I Wanna Dance with Somebody- Choreography in Choir Class
Help me give my students professional choreographer (Joe Sato) to immerse them in movement and dance. Students are highly motivated to learn contemporary dance styles demonstrated by the popularity of music videos.
My singers come from diverse backgrounds and attend a large urban high school of more than 3,800 students. More than 50 percent of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Approximately 20% of our school are English language learners (ESL), including refugees and students new to our country. Approximately 22% of my students have special needs with an individual instruction plan. Most of my students do not have formal training in the performing arts or experience being in ensembles so I try to provide these opportunities by teaching them concert and performance etiquette and making sure all students from diverse backgrounds feel confident in the way they sound and unified in spirit and song.
Our choirs are a beautiful reflection of our diverse community and mirror the rich melting pot of the urban areas in our country, creating a sense of family within the classroom based on mutual respect and collaboration.
My Project
Many of my 225 choral music students that I teach are not comfortable with moving to music and have not had much experience with dance and choreography. Many special education students and ESL students elect to take choir, so dance and movement help them successfully integrate into the choral classroom, especially if they have language deficits. Students are highly motivated to improve their dancing skills when given the opportunity. Students sing better and perform more confidently when they are comfortable moving to music. I am a seasoned teacher with 40+ years of experience, I am not current on many of the contemporary and ethnic dance styles that young people of today find appealing.This project will bring Joe Sato, a professional dancer and choreographer, to our classroom for several days. He will come into the classroom and teach the proper ways to physically warm-up, cool down, basic dance steps used in various styles of choreography for productions, and the proper posture for performing. The techniques he will teach will help our choirs improve their overall dancing and musical skills. With his help, the playing field of the triple threat performer will be leveled!
The students will see firsthand that it is possible to make a career out of dancing and creating choreography through their relationship with our Visiting Choreographer while learning terminology and basic skills.
The students will be able to carry these new-found skills to other performance venues. The choristers will be more well-rounded since they not only will be trained to sing Classical and Madrigal styles of music, but will also be able to sing and perform while dancing the musical styles of this generation. I will see my students through a new perspective as I observe their kinesthetic learning.
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