"The phrase "work of art" can have two meanings. It can refer to work of art, or it can refer to the work of art. The former refers to the product created, the latter to the process of creating it."

​

Process

Creating postcards in Lynn Fels' class came at a rough time in my dance journey. I was in the midst of rehearsals with my dance company, TwoFourSeven - were I was feeling defeated and unmotivated. I had feared that I was falling out of love with dance. This postcard however, made me re-evaluate my experience in the creative process and was an invitation for me to view my artistry in a different way.

​

I learned that practice and process IS the art. As artists - the process is just as important and the product. There will be ups and downs in process. Failure is part of it. Getting stuck is part of it. Finding multiple solutions is part of it. The learning in art is in the doing of it not just the performing of it. 

​

In my own teaching practice, I hope to model a creative process that holds just as much value as the final product (if not more). I hope to structure and run rehearsals with as much intention, integrity and engagement as a performance would. I hope to provide opportunities where students are encouraged to document and share their process with along side their "finished" work. I hope to develop an understanding that we are always in process and that the work is never truly done.

"The arts cross the boundaries between intelligences. Dance for example, covers bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical (patterns), interpersonal, musical, visual-spatial, performative-imaginative, and emotional intelligences."

​

Plurality 

Through role dramas, Lynn Fels introduced us to a method of engaging students in cross-curricular work by accessing their writing, math, social studies and science knowledge and skills while in role. This inquiry encouraged me to investigate how my experience as a dancer is also multi-disciplinary. With TwoFourSeven, our directors are actively finding new ways to push our creativity, more specifically our piece entitled, "Screentime," combined skills in dance, textiles and technology. Click on the photo above to view our dance. 

​

I learned that as creative human beings, we are complex creatures that can share and transfer our knowledge, skills and intelligence in a variety of contexts. I learned that the arts can provide an opportunity for students to blur the boundaries of knowledge and engage in multi-disciplinary work. 

​

In my own teaching practice, I have been actively developing the "Big Ideas Dance Showcase"  - a district wide show that encourages dance teachers to co-create with their students and take inspiration from other areas of study in the curriculum such as Math, Science, Social Studies, etc. This work is fairly new in our district and is a creative challenge that many students and teachers struggle with as we have been so accustom to compartmentalizing knowledge instead of diversifying it. My hope is to continue this work and to continue learning through with cross-curricular dance inquiries. Click on the photo below to read an article that I wrote about Cross-Curricular Inquiry through Dance, specifically through the Big Ideas Dance Showcase. 

​

__________________________________

"The more arts courses children and adolescents take, the better they will do in school."

​

Page 38

The Arts and the Creation of Mind

Elliot Eisner

"We are artists, and thus we attend to any and all moments, situations, and people in our lives as available fodder for creativeness; we thus move towards an experience of liberation as mindful play. Play as a vital part of  improvisation, teaches us how to cultivate an open curiosity. […] In play, multiple level of  duality such as silence and speech, mind and body, movement and stillness, outward and inward and good and bad are accepted, played with and seen as one big field of play."

​

Purposeful  Play

As part of our daily class structure, Vicki Kelly ended each class with chalk pastels. This creative time was set aside for us to reflect on the class activities and discussions we participated in earlier that day. These chalk pastel drawings were visual manifestations of the ideas that our conscious and unconscious minds were currently resonating with. Through play, we invited these ideas to steep into our artistry. In a similar way, rehearsals Higher Ground Dance Company also included plenty of time for play. Through cyphers and mock battles we were able to explore and experiment with the techniques and strategies that were introduced that day/week. Through play, I was able to practice and apply my newly acquired skills and knowledge. 

​

I learned that play is integral to education. Purposeful play allows artists to take ownership of their technical training. It allows new information to steep into the minds and bodies of learners. 

​

In my own teaching practice, I hope to inspire purposeful play by giving my students opportunities to improvise and innovate. By exploring their own variations of foundational steps, my hope is that they are able to come into presence in their dancing and to find their own voice through dance. My classroom should be a place for them to experiment in dance with wild curiosity and to discover new ways of moving, being and art making. Similarly to the creative process of this video, my students were presented with an invitation to explore movement in a new way. My students ventured courageously into visceral kinesthetic drawing with such child-like playfulness that filled the room with joy and laughter.