For the 2023/24 season at Theatre Pforzheim, Rita Aozane Bilibio and Damian Gmür will choreograph an evening based upon Maurice Ravel’s bewitching “Boléro”, a single-movement orchestra composition that crescendos into one wave of sound.

Rehearsals begin in July 2023 before the theatre summer break. “Boléro” is a challenge for us both. The music is stupendous and timeless. Intended to be danced from its very beginnings, “Boléro” enthusiastically catapults its audience into other-worldly spheres, today as it has in the past, Ravel composed the “Boléro” for the Ukrainian Ida Rubinstein, a charismatic avant-garde dancer, actress and choreographer who was born in Kharkow.

For the first time in his career, Damian Gmür, together with Rita Aozane Bilibio, devotes himself to Ravel’s hypnotic “Boléro” and, accompanied by other recent contemporary musical works, lets it work as a seismograph of our present times.

I am Elizabeth Ladrón de Guevara, dance artist. After finishing my MA in Dance Pedagogy in 2021, I decided to continue at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden in the Artistic Master Class Programme. My research has focused on the tools in dance improvisation for Instant Composition. I have entitled this last research process “Andromeda“.

For me, dance improvisation has the potential to get closer to the emotional, psychological imagination and cultural identity of the dancer. This expression through body language offers the dancers a world of possibilities and interpretations, which they shape/imprint with their individuality. My concentration during improvisation focuses on creating a bridge between the dancers’ feelings, the communication between them as an entity and their interaction with me as a guide through the process.

The Artistic Master Class program is an individual experience, accompanied by a mentor. It required me to be in constant contact with my own development and questions, and with my self-motivation. Combining the daily work and academic aspirations is definitely demanding. In July 2022, I was also selected for an Artistic Residency named “Who am I today“ sponsored by the Fonds Darstellende Kunst in Hamburg. Here I focused on choreographic improvisation. Thanks to this experience, I was able to decide on the topic for my final exam, that is Tools for Instant Composition for my Artistic Master Class. In conclusion, I can say that both academic studies I did in the context of work study required an enormous amount of discipline, dedication, and passion.

As a general result, the Artistic Master Class has also had an enormous influence on my development as a researcher. It has motivated me to continue in the field of research, this time with a new project in which I research on teaching improvisation in one's own pedagogical work. This project has been approved by NEUESTART KULTUR, within the framework of DIS-TANZEN des Dachverband Deutschland 2023.

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Teaching the Beginnings of dance! Specializing on teaching the age range of 3 – 7

In this article, I am specializing on the age range of 3 – 7 years. In this age span many movements and natural skills can and need to be developed. Development can generally be divided into three sections when talking about developmental (lifespan) psychology.

Motor development

• helping children become adept at a range of natural dance moves.
• fulfilling and increasing endurance and general fitness
• helping children move expressively.

Cognitive Development

• helping children to move consciously and correctly
• developing creative skills
• promoting musical awareness and sensitivity

Affective Development

• developing self-esteem and self-confidence
• creating an environment that enables children to become collaborative and independent learners

What are “natural basic movements”? They are divided into 3 categories (locomotion, non-locomotion, manipulative) and need to be performed efficiently before moving onto the next step. Key building blocks for success in almost all movements of dance include postural control, balance and coordination. Although most children master locomotor skills without any instruction from adults, it is important to focus on these foundational aspects in the early years. Regardless what age group you teach, test out these natural movements (locomotion), maybe/perhaps you will discover the reason why someone is having difficulty achieving/realizing/executing some aspects of training or technique:

Locomotion:

• body movements that move the body from one place to another (8 locomotor movements)
  • walk, run, hop, leap, jump, gallop, skip, slide

Non-locomotion:

• movements of certain parts of the body or even the whole body, without moving the body in space and without an object (endless list)
  • stretching, bending, twisting, turning, falling, punch, slash, push, pull, swing, sway
• non-locomotor movements are often combined with locomotor movements, such as B. Walking and swinging arms

Manipulative:

• manipulating an object or person using any device or body part (endless list)
  • holding, lifting, carrying, throwing, catching, pushing, kicking, dribbling, bouncing, pulling
• It involves an object/person AND a motor skill

In order to be able to advance on to dance skills, we as teachers need to support the young dancers and to let them naturally develop. For example a skip comprises of a hop and a step. If the child cannot hop on one leg (weak strength/balance) then do not force it – they are not yet ready.

* Teaching Tip: If older students are having difficulty in temps levés movement, go back a few steps and revert to hops across the diagonal and see how the strength is (do not concentrate on turn-out but the strength and dynamics of an action on leg, then work with the dynamics to re-develop technique).

In my next article I will be specializing on the age range of 7/8 – 10 where dance skills can now be technically introduced. It is important to develop these movements without rushing. Every teacher knows that rushing doesn’t help anybody. A very fitting quote from Glenford Myers (computer scientist):

“We try to solve the problem by rushing through the process so that enough

time is left at the end to uncover the errors that were made

because we rushed through the process”

Contact: info@dancepedagogy.com