dance 367 philosophy

7/30/2019 Dance 367 Philosophy

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Final Philosophy Paper

Through dance we are capable of manifesting the most sincere and deeply personal

aspects of our personal identity. With this level of extreme vulnerability, someone watching can

come to understand who we really are. Through dance we have the opportunity to describe

without words the society that has shaped us, or even a society we have never seen. Dance in this

way can be informative, political, or purely cultural. Through dance we have the opportunity to

narrate a story, while illustrating the pictures with our body. Some stories tell of our life, some

tell of the life of another. Love is a common story theme, as are trial and heartache. Through our

dancing, we are empowered. We have the power to affect how others see an aspect of the world.

Dancers should be aware of the power they possess as choreographers or performers. Creative

Dance is an outlet which immediately and naturally provides for the sincere, personal self-

expression. By cultivating a dancers capabilities in Creative Dance, the powers which include

describing and story-telling will grow gradually. Creative Dance is a form of training which

utilizes technique development of the body while encouraging exploration of movement.

Dancers are encouraged to discover new and unique methods of expression, especially with

locomotive pathways, shapes, and gestures.

Having the opportunity to assist in the Creative Dance Program played a major role in my

understanding of how important it is for young dancers. One of the most beautiful things a

person can behold is someone discovering how to express themself. For me, this is particularly

true in dance. I watched as dancers between the ages of seven and nine were given periods of

time during class for improvisation. They were asked to find new ways to move and sometimes

to compile their ideas into a phrase they could share with the class. They were encouraged to find

interesting shapes and involve levels and movement qualities in their works. Even before they


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were showing what they had done and were still in the creative process, they radiated with

energy. Lynne Anne Blom and L. Tarin Chaplin discuss the value in improvisational work in

their bookThe Intimate Act of Choreography. They stated, The improvising spirit allows itself

to be carried ready to indulge in (and take advantage of) whatever visions present themselves;

ready too, to follow the road less taken. While watching these children improvise, I noticed

that they seemed to have no restrictions. In those moments, surely they felt like the world was

theirs and they could do anything. At times when a dancer was discouraged or having troubles,

they only needed a kind comment or suggestion from the teacher to motivate them to keep

working their hardest.

Teaching enables one to fully understand the value in age appropriate material and see

firsthand the developmental milestones of growth and how they relate to dance. For example,

gross motor skills for 7-8 year olds include more complex movements in place such as twisting,

turning, and spinning. Children should begin to better understand rhythms and work them in

relation to a partner. The dancers I observed each week were in this age category and these

developmental milestones were evident in every single class. They loved experimenting with

turning and spinning and working with a partner. They enjoyed taking turns dancing with

partners and were willing to hold an interesting shape while the partner danced. When I taught

them the first time, I tried to challenge them with a locomotive sequence that had a right leg

brush front, left leg brush front, right leg brush side, and left leg brush back. The overall turning

motion of the body did not seem overly complex, but I learned very quickly that this material

was not age appropriate. They were not quite capable of using such leg motions to rotate while

traveling across the floor. By not using totally age appropriate movements, some dancers became

quickly frustrated.


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I also witnessed the joy that young dancers experience from watching their peers perform

their choreographic creations. I sat with the class I assisted during a concert of students and their

works. When one of our own classmates or a friend from a different class took the stage, my

students were elated. Some whispered excitedly She is in our class! Hey, I know those

dancers! or My friend is dancing now. Others sat a little higher so they could better see the

dancing. Some clasped their hands together and smiled. This was a perfect example of the power

that dancers have to affect those watching.

Prior to learning and learning to teach Creative Dance, my understanding on what dance

training should entail differed than what it has become now. I spent years taught with emphasis

on jazz and ballet technique, with performance and competition goals. I am eternally grateful for

the teachers which spent countless hours teaching me dance, but now I am grateful to have an

and understanding of the importance of training in Creative Dance. I will always love the

performance and competition atmospheres and hope to have involvement therein as a parent and

teacher someday, but I hope to also have Creative Dance training where I teach. Twyla Tharp

stated in her bookThe Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it For Life, It takes skill to bring

something youve imagined into the world: to use words to create believable lives, to select the

colors and textures of paint to represent a haystack at sunset, to combine ingredients to make a

flavorful dish. No one is born with that skill. It is developed through exercise, through repetition,

through a blend of learning and reflection thats both painstaking and rewarding. And it takes

time. It is especially important for younger dancers to learn to access their creative potential and

to know that they are even capable of creating their own movements.. I want my dancers to love

learning movement sequences from teachers, but I hope with all of my heart that they also


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understand their abilities to make their own sequences. I want them to love not only the learning

process, but the creative process as well.

Works Cited

Blom, Lynne Anne, and L. Tarin. Chaplin. The Intimate Act of Choreography. Pittsburgh, PA:

University of Pittsburgh, 1982. Print.

Tharp, Twyla, and Mark Reiter. The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life : A Practical

Guide. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. Print.

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