_ My Creative Movement Philosophy
Young people are my specialty. During the formative years, creative outlets like music and dance help stimulate motor development which “wires” the brain for learning. I find this developmental process exciting and have taught children for over twenty years. My approach provides non-competitive dance classes that foster fitness and health, where every child feels a sense of accomplishment and personal success. Creativity is the focus, as opposed to the “steps only” approach. My students at every age and level of experience not only learn proper technique, they experience the wonder and joy of moving their bodies freely. Creative dance celebrates the individual.
Twenty years ago the emphasis in arts education was multicultural. As a teaching artist, I studied dances from other cultures to give my students a taste of dance in other parts of the world. When Howard Gardner of Harvard published his groundbreaking cognitive theory of multiple intelligences in the 1990s, movement became a tool to teach a variety of subjects.
Creative Movement is inclusive. I have had a great amount of success teaching children with mixed abilities: children diagnosed as Emotional Support and/or Autistic Support, children who have different ways of processing information such as Attention Deficit Disorder, Hyper Activity and Developmentally Delayed. I taught a movement class for nine years at the Children’s Institute to children whose “labels” I did not know: labeling is disabling. The challenge for me was to take a concept and teach it multiple ways to fit the needs of the individual, still maintaining the integrity of the group experience.
I began teaching creative movement in Burbank, CA. in the late eighties after the birth of my daughter. I developed a curriculum combining my extensive professional dance background with in-class research and practical application. When my husband and I moved back to Pittsburgh in 1991, I took over the dance classes at Pittsburgh Dance Alloy at The Carnegie Museum and became education coordinator for the company. Leading dance educator Anne Green Gilbert’s book Creative Dance for All Ages validated my instincts and supported my teaching philosophy. Anne’s books have been an influence and resource for me ever since; her latest book Brain Compatible Dance Education is a research-based testament to the teaching I believe in and practice.
Young people are my specialty. During the formative years, creative outlets like music and dance help stimulate motor development which “wires” the brain for learning. I find this developmental process exciting and have taught children for over twenty years. My approach provides non-competitive dance classes that foster fitness and health, where every child feels a sense of accomplishment and personal success. Creativity is the focus, as opposed to the “steps only” approach. My students at every age and level of experience not only learn proper technique, they experience the wonder and joy of moving their bodies freely. Creative dance celebrates the individual.
Twenty years ago the emphasis in arts education was multicultural. As a teaching artist, I studied dances from other cultures to give my students a taste of dance in other parts of the world. When Howard Gardner of Harvard published his groundbreaking cognitive theory of multiple intelligences in the 1990s, movement became a tool to teach a variety of subjects.
Creative Movement is inclusive. I have had a great amount of success teaching children with mixed abilities: children diagnosed as Emotional Support and/or Autistic Support, children who have different ways of processing information such as Attention Deficit Disorder, Hyper Activity and Developmentally Delayed. I taught a movement class for nine years at the Children’s Institute to children whose “labels” I did not know: labeling is disabling. The challenge for me was to take a concept and teach it multiple ways to fit the needs of the individual, still maintaining the integrity of the group experience.
I began teaching creative movement in Burbank, CA. in the late eighties after the birth of my daughter. I developed a curriculum combining my extensive professional dance background with in-class research and practical application. When my husband and I moved back to Pittsburgh in 1991, I took over the dance classes at Pittsburgh Dance Alloy at The Carnegie Museum and became education coordinator for the company. Leading dance educator Anne Green Gilbert’s book Creative Dance for All Ages validated my instincts and supported my teaching philosophy. Anne’s books have been an influence and resource for me ever since; her latest book Brain Compatible Dance Education is a research-based testament to the teaching I believe in and practice.