Moving Arts Class

Workshops
for Teachers

Description

Dance as a Kinesthetic Form of Art and a Great Way of Learning Anything!

Kinesthetic perception is the sensory perception of motion. Kinesthesia occurs when the brain receives feedback from the muscles and ligaments on how the body moves.

Dance is a form of kinesthetic art and relates to learning through sensation, body position, muscle movement, and the weight it feels through the nerve endings.

It is very important to give children the opportunity to move and dance, to develop their sensitivity, observability, and creativity, thus enhancing their kinesthetic intelligence and expression.

Children need encouragement and inspiration, especially in younger ages to release their imagination and to be able to interpret emotions, situations, and hypothetical scenarios with their bodies. There are many ways of learning according to modern psychology and different types of learning methods, mainly through image, sound, and movement.

In our workshop, we focus on the natural kinesthetic method of Creative movement and dance where the main tool is our body. Our goal is to improve children's motor and expressive skills and widen their horizons.

Objectives:

Develop kinesthetic perception and motor skills.
Empower relationships of trust among children.
Strengthen psychomotor skills, empathy, and awareness.
Develop perceptual skills through the senses.
Express experiences and emotions through Creative Movement.

Aims:

The aims for the participants of this workshop are to:

Inspire participants and equip them with the skills to create more imaginative and creative classes.
Explore movement in an interactive, exciting, and experiential manner.
Improve the participants’ knowledge and understanding of spontaneous creative movement with a particular focus on how to teach young people.
Gain an in-depth understanding of how we can use Creative Movement and Kinesthesia in any form of Dance educational classes.
Provide practical exercises and methodologies through experiential learning.
Enhance kinesthetic awareness and explore kinesthesia as a great way of learning.

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the workshop, you will:
Have an increased understanding of Kinesthesia.
Be able to incorporate the basics of Creative Movement in your dance teaching.
Have a greater understanding of how Kinesthesia works and how Creative Movement can be taught in an interactive, accessible, and inclusive manner.
Gain creative skills and knowledge on how to develop more inspiring classes.
Acquire new methods and approaches to teaching and learning.

TOPICS to choose from:

1. I GET TO KNOW MY BODY AND ITS FUNCTIONS
There are about 50 body parts and 78 organs in the human body. We recognize, and move creatively the different parts of the body, understand how they work, and develop creative dance movements.

2. MY WORLD THROUGH THE FIVE SENSES
I discover the world through movement and dance fun games and ideas, that are activated through the five senses.

3. COLOURS – SHAPES – LEVELS
Colours: I associate colours with images, movements, actions, feelings.
Shapes: In geometry, a shape can be defined as the shape, outline, outer boundary, or outer surface of an object. We recommend that you only refer to basic 2D shapes for the age groups we work with.
Levels: Level is the vertical distance from the floor. Movements are performed at three main levels: Low, Medium/Medium, and High. In our program, we use additional levels, very low and very high.

4. SPACE AND DIRECTIONS – MAPPING PATHWAYS
Space and directions: In our program space refers to the position of our body, e.g., personal, and general space. To where we will move e.g., forward, backward, diagonally up or down.
Mapping Pathways: A route is the path a person or animal follows when moving from one point to another. When referring to dance, the path on the floor is the path followed by the dancer moving through the space. When we dance, the path can be straight, curved, zigzag, diagonal, or any combination of these in the available space. Paths are important because they can help us direct our movements in a certain way while providing a mapping that allows us to add shape and variety to our choreography.
Spatial relationships: In our program, we explore where objects are, in relation to something else, and spatial relationships refer to the position of the body in comparison to general space, e.g. I stand in front of or behind an armchair. We can even describe our personal space. E.g. The hand is under the leg, one leg is on top of the other, etc.

5. DAILY MOVEMENTS AND ACTIONS – GESTURES
Locomotor and non-locomotor movements and actions: Locomotor movements/actions are the movements/actions that move from one point to another. Non-locomotor movements/actions are movements/actions that remain static.
Gestures: A gesture is a form of non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions convey specific messages, either in place or in conjunction with speech. Gestures include hand movements, facial expressions, or other types of postures and body movements that express or emphasize an idea, a meaning, an emotion, or an attitude.