Fourth grade students discover new aspects of themselves, build strong bodies, and work collaboratively as members of a creative and physically expressive community. As a result, they acquire increased body awareness and a stronger sense of self in space, improved gross motor skill and coordination, greater impulse control, and more balanced expressive/receptive ability. Emphasis is on full-bodied physicality, cultivating kinesthetic empathy, and discovering the joy of movement.

Journey Dance:

This course culminates in Journey Dance, an Assignment that integrates with the grade-wide study of immigration. Students synthesize class concepts by creating original movement phrases, gestures, and vignettes, which are infused with intention and meaning. These elements are woven together into a living expression of learning. 

Each class begins with a warm-up to prepare students for a high-energy and athletic dance class focusing on coordination, rhythm, core strengthening, across-the-floor jumps and basic dance combinations.  Students are given in-class assignments to ignite the imaginative process and stimulate a kinesthetic response. Compositional tools are introduced as students learn to dialogue constructively about the dances made in class. Fifth graders engage in an exploration of individual identity as they celebrate both personal uniqueness and shared connection in the community through dance. 

The seventh and eighth grade dance program offers a wide variety of dance techniques and creative experiences to develop students' functional and expressive movement potential. The class is designed to facilitate technical ability by increasing body awareness, balancing mobility with stability, developing coordination and rhythm, and building students' movement vocabulary. A range of dance styles, including Modern, Hip hop, West African, and Dances of the African Diaspora, are introduced and explored in their social, historical, and cultural contexts.  The creative aspect of this class integrates improvisation, composition, and performance. Individual expression takes on a deeper meaning as students begin to grapple with self, identity, and relationship issues, issues often reflected in their dance making. Our curriculum provides opportunities for students to bring their diverse backgrounds and individual movement interests into the studio to share with one another in a safe environment of risk-taking and mutual respect.
 
Assignments include creating original movement phrases, manipulating movement material, discovering dynamics, reconstructing a dance master's choreography, analyzing dance videos, and performing in a Flash Mob. This course features a site-specific dance video project called DanceWAVE (Working Artists Video Ensemble) that culminates the year. Students work together to create a dance video set in a wide range of locations in and out of the school. Guest artists and class trips to professional dance performances are an integral part of the curriculum. This course provides an excellent foundation for future participation in the High School Dance program.