Hallo Vorname, 

we hope this finds you all well and are very much looking forward to welcoming many of you shortly back on Campus.  The new Academic year is up and running well and with our Palucca Tanz Studio performances we hope this will be a great chance for you to discover the current BA Dance students and share in an inspiring evening and Alumni Event.  The evening promises to be very dynamic with four creations form our MA Choreography students and several excerpts from the work of Ohad Naharin.

Also, at this time, the preparations are underway for our 100 year Jubilee in 2025 and we welcome your thoughts, ideas and wishes for this celebratory year to really make it as exciting and in the true spirit of Palucca! 

I am sure for many of you, like for myself, the friendships I made in my student days remain to this day, my closest friends and we hope the planned events for this Alumni Day and in our 2025 Jubilee will provide many occasions for joyful reunions and chances to reconnect.

Looking forward!

Prof. Jason Beechey

Rector and Head of MA Dance Teacher

This year’s scholarship winner was awarded the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship in a ceremony during the Palucca University of Dance Dresden Soirèe at the Semperoper on 6 July 2023. The Friends Association’s Deutschlandstipendium scholarship was awarded to Giulia Aubè, a student in her third year of study in the BA Dance Programme.  

The first-time funding for the scholarship was made possible by contributions and the memberships fees paid to the Friends Association Palucca e.V. The Board of Directors would like to take this opportunity to express their gratitude to all contributors and association members. Every contribution to the association is significant; the membership in the association (annual fee € 50) supports our volunteer work and the students benefit directly from this.

Currently, the Friends Association Palucca e.V. is looking for a Secretary. Among the major tasks are the preparation, in cooperation with others, and distribution of the meeting minutes. Further information about this volunteer work can be found under:
ehrensache jetzt https://dresden.ehrensache.jetzt/ (Website is in German)

What’s more, if anyone is interested in helping us with the sales of promotional merchandise, please contact us at verein@palucca.eu!

Support the Friends Association Palucca e.V. with a contribution:

Ostsächsische Sparkasse

IBAN: DE44 8505 0300 3120 2631 08

BIC-/SWIFT-Code: OSDDDE81XXX

Website: Friends Association Palucca e. V. - Englisch

The alumni certificates are here!

Our network members receive a personalised certificate. With this proof, you can take advantage of our alumni price benefits (valid for Palucca Tanz Studio on 1 and 2 December) at selected events. On 01 and 02 December, you will have the first opportunity to show the proof at the entrance to the event "Palucca Tanz Studio". Tickets with the alumni price advantage are available at the concert box office: www.konzertkasse-dresden.de

THE LIBRARY’S NEW ACQUISITIONS

„Dance we must: the art and costumes of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, 1906-1940“ edited by Kevin M. Murphy and Caroline Hamilton. – Williams College Museum of Art, 2022. – 128 pages. English language. € 46.23

Based on the exhibition of the same name at the Williams College Museum of Art in collaboration with the Jacob's Pillow Archive, the catalogue features artwork, sets, and especially costumes from the Denishawn Company era. With the founding of their dance company Denishawn, Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) and Ted Shawn (1891-1972) forged new territories in modern dance in the USA. An entire generation of dancers, choreographers and artists were influenced by the integration of new style elements in dance. Some of the materials, costumes, and choreographies come from the Southern Asian and American Indian cultures, which in those days were inspiration for dancers such as Martha Graham. Today, the book questions the heritage of cultural appropriation in dance.

 Teaching through Adolescence! Specializing on teaching the age range from 10+

Defining the transformations a dance student will be faced with and their journey through puberty and adolescence is the main aspect of this article. During this time, not only will the dance student be challenged both physically and psychologically but also the dance teacher will have many challenges.  Adolescence and puberty are connected to each other but whilst they are closely related, puberty and adolescence are not the same thing. The physical and psychological changes of puberty happen slowly over time and puberty typically begins between the ages of 8–13 in females and 9–14 in males.

• Puberty is defined as the period where the body undergoes numerous internal and external changes. This is the period of time when a person reaches their adult height and body proportions; the reproductive organs fully develop, and external sex characteristics become obvious
• Adolescence may be defined as the transitional stage from childhood to maturity (adulthood) progressing through many changes (intellectual, physical, personality and social developmental). Adolescence begins approx. at 10 years of age and carries on through until the early twenties.

Developments and Changes Relevant to Teaching: During this period the demands of a student dancer may well increase especially if the wish is to become a professional. Students want to become high achievers, they want to shine but when the adolescent growth spurt occurs, the dancer can become un-proportional with long limbs, short body and/or uneven growth. This asynchronous growth pattern (several centimetres in several months followed by a period of slow growth) will most likely affect technique and even the performance. Students will have mood swings which they themselves cannot understand but they still have the wish to be in class. They become very upset and at times agitated when they see that their friend is improving, and they feel to be in a rut and moving backwards.  Another important aspect which shouldn`t be forgotten is the restructuring of the neural pathways. The brain and its intellectual development also go through a big re-structuring process.

Most students will experience these growth spurts at different ages and stages throughout the years (N.B. some students might not go through rapid growth spurts) As a dance teacher it is important to understand how dance can support the students and that teaching during this period is not always about technique or being able to turn better or jump higher but that  it is about guiding the students through this very natural process so that they understand what is happening, why it is happening and how to support their training throughout. Here are just a few markers to look out for:

• arms appear to go on for ever which affects line
• legs lose height in their extensions affecting adage
• balance and pirouettes become insecure especially in females due to breast development and the widening of the hips
• loss/lack of strength in sustained movements but also in high outbursts of energy (ie. Allegro)
• a naturally coordinated child might develop very uncoordinated movements
• positions of the body and alignment become insecure which affects not only their peripheral space but also the use of space in the room (a typical example here is that the students start to dance into others or end up dancing into the wall. This may seem to be amusing but in reality, the student cannot “feel” their bodies or how long their legs have become. This is where the brain/proprioception and the neural pathways need to be re-wired)

As this can take up to 1,5/2 years until the student literally gets back on her feet, communication is paramount between the teacher, the student, and the class. After teaching this age group for over 30 years, every adolescent will go through some challenging stage, and it should be reassuring for them to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Here are some links to articles on this topic.

contact: info@dancepedagogy.com

www.dancepedagogy.com

Bibliography:

2.https://iadms.org/media/3585/iadms-resource-paper-the-challenge-of-the-adolescent-dancer.pdf accessed on 18.09.2023

Many registrations reached us in the past. In the next few weeks, our registered alumni will receive a voucher for drinks/snacks. This can then be redeemed at this year's alumni meeting.

If you would like to view personal archive documents....
Due to data protection regulations, we have to provide personal archive documents in advance. We can then make these available for viewing by providing and verifying your name/year/event title. To do so, please send us an email to alumni@palucca.eu.

If you wish, we can also copy your student file for you to take with you. The costs for this can be found in the archive's schedule of fees and charges.

Would you like to participate in our Palucca Tanz Studio event?
There is an alumni price advantage for our graduates on 01 December and 02 December 2023.