inclusive style, they had the opportunity to enjoy dance without social acceptance anxieties.

By using a concept driven teaching approach and focusing on styles that appeal to boys in my classes I hope to open the doors for more boys (and maybe their Dads!) to get involved in dance. Because the real truth is that boys and girls equally experience happiness and joy when participating in dance, and that is what's important.

Brain Dance -The Warm up

Anne Green Gilbert created the concept of the BrainDance in 2000. The BrainDance is  based on the fundamental movement patterns all humans discover in the first year of life. These movement patterns  ”wire the central nervous system by laying the foundations for appropriate behavior and attention, eye convergence necessary for reading, sensory-motor development, and more.” (Anne Green Gilbert, Brain Compatible Dance Education, 2006).

In essence these 8 developmental movement patterns lay the foundation for future learning. However the importance of going through these patterns does not end at 1 year of age. The BrainDance was created as a way to warmup both the body and the brain, to prepare individuals for continued and new learning, with mind and body integrated. The BrainDance helps individuals focus, explore the connections and relationships between body parts and the mind, and re-energize, all aspects critical for learning and daily life.

Here are the basic 8 sequential patterns of the BrainDance
1. Breath- take 5-6 deep breaths in and out
2. Tactile- squeeze, tap, pat, brush, scratch all body parts
3. Core- Distal- Reach out with toes, fingers, head, tail and then curl back to your core.
4. Head-Tail- Move head and tail separately and together in all planes, wiggle spine.
5.Upper-Lower-Move all parts in the Upper body, then move all parts in the Lower body
6. Body Sides- Move all parts on the right side of the body, then move all parts on the left side of the body, do horizontal eye tracking
7.Cross Lateral- Move across midline and connect upper and lower body  quadrants do vertical eye tracking
8.Vestibular-Move off balance with spins, rolls, swings, dips, and tips on all levels.
This is obviously a very clinical version of the BrainDance. In our IntelliDance classes we will be exploring the BrainDance sequence as a fun warm up using age appropriate songs, rhymes, and movement activities.

IntelliDance Brain Dance for ages 2-4

1.Breath: Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum
“Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum in a dish,
How many blows do my dancers wish?”

2.Tactile: Hickory Dickory Dock
“Hickory Dickory Dock,
the Mouse tapped up the clock.
The clock struck 1 (clap once),
the mouse tapped down,
Hickory Dickory Dock”

“Hickory Dickory Dock,
the Mouse squeezed up the clock.
The clock struck 2 (clap twice),
the mouse squeezed down,
Hickory Dickory Dock”

“Hickory Dickory Dock,
the Mouse brushed up the clock.
The clock struck 3 (clap three times),
the mouse said “weeeee!”(one big long brush down body),
Hickory Dickory Dock”

“Hickory Dickory Dock,
the Mouse poked up the clock.
The clock struck 4 (clap four times),
the mouse said “no more!”,
Hickory Dickory Dock”

3.Core Distal: Twinkle twinkle little star
“Twinkle twinkle little star (reaching out to distal)
How I wonder what you are? (curling into core)
Up above the word so high,(reaching out to distal)
Like a diamond in the sky (curling into core, finger in diamond shape)
Twinkle twinkle little star (reaching out to distal)
How I wonder what you are? (curling into core)”

4.Head/Tail: Hey Diddle Diddle
“Hey Diddle Diddle (on all fours circle head and tail)
The cat and the fiddle (arch back in cat stretch)
The cow jumped over the moon. (come onto knees, head back, arch back)
The little dog laughed to see such sport (on all fours, shake head and tail laterally)
And the dish ran away with the spoon. (crawl)”

5.Upper/Lower: Itsy, bitsy Spider
“The Itsy bitsy spier marched up the water spout. (lower- march on the spot)
Down came the rain and washed the spider out. (upper- fingers rain down body)
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain (upper-arms stretch and sway side to side)
And the itsy bitsy spider marched up the spout again.”(lower- march on the spot)

6.Body sides: London Bridges
“London Bridges falling down, falling down, falling down.
London Bridges falling down, (holding hands, rocking body side to side)
My fair dancers (slide together to side).
Build it up with bricks and clay, bricks and clay, bricks and clay.
Build it up with bricks and clay, (holding hands, rocking body side to side)
My fair dancers (slide together to side).

7.Cross Lateral: Shoe a little horse
“Shoe a little horse,
Shoe a little mare,
With a tap, tap here
and a tap, tap there.” Repeat
(Sitting or standing, for each line hand reaches across body to opposite to foot and tap)

8.Vestibular: Twisting in the Washing Machine
“Twist, twist, twist in the washing machine,
twist, twist, twist, until we're clean. (feet planted, twist body side to side)
Spin and stop! (spin in one direction and stop) Repeat

Movement Activities

• Find a piece of contrasting music. For one section dance big, for the other section dance small. Use imagination to add excitement to the activity, be giants and elves!
• Practice making big and small shapes. Pretend to be balloon filling up and leaking air, be plants growing from a small seed to a big plant, be big snowmen and melt in the sun getting smaller.
• Take a favourite song and dance activity (the Hokey-Pokey, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc.) and use size, sometimes dancing big and other times dancing small. Ask your child which way they prefer dancing.

Other Activities:

• After dancing like elves/giants, balloons, plants, etc, draw a big and small picture
• Use clay or playdough to create big and small shapes
• Sort laundry, toys, recyclable items into big and small piles
• Go on a walk find some big and small items in nature and make a collage
• At the grocery store discuss which items are big and small. To make it a game bring a tally sheet, mark for each item bought a check on the big or small column.