By Judith Lynne Hanna, Ph.D. Many arguments for dance education have been made. For example, certainly students in dance may acquire skill sets that serve them in myriad of ways, develop embodied knowledge and kinesthetic connections, and become gainfully employed. But the most important reason to offer dance education in schools and universities as well
It was a joy to attend and speak in Anaheim at the 2019 CAHPERD(California Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance) Conference. Their educational foundation emphasized current cultural trends about the importance of body health. That provoked me to think about an LA Times article from August 19, 2018 that I read last summer which
How to DANCE? Go to a CDEA (California Dance Educators Association) conference to enjoy incredible expertise about ‘How to DA:NCE(you know Dance Awareness: no child exploited)’. In January I spoke at UC Fullerton for the 2019 State Conference and was welcomed by teachers who love dance and who love their students. From the opening with
How can concerned parents or concerned adults know if their child’s dance studio teaches healthy, educational dance or unhealthy, sexualized dance? The answer to this practical question is clarified in a free ebook that I have written. ‘Healthy or Harmful Children’s Dance’ combines my last 4 DA:NCE blogs
Once a year most studios plan a dance recital to celebrate a year of student maturity, growth, and technique in their dance classes. It’s a lot of fun when children present the joy of what they have learned coupled with wonderful music, artistic costumes and age-appropriate choreography! Woo-hoo! I just got back from Alabama where
I really enjoyed attending the State CAHPERD Conference in Oakland. I flew up there on Thursday February 22 with my husband (he came as my helper; thanks Rich); of course, I had a passion for the subject matter I spoke on: Children's Dance: Educational or Sexualized (the topic on my website from DA:NCE-dance
I left Redlands on Friday January 22 for the California Dance Educator's Association Conference(CDEA) feeling a bit apprehensive. On the other hand, I was rested and healthy. Moreover, the main thing was the main thing. Right? I was prepared to speak on ‘Children’s Dance: Educational or Sexualized’ and I had my hand-outs ready. So what
Hola- Surprised to see the picture of me above in my new Panama hat? It’s hand-woven and very inexpensive. But what does that have to do with dance? Actually, it doesn’t have a thing to do with dance. It has to do with a trip I just took. My husband and I celebrated 44 years
Every time I see people ‘dance/move’ in appropriate, God-honoring ways, it catches my breath because it’s worship. Of course, underlying that opinion is a premise I have. Everybody is a dancer because everybody moves in lifestyle choreography. That doesn’t discount the value of trained, technical dancers. It just means that the dance family is larger
One of the easiest and most effective ways to combine movement & dance ministry with trained and untrained dancers is scripture choreography; it high-lights favorite scripture verses and then uses them as the foundation for choreography accompanied by words. Not only do we hear specific verses as they are read, but we SEE them come
