NDEO 2015 Conference Blog

I had the opportunity to attend the National Dance Education Organization’s annual conference held from October 7-11, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. The theme of the conference was “Focus on Dance Education: Engaging in the Artistic Processes: Creating, Performing, Responding, Connecting.” We were also very lucky to meet and collaborate with the International Guild of Musicians in Dance (IGMID) at the conference. It’s always a treat to share with musicians whose focus is dance.

In preparing to attend the conference, I chose to focus on several sessions, which related to work I am focusing on in curriculum and professional development. For our October secondary PD, we had scheduled a session with a local artist who works with site-specific choreography. To complement the upcoming PD, I chose to attend two sessions on this topic: “Site-Specificity: Collaborations Between Location and Choreographer” and “Inner and Outer Landscapes: Sensing Self and Place through Site-Specific Investigation.”

I. Site-Specificity: Collaborations Between Location and Choreographer

Joya Powell, founder and artistic director of Movement of the People Dance Company (http://www.movementofthepeopledance.com/) led the first session along with Megan Minturn, a member of the company. The first activity led by Megan focused on a way to create “site specificity” in your own studio or classroom space if going outside isn’t an option. She presented an activity used by David Parsons, a well-known choreographer. The room was set up with four focal points – a table, a chair, a scarf, and a second chair. They were arranged in a zigzag formation in the room.

Example:

1. Table 3. Scarf

2. Chair

4. Chair

The dancers lined up and travelled in groups of five – one after the other – from 1, to 2, to 3 and then 4. They then lined up once more, ready to go again. As each quintet travelled the pathway, they were told not to take away or move the “site” object, and to relate to the object in a way that kept the group moving forward on the pathway. After giving each quintet a chance to travel and dance the pathway two times – each time with a more specific prompt about how to relate to the objects – the table, chairs and scarf – were taken away. The dancers then had to travel the pathway as if they were still there, recalling the movements and sensations of relating to the objects. It was incredibly fun and fabulous to watch. I found this to be an easily adaptable activity for our dance spaces – and a good seed for a dance study or longer piece of choreography.

Once we had finished inside, Joya took us outside to a small patio area. She asked us to choose a specific area within the larger area (I chose a very interesting rock wall), and then:

Sketch that site. Free write about the character of the space using descriptive language. We were

prompted to think about the site’s texture, shape and sound. Answer the question: What is my relationship to the space as a dancer? Create movement motifs – individually or as a group – that related to the site and its

descriptors

We worked and performed for each other. I love that Joya encouraged us to see our sites as stories.

II. Inner and Outer Landscapes: Sensing Self and Place through Site-Specific Investigation

The next day, I attended another site-specific workshop, “Inner and Outer Landscapes: Sensing Self and Place through Site-Specific Investigation” with Erin Crawley-Woods, a professor of dance at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. I loved that Erin’s process was markedly different from the earlier workshop. She focused on the idea that we needed to “get into the inner space” – or explore the inner landscape – before we entered our “outer place” – chosen place/site. She spoke about being where you are, and equated inner to internal (the somatic level/mindfulness) and outer to external. She then:

Led us through a guided imagery/meditation Asked us to draw ourselves; draw a “body map” Find a spot that reflects the outer expression of our inner place, AND inhabit and move

into that space. She reminded us that scale doesn’t matter – the external place could be a leaf or the sky. I chose a quiet space with a bowed tree limb, a sitting rock and lots of shade.

As we “moved in” to the space, she now asked us to embody the space; use it as our personal gym; warm-up for a dance class. This was fun. I could hang on the tree limb.

We were then asked to choose a spot that we would never go to, that was not “us” and “opposite” of the first spot.

Gladly, we went back to our first spot and took a sensory survey: With closed eyes, what can you hear, touch, feel. We then made notes about this “survey” using imagery.

Now with “eyes wide open” we continued to take notes, videos, pictures. Erin then posed 2 questions: How would this place move? And how do you move within

it? After we improvised and set movement phrases in our spaces, we did what she called

“leaving and taking.” Can you take the movement done in the site into another space now? The idea: We leave something of us at the site, and we take it with us.

Next we took a partner on a tour of our “place.”

As with all professional development sessions, time passed very quickly. The conversation around the process we experienced was so rich and the possibilities so powerful, that we all stayed beyond the time allotted to share and connect.

This was my site. I loved the bowed tree and the rock.

III. National Water Dance Movement Choir/The Power of Dance in the Digital Age

As if it were meant to be, I then attended a session entitled “National Water Dance Movement Choir/The Power of Dance in the Digital Age” with the Miami founders of the National Water Dance (NWD) movement, filmmaker Dale Andree and prolific dancer, Daniel Lewis. I attended the session because it was also related to site specific performances, and it was this session that inspired me to make sure that LAUSD took part in the 2016 NWD event on April 16, 2016. While I was familiar with NWD, this session made it real and sitting next to Dale and talking with her prompted my commitment to the journey. It was a great journey, by the way! (See http://se.nationalwaterdance.org/ and check out our LAUSD Water Dance video on Vimeo.)

IV. Developing Dance Literacy within Artistic Processes through the Language of Dance – a Dance Education Lab (DEL) Workshop

While I attended many sessions during the conference, two others that particularly excited and impressed me were “Developing Dance Literacy within Artistic Processes through the Language of Dance – a DEL Workshop” with master teacher Tina Curran and “Sensing, Feeling, Finding Voice: Nurturing Personal Uniqueness in the Choreographic Process” with Pat and Kathy Debenham.

In the Language of Dance (LOD) workshop, Tina Curran referred to a book entitled Literacy in the Arts: Retheorising Learning and Teaching by Georgina Barton, in which the author speaks of literacy in the arts as both experience and discourse. I enjoyed the conversation around fluency

and how it can be developed to create an organic connection between the arts processes of performing, creating, responding and connecting. After our conversation on literacy, we got down to “brass tacks” and developed duets using LOD scores that included the motif symbols for travel, shape, and stillness. Tina used the 7 E Model to take us through a process of creation: Elicit, Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate and Extend.

Tina elicited responses to the question “Where do choreographers get ideas for dances? She engaged us in gathering imagery in response to the question “What do you thing of

when I say travel; shape; stillness?” We then explored travelling, shape and stillness Tina explained the symbols and score to be used. We elaborated on the scores by applying/embodying them with a partner The group evaluated our efforts through performance of the scores for each other We then extended the experience through reflection

The scores were lovely. The performances were even lovelier.

V. Sensing, Feeling, Finding Voice: Nurturing Personal Uniqueness in the Choreographic Process

This session was a treat because Pat Debenham was one of my undergraduate dance professors. It was great to re-connect with him and his wife. I was drawn to this session because it dealt with Laban Movement Analysis as a tool for creation AND performance. I really wanted to bring back some tangible ideas I could share with our dance community about how to best coach our students for performance in order to raise the rigor and level of performance skills district-wide.

Pat talked about performance being an act of courage. I liked this. It is very much about specificity and clarity. We explored how to magnify and distill what is essential about movement by taking a qualitative approach using Laban’s Efforts (direct or indirect use of space; free or bound flow of energy; quick or sustained use of time; and strong or light use of weight). The following were identified as skills we need for coaching performance:

Have imagery available to really help “pull” distinct movement qualities out of the dancers in coaching them for performance – both specific and metaphorical language.

Recognize the connection between the technical aspects of movement and the effort qualities.

Be present – be a witness Minimize our personal biases when giving feedback Recognize that the performer is not “the other” See the process as a “sharing” Dialogue to de-objectify the person Have the language to perceive and describe Give performers the language to self-reflect and coach themselves (somatic sensibility)

It was a very powerful session in terms of the imagery that was used as we went through each contrasting pair of efforts. We then were asked to create a 16-count effort study based on some kind of a jump, fall, turn, gesture and locomotion on a low level. We layered the effort onto the movement “skeleton.” The Laban Efforts are all about intention, so it was an intense 16-count experience. We then worked with a partner, taking turns observing (witnessing) each other twice as we performed our effort study, jotting down evocative words and images the study brought to mind, and then asking them questions about their intention. After discussing intention and responding with feedback, the study was performed one last time. The performance intention in all cases was more direct and much clearer in this activity. I saw how useful this strategy would be in working with our students: give them language to describe what they perceive, and then the opportunity to prescribe change. I would love to work with anyone interested in the process of utilizing Laban Efforts to raise performance skill.

VI. Create, Collaborate, Perform: A Continuum of Choreography Strategies for Students with Disabilities

There were many wonderful workshops I attended at the conference – and I have a notebook full of musings to prove it! Because I did state in my application that I wanted to attend a session on working with special needs students in dance, I would like to share notes on this one last session. Dr. Theresa Purcell-Cone, a noted author and professor at Rowan University in New Jersey, facilitated this session. Her work with adaptive movement strategies is well known, so I was particularly excited to see what she had to share. She outlined 3 styles of teaching, and gave examples of teaching adaptations that fall under each.

1. Directed Teaching (The teacher directly tells or shows what is to be taught.) Use demonstrations Use cue words Use spot markers Use repetition Use task cards (See below. Good for paraeducators.) Many of these strategies fall under Universal Design for Learning, which means all

– not just special needs students – benefit from these strategies.

2. Guided Teaching (The teacher guides students to discover things for themselves with guidance)

Visuals Visual Schedule Dance Sequences in which there is choice Prop choice (students have different sensory needs)

Multiple representations of concepts (one concept explored in various ways, i.e., “Dance of the Garden Flowers” used book illustrations, plastic flowers, etc. to help elicit movement for the dance study.

3. Spontaneous Teaching (In the moment, improvisational) Empower the students through choice Give them “chances” to explore, i.e., using props, responding to music Use word walls to prompt movement “in the moment”

This list is not exhaustive and could probably use some fine-tuning, but she also gave several general points to consider:

Consistency Comfort – For example, give them a visual schedule when they enter;

let them know expectations for the class. This will raise the comfort level. Control Routine Repetition Reinforcement Ask your self what is the effect or benefit of the accommodation. Ask students themselves for ideas on accommodations. Always meet them at the door. Prompt transitions Remember that just because they can’t speak, doesn’t mean they don’t have something to

say

Theresa shared one dance activity using cloths of different materials and textures. Hair scrunchies were attached to each corner for the students to hold. Children worked in groups of four to manipulate the cloth with one child holding the cloth at each corner. While this is an activity that many elementary dance teachers have used to create a dancing experience working with space or movement qualities, I mention it because I very much liked the way she created quartets around each cloth.

You might want to check out her Home Page at Rowan University for possible ideas and resources. http://users.rowan.edu/~conet/. I’ve included a copy of what a task card (mentioned above) would look like. (This is found in the APE course assignments on the Rowan website).

Task Card

Skill: Describe the skill that is the focus of the activity

Objective: State one objective you want to occur

Cues: List one or two word cues that the paraeducator or peer can say to

support learning or practicing the skill. Use two different cues.

Feedback: Identify the type of feedback, verbal, tactile or visual that will work for this student, i.e., word or phrase, hand gesture, sign or other type of positive reinforcement

Visual: This can be a diagram, picture, cue words to support the skill objective.

As I go through my notes from the conference, I realize that I’m only scratching the surface of what I absorbed. As always, I am grateful for the opportunity to attend professional gatherings. It’s a chance to refresh and renew, to deepen practice, share with colleagues and network. As I reflect and share with you in this blog, I am aware of just how much information and inspiration I brought home with me. I hope that something in these pages speaks to you!

Shana