Introduction & Course

Information

ASSISTANT DANCE TEACHER CERTIFICATION

PROGRAM

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1 Assistant Teacher Certification Material

2 Intro to Dance History

3 Further Exercises

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Table of Contents

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Introduction & Course

Information

This Manual Belongs to:

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Important Copyright NoticeThis manual has been created by the International Dance Teaching Standards, as a resource for dance teachers. Information in this manual has been collected from various sources, complied through online resources, websites, written text, academic books, research articles, audio files, video, and photographic images. When possible credit to the original author and site of all materials included has been given. For full articles, every effort has been made to trace ownership of copyrighted materi-als. Should an error in print occur, or if questions arise pertaining to the use of these materials, please contact our office and we will make the necessary corrections in future printings.

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Intro to Dance HistoryAssistant Teacher

Certification Material

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Assistant  Teacher  Certification  Program  

List  a  few  reasons  why  you  love  to  dance:  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    As  teachers  it  is  our  role  to  uphold  these  very  same  reasons  for  the  dancers  we  are  helping  in  our  classroom.  Dance  is  a  positive  space  for  physical  movement  and  exploration.      Think  of  your  favorite  teacher  –or-‐  the  best  teacher  you  know,    what  are  some  of  the  qualities  they  have?  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    The  qualities  we  find  admirable  in  other  teachers  are  the  ones  we  will  strive  to  demonstrate  in  our  assistant  teaching.      Please  list  five  safety  hazards  you  can  think  of  that  you  might  find  in  or  around  a  dance  studio:  1_________________________________________________________________________________________________________2_________________________________________________________________________________________________________3_________________________________________________________________________________________________________4_________________________________________________________________________________________________________5_________________________________________________________________________________________________________    As  assistant  teachers  we  must  always  be  looking  for  these  safety  hazards  and  removing  them  from  the  classroom  or  other  areas  if  needed.      List  a  few  things  that  you  can  do  as  an  assistant  teacher  that  would  help  the  teacher:  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  

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If  there  is  an  emergency  in  the  studio  and  the  teacher  is  dealing  with  a  situation,  what  should  you  do  with  the  other  children?  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    What  are  some  of  the  hazards  of  using  hand  held  props  in  kinder  (5  yrs  of  age  and  under)  classes?  How  can  you  help  make  sure  that  dancers  stay  safe?  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    ‘Lesson  transitioning’  is  when  we  are  moving  from  one  activity/purpose  to  the  next  in  a  class  setting.  We  want  transitions  to  be  as  efficient  and  fast  as  possible.  List  five  different  things  we  transition  in/out  of  during  a  lesson:  1_________________________________________________________________________________________________________2_________________________________________________________________________________________________________3_________________________________________________________________________________________________________4_________________________________________________________________________________________________________5_________________________________________________________________________________________________________    When  we  are  assistant  teaching  very  young  children  (2-‐3  and  even  4  years  old)  what  are  some  of  the  emotions  they  might  be  experiencing  when  they  come  into  class?  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    When  children  are  in  grade  1  and  2  in  school  (5-‐7yrs)  they  are  more  used  to  being  in  a  social  environment  than  those  children  aged  2-‐4yrs.  What  are  some  of  the  emotions  that  children  5-‐7yrs  old  might  be  experiencing  when  they  come  into  class?  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  

 

Assistant  Teacher  Certification  Program  

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Assistant  Teacher  Certification  Program  

Young  children  entering  the  dance  studio  may  not  have  very  much  social  interaction  time  with  other  children  yet.  Their  time  in  the  dance  studio  not  only  teaches  them  gross  motor  skills  (big  body  movements  like  hopping  and  skipping)  but  also  is  a  large  part  of  their  social  development.      You  may  see  behaviors  such  as:    -‐Pushing/Shoving  -‐‘Hands  on’  mirrors/other  children/inappropriate  touching  -‐Inability  to  share  -‐“She/He  Budged!”  -‐Excessive  running    -‐Not  listening  -‐Exploring  away  from  class    When  the  behavior  is  interrupting  the  lesson,  hurting  other  children,  unsafe  or  inappropriate  the  lesson  must  be  stopped  and  the  behavior  must  be  discussed  with  the  child.  The  teacher  is  primarily  responsible  for  doing  this,  however  as  an  assistant  you  can  help  make  class  be  as  efficient  as  possible  by  staying  near  the  child  that  frequently  becomes  off  task  and  helping  them  direct  their  focus/guide  them/encourage  them,  etc.  In  these  early  ages  of  child  development,  the  social  training  is  just  as  important  as  the  dance  training  the  child  is  receiving.    

 

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Assistant  Teacher  Certification  Program  

 Emotional  Development  of  Children  5-‐7  years:  

• Dancer developing self-esteem is a central issue at this age. • Dancer is learning to use standards like grades or home runs to measure his performance. • Dancer is learning to become independent. • Increasing separation and independence from parents are healthy steps in the dancers

development. • Dancer is beginning to compare them against other people's expectations. • The dancer is becoming aware that she/he is one of many people in the world. Up to this

time, most children are focused primarily on themselves. • At age 4 & 5yrs, dancer will still enjoy being with mom or dad. By age 8, the dancer will

probably be more focused on their peers. • The dancer is developing the social skills to make friends in this period of life. • The dancer is a wonderful mimic. They imitate both good and bad adult behavior. • The dancer should be able to communicate well with others without teachers help. • How other children perceive the dancer will affect her self-image.

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Teacher  Assistant  Certification  Program  

In  a  perfect  scenario  all  of  our  young  students  are  participating  in  class,  they  are  sharing,  taking  turns,  following  instructions  and  on  task.  Of  course  sometimes  that  doesn’t  happen  though.  Now  that  we  know  children  are  developing  socially  and  emotionally  as  well  as  physically  when  they  come  into  our  dance  studio  we  need  to  think  about  when  behaviors  should  be  tolerated  (such  as  exploring,  being  off  task)  and  when  they  should  be  stopped  immediately.      Behaviors  that  should  ALWAYS  be  stopped  immediately:    -‐Anything  that  is  unsafe  or  dangerous  for  the  dancer  or  anyone  near  the  dancer  -‐Anything  that  is  invading  someone’s  personal  space/comfort  -‐Anything  that  will  damage  studio  property      If  a  young  child  has  become  off  task  and  the  behavior  is  not  something  critical  such  as  the  above,  we  need  to  evaluate  how  and  if  we  should  intervene  or  if  we  should  allow  the  behavior.  Sometimes  we  should  allow  the  behavior,  as  it  may  be  a  natural  thing  for  the  age/social  development  of  the  child.      If  it  is  determined  that  we  should  intervene,  here  are  some  basic  strategies  you  can  use:      -‐Make  eye  contact  with  the  lead  teacher  and  see  if  they  indicate  with  a  body  signal  that  you  should  approach  the  dancer  and  try  and  bring  them  back  on  task.  The  teacher  may  or  may  not  use  their  voice  to  do  this  as  verbal  (speaking)  attention  to  the  off  task  behavior  may  reinforce  the  off  task  behavior  and  other  children  may  also  start  becoming  off  task.  As  the  assistant  teacher  position  yourself  near  the  off  task  child  and  see  if  “proximity  control”  (you  being  close  to  the  student)  fixes  the  off  task  behavior.      -‐Use  the  child’s  name  to  collect  their  attention  to  bring  them  back  into  focus.  -‐Lower  your  body  position  to  be  in  eye  contact  (same  height)  as  the  child.  -‐Use  positive  encouragement,  ie  “wow,  this  looks  like  a  lot  of  fun,  shall  we  do  it  together?”  -‐Ask  the  dancer  to  demonstrate  (children  like  to  perform)  ie,  “can  you  show  me?”  -‐Encourage  and  reinforce  dancers  who  are  on  task,  ie  “wow,  Suzie,  such  good  listening,  it  looks  like  you  are  ready  to  start  the  next  activity.”    It  is  important  for  assistants  to  discuss  with  their  lead  teacher  which  behaviors  the  lead  teacher  would  like  them  to  stop  and  which  behaviors  the  assistant  should  allow.  In  addition  the  assistant  should  discuss  with  the  teacher  how  they  can  be  most  beneficial  helping.  As  well  what  limitations  there  might  be  if  any,  the  assistant  should  not  overstep  the  teacher.      What  behaviors  might  be  ‘over  stepping’  as  an  assistant  teacher?    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  

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Checklists  for  Teaching  Assistants    Ο      Does  your  love  and  passion  for  what  you  do  show?      Ο      Is  your  voice  animated  and  energized?      Ο      Are  you  smiling  and  full  of  energy?      Ο    Does  your  body  reflect  the  energy  you  want  from  the  students?        Ο      Are  you  doing  the  movements  ‘full  out’?  (Students  will  not  know  what  ‘full  out’  means  if      there  is  no  example  in  the  classroom,  as  the  assistant  you  are  the  example)    Ο      Make  sure  you  say  each  students  name  at  least  once  during  class  not  including  attendance.  Make  eye  contact  with  the  dancers.      Ο      Do  all  that  you  can  to  make  every  dancer  feel  comfortable  by  being  accepting  of  different  body  types,  personalities  and  reasons  for  dancing.      Ο      Regularly  check  for  safety  hazards  (ie,  bobby  pins  on  the  floor,  water  spilled  on  the  floor,  etc)    Ο      Keep  a  positive  attitude  and  be  a  role  model.    

Ο      Be  on  your  feet  moving  and  helping.  If  you  are  not  helping  you  are  probably  more  hassle  for  the  teacher  and  in  such  case  it’s  probably  better  if  you  aren’t  present.  Make  sure  you  are  contributing.    

Ο  Always  know  the  choreography!  Know  the  recital  dance  if  there  is  one.  The  teacher  will  have  many  other  young  children  dances  and  it  becomes  very  hard  for  them  to  keep  separate  all  the  steps  for  these  similar  dances.  As  the  assistant  it  is  your  responsibility  to  always  know  the  choreography  to  help  the  teacher  should  he/she  be  mixing  up  the  choreography  with  that  of  another  dance  of  children  the  same  age.  Be  prepared  that  you  may  or  may  not  have  to  go  on  stage  with  the  group  at  sometime.    

 

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Intro to Dance History

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“Through the ages, dance has been performed for religious, social, cultural and theatrical purposes. One could dance for good weather,

to appease the gods at the time of harvest,or to celebrate the birth of a child.

Dance can be done indoors, outdoors, in palaces or on street corners.You can dance in Pointe shoes, sneakers, ballet slippers, or on your own naked feet.

All cultures revere dance.”

BalletThe earliest forms of ballet were elaborate events taking place in the courts of Renaissance Italy, which later developed further in France. The oldest surviving ballet score is that of Le Ballet Comique de la Reine (The Queen’s Ballet Comedy), performed in 1581 by court dancers for Queen Catherine de Medicis. Later on, King Louis XIV (1643-1715) even participated ballets, many of them created by the Italian-French composer Jean Baptiste Lully and the French choreographer Pierre Beauchamp. Beauchamp is reported to have defined the five positions of the feet. Ballet as as dance style grew in popularity, encouraging the formation of dance companies and professional dancers.

Female dancers arrived were allowed in the ballet after Louis XIV established the Academie Royale de Danse; up until then all the dancers were male and wore masks in women’s roles. In 1681, Le Tri-omphe de l’Amour (The Triumph of Love) was the first to feature female dancers. Dancing on the toes began to develop around 1763 with slippers strengthened with darning; blocked toe shoes would not be invented until later, allowing dancers to stay on their toes for more than a few moments.

History

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For the next two hundred years ballet as a style continued to develop, combining more fantastical and romantic elements; and tutus and box toe shoes were introduced. In the 1940s, the American Ballet Theatre and The New York City Ballet were established, and more companies emerged throughout the USA and Canada. Ballet is considered to be the cornerstone of most modern dance styles, still evolving from its traditional forms through creative choreography.

Ballet meets ModernModern dance began to take shape in the 1920s and 1930s with works by American dancers Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey; and Mary Wigman from Germany, among choreographers such as Kurt Jooss (The Green Table) and Antony Tudor’s psychological ballet. These dancers moved ballet from fantasy and into realism, reflecting the human experience in expressive movements. This mod-ern style also progressed the use of the torso and in more floor work.

FlamencoA genre of both music and dance, flemenco is a strongly rhythmical style native to Spain and tra-ditionally performed by gypsies. Flamenco was almost lost to history in the 1930s after a civil war (1936-1939), which was followed by the Second World War that ended in 1945. Besides the Flamen-co Opera, which saw troupes bringing the style into theatres, it wasn’t until the 1950s that flamenco was once again enjoyed by the people on a larger scale.

FoxtrotHarry Fox, a vaudeville actor who was born Arthur Carringford in Pomona, California, in 1882, devel-oped a ballroom dance style characterized by combinations of slow and quick steps. The foxtrot was first performed in 1914 in New York.

MerengueMerengue is a style of partnered dance with alternating long- and stiff-legged steps, originating from the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It has enjoyed wide popularity in the Domincan Republic since the mid-1800s, and is also prevalent throughout the Caribbean and South America.

Mambo and Cha ChaMambo is a dance and music style originating in Cuba in 1943, combining swing and Cuban music to produce a highly-rhythmic feel. Cuban bandleader Perez Prado is attributed to introducing mambo to nightclubs in Havana; and Latin American band leaders took up the dance that became a fad in Amer-ica after 1947. As the mambo continued to rise in popularity it developed a side style known as the triple mambo, eventually known as the cha cha (or cha cha cha), which consists of three quick steps and two slower steps on the one and two beat.

PolkaAttributed to a peasant girl named Anna Slezak in 1834, the polka is a half-step dance and accom-panying music style of Czech Bohemian origin. In 1835, it became fashionable in the ballrooms of Prague and appeared in England and the United States in the 1850s.

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Merce Cunningham was born in Washington in 1919; and grew up study-ing tap, ballroom and the Graham technique, eventually dancing in Martha Graham’s company from 1939-1945 as well as studying at the school of American Ballet. He combined what he learned about modern dance and ballet to develop with own technique known for involving a flexible spine and complicated footwork.

WaltzItaly and Austria saw the first versions of the waltz gracing their ballrooms in the 1600s, derived from simple yodeling melodies. It gained popularity in France a hundred years later, and different versions were introduced: from a partnered, line of couples to an independent dance. The close-hold and rapid turning movements gained as it developed caused opposition to the style, with religious groups calling the waltz sinful. Relative ease of learning also caused dance masters to feel threatened. In 1799, af-ter the French Revolution, the bourgeoisie adopted the waltz and it spread to Boston, USA, by 1834. Two accepted forms of the waltz exist today: the Modern Waltz and the Viennese (Quick) Waltz.

SwingSwing dancing originates from the popularity of jazz music, the Charleston, Lindy Hop and Jitterbug in the 1920s and 1930s in clubs prominently frequented by the African-American community in New York. As the steps of the style progressed, tap and jazz moves were integrated into the overall dance. Into the 1940s regional styles developed influenced by rhythm and blues music.

TapDerived from Irish solo step, English clog and African dance movements, tap is an American style recognized by its rhythmic footwork patterns. Tap started to emerge within slave groups in the United States in the early 1800s and, by 1828, the dance was showing up in contemporary theatre in black-face minstrel shows. In the early 1900s leather-soled shoes were fitted with metal plates, or taps, and adopted by famous white dancers like Fred Astaire and Paul Draper after the 1940s. Gene Kelly later integrated ballet and modern dance movements.

AcrobaticsAcrobatics originated in Ancient Greece – the word in the Greek language meaning “to walk on tiptoe” – and the feats of agility and strength were depicted on Greek and Egyptian artwork dating back to 2000 BC. Present day acrobatics take place in acro dance, gymnastics, martial arts and other types of sports and performance such as figure skating and synchronized swimming.

JazzJazz was a result of Southern African-American culture colliding with European sounds in places like New Orleans, St. Louis, Memphis and Kansas City where jazz bands played to mixed race crowds. Dance styles such as the foxtrot, rag, Charleston and other swing steps merged to form the upbeat contemporary form we know today.

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American dancer, choregrapher, actress and activist Katherine Mary Dunham (1909-2006) was the director of the only self-supported Black dance troupe at the time for 30 years, which she opened in 1933. The dance group was a school to teach young Black dancers about their African heritage. The Dunham tech-nique became integral to Black jazz dance and is still taught to modern dance students.

Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis

TangoThe tango was originally a female solo dance, brought to America by Spanish settlers and eventually gaining African and Creole influences as it slowly gained momentum throughout Europe in the 1900s. Later, the Andalusian Tango was performed by one or two couples walking together using castanets. New York became the hot spot for tango in 1910 and was further popularized by Rudolph Valentino, an Italian-born American actor, in 1921.

Break danceThere is some confusion over the origins of break dancing and the style shares credit with Brazilian natives, Portugese rulers and African slaves. Break dancing started as a dance called the Capoei-ra, which combined fight moves with ground work. The dance further progressed in New York in the 1960s and into the 1970s, when deejay and record producer Afrika Bambaataa convinced his street gang to battle rivals through dance instead of violence. Break dancing gained more popularity through the 1980s and 1990s through use in movies and musical theatre.

Hip HopOne of the newest forms of dance, hip hop began to develop in the 1970s as New York City deejays experiemented with emphasizing the beats on tracks and speaking to clubgoers as they danced. Rap as an art form was also taking shape this way, By the 1980s hip hop as a dance and music genre went mainstream and 1990s saw gangsta rap come onto the scene, igniting controversy over lyrics and subject matter. Since the turn of the century, hip hop has become one of the most popular forms of dance, with different regions of the world developing their own styles, including popping, crumping and street jazz.

Using the internet, encyclopedias, books, magazines or other related sources you have access to, research the following people and write down a few facts about them

GREGORY HINES _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

GENE KELLY _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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ISADORA DUNCAN _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MARTHA GRAHAM _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHARLES WEIDMAN ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RUDOLPH LABAN_________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DORIS HUMPHREY _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

GEORGE BALANCHINE ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

KAREN KAIN _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BOB FOSSE ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FRED ASTAIRE ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

GINGER ROGERS _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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RUDOLF NUREYEV _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MARGOT FONTEYN _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ANNA PAVLOVA ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AL GILBERT ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

VASLAV NIGINSKY _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MERCE CUNNINGHAM _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pick three more influential dance figures and list three facts about each

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Intro to Dance History

FurtherExercises

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Leading  Warm  Up  &  Stretch:  A  warm  up  should  leave  dancers  ready  to  begin  their  dance  class  safely.  Their  muscles  should  be  warm  and  their  heart  rate  should  be  up,  their  body  should  be  stretched.  When  leading  stretching  the  flow  should  take  a  natural  progression.  Start  with  the  upper  body  and  work  down.  Avoid  getting  up  and  down  several  times.  Use  the  chart  below  to  draw  out  your  warm  up.  Draw  stick  figures  to  show  the  natural  progression  of  your  warm  up  stretch.    

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Leading  Warm  Up  &  Stretch:  Draw  stick  figures  to  show  the  natural  progression  of  your  warm  up  stretch.    

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COLOUR THE MUSCLES

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COLOUR MORE MUSCLES

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WORDSEARCH REVIEW

safetyemergencyhazardskinder classeslesson transitioningbehavioursself-esteemballetmodernmambo

acrobaticstangopatellafibulaadductorIT bandflexibilityturnoutstrengthteaching