Young Modern Dancers.

elation · Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 10 Location: Wisconsin

Ho do I get my younger dance students to enjoy modern? I did not start until college, but wish I had started moden sooner. Is there any way to make them put more feeling into their work? When should young dancers begin modern training?

angel winns · Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 129 Location: Southern CA

elation wrote: Ho do I get my younger dance students to enjoy modern? I did not start until college, but wish I had started moden sooner. Is there any way to make them put more feeling into their work? When should young dancers begin modern training?

I remember my first modern class still and I asked my mom and she thinks that I was 8. They made it so fun. We didn't learn a big long routine for a long time. The teacher showed us how to be a "tree" that swayed in the wind and the sun setting and stars in the sky and all sorts of things so we were laughing but paying attention and having fun. The technique was added in then while doing the same movements and she asked us for ideas. Now I do full combinations and routines. We have modern technique class once a week. But ballet and jazz technique are monday through friday and pointe is once a week too different classes for different levels.

dancersdreamland · Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:14 pm Post subject:

After a quick web search I came up short on suggestions for how to teach young children modern dance. I think it's really about getting young children (ages 8 and under) to appreciate the joy of movement and how fun dancing can be. After that age they are more likely to understand the concepts.

Tinkerbellartist · Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 7

I was twelve when I had my first modern solo and I LOVED it! I only really had modern one other time and I was ten and we were doing weird plies across the floor and I remember thinking it was the dumbest class ever. But now after my solo I want to be a modern dancer after high school. I'm trying to say make if fun for them while they're little so when they're older they'll be more likley to try it again and they'll appreciate it so much more.

primaballerina175 · Joined: 10 Sep 2006 Posts: 589 Location: On stage.

My teacher brought in A long blue cloth and told us to pretend to be something like a water fall or river, or fairy or something like that. She also brought in these things and we would call them butterflies. They were costumes and we would put them on and my teacher would tell us to be laughing, spining, leaping, talking butterflies. Then she would stop the music and we would all freeze and she started it up and we would do the same thing.

BDCBallerina · Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 24 Location: On the Dance Floor

I LOVE MODERN! I started when I was 11 and I fell in love with it. But I think I loved it so much because the my first expierence with it was with a great teacher I loved. She was funny, diden't take everything so seriously, and always let us have fun but still be working hard. We never really did anything extra special and fun because the school I go to won't allow it, but are teacher let us have some input in the combinations and she also had the BEST music! It was fun to dance to and it made us want to dance and have FUN! Hope that helps.

vincent_says · Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 67

Its always a challenge to motivate someone. Ideally, your students want to learn this information and the techniques that follow it. However, this is obviously not always the case.

My advice would to help them find an angle in which they can apply their energy to modern dance. Make it interesting for them, interesting enough that they can't afford not to try it.

Good Luck

pointe7 · Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 2

i think all of these ideas are really good, but unless you have a really good idea, you probably will not grab the attention of really little kids. being 13 and in love with modern, i can say that it really takes a liking of modern to give it emotion. i think the best ideas are the ones that let the kids pretend to be fairies or butterflies because it really grabs their attention. that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but what i want to say is if you enter their minds, and make them pretend to be butterflies or such things, you have a good chance of making them give lots of emotion later when they're more expirenced.

dnsr4life · Joined: 21 Dec 2007 Posts: 15

elation wrote: Ho do I get my younger dance students to enjoy modern? I did not start until college, but wish I had started moden sooner. Is there any way to make them put more feeling into their work? When should young dancers begin modern training?

My mom was my first teacher and she taught modern. She had one lesson where she took a balloon and blew it up as she instructed us to be like the balloon. We expanded our bodies through the air as the balloon did. My mom let go of the balloon and it flew around the room. We immitated the balloon by dancing crazily around the room until we finally fell to the floor as the balloon did. This lesson plan tends to get the students attention. It makes them love modern without realizing it and when they grow up they will always remember the lesson and remember that it was modern as well.

pr · Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Posts: 1011 Location: Göteborg, Sweden

Welcome pointe7 and dnsr4life! :D :D

lovestodance:) · Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26 Location: England

IN MY DANCE SCHOOL WE HAVE A STAR CHART YOU GET A STAR IF YOU TRY VERYY HARD :) AT THE END OF THE TERM THERE IS A PRIIZE FOR THE PERSON IN EACH CLASS WITH THE MOST STARS :D GOOD LUCKK

chuckmusic · Joined: 13 Nov 2008 Posts: 3

allow them to be expressive in any way shape or form. nothing is wrong in dance unless you're referring to technique. Personally i enjoy dancing more when i'm given the leeway to do as i please.