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Dancing From The Inside Out

August 27, 2013 by 4dancers

Photo by Catherine L. Tully
Photo by Catherine L. Tully

by Janet Neidhardt

As I begin a new school year I think about a theme for my classes to embrace. It needs to be a theme broad enough to fit within every unit of study and one that can be used as a through-line for the year. This year I have decided that dancing from the inside out will be my theme of choice.

What is dancing from the inside out?

Since there are many ways to interpret this theme, I discussed this with my students on the first day of class. We have determined that for us, this year, dancing from the inside out is being authentic about the way in which your body moves. I am approaching this topic from the standpoint of when I teach a movement phrase students will undoubtedly copy me however I want to push them to go beyond imitation and shift into a place of ownership over movement–right from the start. I want them to be aware of their body in space and time. Aware of their back, arms, feet, head, etc.

I can connect risk taking, performance, process of learning movement, ownership of movement, and so much more to this theme of dancing from the inside out. Having this theme will not only change how my students learn movement and concepts but it will also change how I teach movement and concepts. For example I might not demonstrate movement as much and ask that students work on their own to discover the movement in their bodies. I also will place emphasis on what movement feels like and transitions in movement phrases.

At the high school level students have the ability to take on more challenges yet they are still hesitant to take risks and be on their own. So much of how they value themselves is placed on what they look like or how they appear to others. Dancing from the inside out is a way for them to connect to themselves and have permission to look different than the person next to them without feeling like they are doing something wrong.

When teaching improvisation and choreography I hope that this theme will allow students to be more creative with their movement choices and experimentation. Perhaps students will make movement choices more based on feeling and instinct rather than what they think looks visually appealing, like tricks of some kind. Overall I think this theme will allow for individual process to take place within a community setting.

I am looking forward to seeing how this theme of dancing from the inside out changes and hopefully evolves my students understanding of what dancing is for them. Embracing this concept will be a good challenge for us all.

dancer posing upside down
Janet Neidhardt

Contributor Janet Neidhardt has been a dance educator for 10 years. She has taught modern, ballet, and jazz at various studios and schools on Chicago’s North Shore. She received her MA in Dance with an emphasis in Choreography from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and her BA in Communications with a Dance Minor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout her time in graduate school, Janet performed with Sidelong Dance Company based in Winston-Salem, NC.

Currently, Janet teaches dance at Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, IL. She is the Director of Loyola Academy Dance Company B and the Brother Small Arts Guild, and choreographs for the Spring Dance Concert and school musical each year. Janet is very active within the Loyola Academy community leading student retreats and summer service trips. She regularly seeks out professional development opportunities to continue her own artistic growth. Recently, Janet performed with Keigwin and Company in the Chicago Dancing Festival 2012 and attended the Bates Dance Festival.

When she isn’t dancing, Janet enjoys teaching Pilates, practicing yoga, and running races around the city of Chicago.

Filed Under: 4teachers Tagged With: choreography, high school dance, movement, teaching dance

Suspension in the Transverse Plane

March 7, 2012 by Kimberly Peterson

by Kimberly Peterson

Recently I was linked to an amazing video that kind of took me by surprise. I haven’t had a lot of exposure with pole dancing and knew very little of what it could be – save the intentional erotica that movies and television portray it as. However, this video of Jeynene Butterfly completely changed my perception of what this form of movement could be. Don’t be shy, she’s not nude or anything.

The most fascinating thing (besides the sheer strength involved) for me revolved around the use of the Transverse Plane of movement – that is movement which happens horizontally. The suspension achieved by the use of the pole enables a full range of movement options unavailable in the same way by dancing vertically on the floor.

Now, if you are anything like me, you’ve found yourself once or twice in a studio, frustrated with always being vertical, but not excited by a long form “floor” dance. Seeing Ms. Butterfly got me thinking about other ways in which dance could explore the Transverse Plane.

I first had caught wind about Project Bandaloop a few years back, when they performed in Dallas. This group, out of California, focuses on suspension as a way to engage their surroundings and by doing so – explores the possibilities of movement in the transverse plane as well as exploring the realm of gravity.

There are many things which further excite me about Bandaloop, in that it takes dance out of the theatre and directly into the world. It blends the two, merging the artistic with the mundane, asking us to re-imagine our surroundings.

It is exciting to see dance being transformed by such innovative means. It makes me want to know what is next for the field – what may be possible – and how re-imagining something as simple as verticality can open up a new world of movement where limits are routinely broken.

Kimberly Peterson

BIO: Contributor Kimberly Peterson, a transplant to Minneapolis from the Dallas area, received her BA and MA from Texas Woman’s University’s prestigious dance program.

Drawing on her experience with producing dance works, Kimberly has served as lighting designer, stage manager, event coordinator, volunteer and an advisor in various roles. She has taught in various roles and her choreography featured at ACDFA, TCC South Campus and Zenon Dance Studios. Her recent internships with Theater Space Project and the Minnesota Children’s Museum have served to expand her skills in arts administration and development.

Her graduate research explored the parallels between the independent music industry and current methods of dancer representation. Fascinated with how art is represented and presented in society, she continues to develop this research while delving further into this complicated subject through her dance writing.

Filed Under: 4dancers, Musings Tagged With: dance, Jeynene Butterfly, movement, pole dancing, Project Bandaloop, transverse plane of movement

DVD Review: Up, Down & All Around

December 3, 2009 by 4dancers

If you are a parent of a small child, or a teacher who is looking to incorporate age-appropriate movement into the classroom, this DVD may be for you. Up Down & All Around is a movement and exercise program that was designed by Stacey Pepper Schwartz, a dance professional, and a mom. The video is well-produced and features some fun, live music by Steve Blunt to go along with the exercises. Blunt’s “Macaroni & Cheese” song was one of my favorites… [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4teachers, DVDs Tagged With: children, dance, dvd review, kids, movement, stacey pepper schwartz, up down and all around

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