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Movement Lab Recital Theme 2013

Spring is springing, and my house is covered in sequins... this can only mean one thing: our end of year recital is almost here!

This year, our little dancers will be celebrating summer's arrival with a garden themed recital - urban-style, of course!  You’ll see rainy-day gardeners, sunshine, flowers, bumble bees and lady bugs grace the stage, and bring to life a child’s guerilla garden in the city, inspired by Peter Brown's book, The Curious Garden.

Here’s a video reading of the story, to get you inspired.

In between taps and plies, we’ve been chatting about what makes flowers grow, and how gardens are like neighbourhoods for insects. So, keep our nature-themed show in mind as you and your little ones start noticing the city in bloom.  We've even pulled together a few cool recital inspired crafts to try.

The Recital When & Where:

Saturday, June 8th: 10AM & 12PM

(Note: there are two shows with different dancers in each - parents will be notified by email about which show they are in).

Centre of Gravity Theatre - Main Floor 
(fully accessible)

1300 Gerrard St East. Just east of Greenwood

Click on the times above to purchase your tickets for that show. 

Can’t wait to see you there!

Ann-Marie

P.S. Want a sneak peak at the costumes?  Check out the photo album here. 

Five Steps to Host Your Own DIY Dance Class

Impromptu dance parties with your kids are awesome - they’re instant mood-lifters, great exercise, and take almost zero prep/clean up work. Here are five tips to pack a little more active learning power into your DIY dance time.

1. Use Challenging Music

Kids music is often dumbed down (my biggest pet peeve).  Music is an instinct, and kids can absolutely understand complex rhythmical structures and dynamics.  Play some grown up music, and mix it up - punk, classical, folk - choose songs that give you that visceral "I-want-to-dance" feeling.  For a surefire playlist, we adore the putumayo kids collections.  Pick their ‘playground’ compilations as they’re lively and great for dancing to.   

2. Gallop Away

Gallops are a favorite for little feet.  Just let one foot lead the way, and start step-together-stepping around the room.  Music-wise, you ideally want a fast 6/8 - teddy bear’s picnic is a classic, and most irish jigs work well.  You can gallop forward and sideways, and if you’re feeling really fancy, try ‘picked up’ gallops where you tuck your feet under you as you go (like a horse jumping over a fence).

3. Don't Forget about Fine Motor Movements

Once you’re out of breath, sit down, play some slow music and dedicate a dance to your little muscles:

• Wiggle your toes, and point and flex your feet.
• Fingers like to dance too - wiggle them, open and close, and take turns touching each finger to your thumb (that one’s tricky for little ones). 
• Move your head side to side and up and down.
• Discover the way your shoulders can move with shrugs and shoulder rolls.
• Float your arms like butterfly wings then contrastingly shoot them in and out like fireworks exploding!
• Lie on your back and go for a bike ride - pedal your legs going forwards and then backwards.

4. Rhythm Games

Make a game of clapping out the syllables of your names, or your favorite fruits (or whatever you choose).  Talk about how many sounds are in each word, and make a simple rhythm out of it. For example: Plum, plum, apple, plum, sounds like slow (wait), slow (wait), quick quick, slow (wait). In music terms it’s half note, half note, quarter note, quarter note, half note.  Clap and say the words, then try and jump the rhythm!  

5. Take freeze dance to the next level with, well, levels!

Play a variety of music, and instruct your child to listen carefully first, then show with their movements what the music is saying.  When you freeze, add an instruction from the following categories:

• add a level: “freeze in a low low/medium/high level”
• add a shape criteria: “freeze in a twisty/wide/small/curvy/straight/upside down shape”
• add a dynamic or movement quality: “freeze in a heavy/light/happy/angry/melting/floating shape”
• Combine them at will for a never ending list of movement inspiration!

Bonus Material!  

Below is a free spread from my book, Learn to Speak Dance, which will guide you through “Making Your Own Dance Step”.  To download it (so it's big enough to read), just click here and scroll down to see the link. 

And of course, if you want to try out more of these moves, check out our program offerings, and join us for a free class!  Happy dancing!

Click on the image, then scroll down to see a larger version.

Holiday Wishes & Gratitude

My favorite gift this year... IS YOU! Since it’s the time of year to remember what’s most important, I wanted to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for being a part of the movement lab.  Most of you know the school is my absolute dream job, and I’m so incredibly grateful for it!  Every class, your kids inspire me, crack me up, and challenge me to be a better teacher.  At the end of the teaching day, I turn off the lights with tired feet and a happy heart. There’s no place I’d rather be. So, whatever holiday you’re celebrating, let’s also celebrate your awesome kids.  You should be very very proud!

Happy holidays and see you in the new year! There are a few spots available in most classes (except those Saturday morning slots), so please invite your friends and share the love! 

With gratitude,
Ann-Marie

Why Babies & Ballet Barres Don't Mix

Every now and then, someone asks me why I don't use barres with the kids.  (While I do bust out my portable barres for our six year olds on select occasions), the reason is: they're just not needed yet. 

Maybe I should hang a self portrait in the studio too (ha)!

Barres are balancing aids that help dancers master complex, non-intuitive, fine muscle articulations (aka ballet steps).  The idea is, you do enough arabeques at the barre (see awesome old-school pic on the left), eventually, you'll be strong enough to do them on your own.

The under-seven set are just discovering their basic large/fine motor skills, spacial awareness and qualities of movement.  The leaping, spinning, and balancing in shapes we do will eventually lead to grand jetes and triple pirouettes, but the muscle control needed for barre work is way beyond the developmental stage they are at.  It's like asking a kid who's just learned to sing ABC to write a story.  We follow the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus, which introduces a few basic barre exercises in grade one (minimum age seven).

Here is what actually happens when you send toddlers to the monkey, er.. I mean ballet barre (see right).  They engage with it at their own level by hanging, climbing, pulling, etc. (not by feeling their deep lateral rotators and turning out their legs from the hip socket).

So now you are the wiser!  Every time you see a cute picture of a babies doing plies at the barre, you'll know it's, at best, all for the cute factor, or at worst, a sign of a teacher who doesn't understand the developmental stages of young children.

Bonus: things-that-make-a-dance-teacher-shudder - this pic kept floating around my facebook, and while I get the sentiment, I just couldn't get past the horror I would feel if this were my classroom! :)

Happy Halloween (No Classes!)

Irish dancing skeletons for halloween... why not?!

Have an awesome time with your little monsters! No classes on Halloween.

Try a Free Class at Lil' Bean this Saturday

Join the Party: Saturday October 27th @ noon.

It’s Lil’ Bean’s three-year anniversary and they’ve invited us to bring some dance to the party! Olivia will be swinging by at lunch to deliver an awesomely fun kids’ class - ideal for ages 3-5.  (She’ll still be teaching her regular Saturday morning and afternoon classes at the studio).

There’s lots of fun & free activities for kids and parents, so check it out! You'll need to email them to hold your spot!

Sneak Peak: We’re also rolling out a four-week mini dance session at Lil’ Bean on Thursday mornings, starting mid November.  More details coming early next week! You can email me if you're interested. We're excited!