philosophy paper creative dance

8/18/2019 Philosophy Paper Creative Dance

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Savannah Thompson

Philosophy paper

Kathleen Sheffield

8 December 2014

Philosophy Paper

When I first bean teachin creative movement to three and fo!r year olds at "ac#!eline$s

School of %allet& I tho!ht that creative dance 'as (!st a )ic)*start for hiher level techni#!e

classes& b!t as I e+panded my )no'lede and e+perience d!rin this co!rse I have come to see it

in a 'hole ne' liht, I have come to appreciate the val!es that creative movement teaches

dancers at every ae, -reative movement is the fo!ndation for individ!ality and personal

e+pression thro!h dance, It is the opport!nity to e+plore and to find one$s tr!est self thro!h

discoverin strenths and passion 'ithin, The confidence& creativity& a'areness& and self*

e+pression that creative dance enco!raes& is the bride bet'een (!st another .robot technician/

and the tr!ly e+#!isite artist,

-reative dance b!ilds confidence for st!dents of all aes, The yo!nest dancers& 'ho are

enrolled in creative movement beinnin at three and fo!r years old& learn that they can !se their

bodies to be anythin they 'ant, These small dancers discover that the princesses& flo'ers& s'ans

and b!nnies that they play 'ith in their dollho!ses come to life thro!h dance, s imaery and

imaination are implemented& these characters are developed 'ithin their o'n bodies, ot only

do the dancers see that they can become anythin they 'ant& b!t they realie 'ho they are& and

that they have their o'n !ni#!e voice,

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-reative dance provides an opport!nity for st!dents to e+plore their creativity, s the

dancers are iven problems to solve and prompts to !ide them& they have time to discover

different 'ays to move and 'ays to e+press, The dancers are iven the chance to create their

o'n choreoraphy as they search for a variety of 'ays to comm!nicate specific ideas, s I

assisted in Sara$s class& I sa' these nine year olds entranced 'ith the creative portion of every

class, 3s, Sara fo!nd it diffic!lt to try to et the dancers to en(oy anythin else in class, If she

phrased the locomotor or sittin and standin techni#!e as a .combo/ then the irls 'o!ld

respond 'ith cooperation and sometimes even e+citement, 3s, Sara fo!nd that 'hen she !sed

the 'ord .techni#!e/ that they 'o!ld act letharic as if all of their enery had been e+pended

f!lly in the 'arm*!p before hand, We both learned very #!ic)ly that nine*year*old children love

to create more than anything else, They are ainin confidence and feel that 'hat they have to

e+press is sometimes more important than 'hat they have to learn, 3s, Sara fo!nd that this

became a problem 'ith some of the irls beca!se they had bad attit!des and a bit of an over

confidence iss!e,

-reative dance e+pands body and spatial a'areness, Sensory stim!lation provides a

catalyst for the dancers to ain reater !nderstandin thro!h e+periencin m!ltiple senses 'hile

movin, D!rin my final teachin I observed the dancers !sin sensory stim!lation to initiate

each body part on their partner, s they did this they had to listen to their o'n body 'hile also

bein a'are of their partner in space, This is only one e+ample of the opport!nity that creative

dance provides for dancers to ain an increased a'areness, They not only ain body and spatial

a'areness d!rin the creative and improvisation portion of class& b!t also in the 'arm*!p& and

techni#!e portions, s the dancers s)ip& slide& leap& and hop across the floor they are learnin to

be a'are of the other dancers in the space,

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-reative dance is the means for st!dents to ain a sense of personal e+pression thro!h

non*verbal comm!nication, ll h!mans yearn to comm!nicate ideas, s dancers 'e learn to !se

o!r bodies& o!r o'n personal instr!ments& to comm!nicate, I have seen many incredible dancers

'ho are technically nearly fla'less b!t 'ho !nfort!nately don$t )no' ho' to comm!nicate

m!ch more than that, I appreciate their hih level of ability b!t I am not moved to try to be better

or smile a little bier, I am not inspired to see myself& or the 'orld aro!nd me any differently,

This ap bet'een a .robot technician/ and a tr!ly e+#!isite artist is filled thro!h developin the

s)ills that creative dance provides to its st!dents, 3any of the yo!n dancers that I have 'or)ed

'ith 'ho are preparin to become professional ballet dancers& loose their passion for dance very

early on in their trainin, I feel that this is beca!se they have forotten that dance is an art form

that incl!des not only the body b!t also the spirit, Dance is created to brin !nity to the so!l& b!t

'hen personal e+pression and creativity are stripped from the trainin& dancers loose the .'hy/

behind dance& and et too ca!ht !p in the .'hat/ of the techni#!e, Thro!ho!t this co!rse& I

have had the opport!nity to p!t 'hat I am learnin into practice as I have implemented these

concepts into my contemporary class that I am teachin at "ac#!eline$s %allet School, I have

fo!nd that these ballet st!dents yearn for these practices and I have come to the concl!sion that

creative dance is so important in )eepin the imaination and spirit alive, I sa' that creative

e+ercises sho!ld al'ays be co!pled 'ith the intense technical trainin, They o hand and hand

and sho!ld not be separated beca!se they both are essential inredients to creatin a s!ccessf!l

dancer and artist in the field,

In concl!sion& creative dance is an effective facilitator to prod!ce confident& creative&

a'are& and e+pressive dancers& 'ho 'ill mat!re into artists, The s)ills and #!alities developed

thro!h the !se of creative dance are essential to the trainin of pre*professional dancers, The

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elements e+plored in creative dance )eep passion alive and !nite the mind& body and spirit, s

these three come into harmony dancers learn to e+press their deepest emotions and beliefs&

inspirin others& one a!dience at a time,

Thompson 4

philosophy paper creative dance

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