Jaszmine Randle Capstone

For my project, I decided to gather a group of youth and teach them 4 different styles of dance. The age of the group was ranged from ages 6 to 17. After teaching them the 4 styles of dance I put together a dance showcase for them.  Every Tuesday for about 10 weeks I hosted dance practices at a local recreation center in my neighborhood. The practices were for about 1 hour and a half.

During the practices, I taught choreography, reviewed old choreography, and assigned dance spots. Some weeks were harder than others when everyone did not come to practices or when people were constantly late. While teaching choreography I was still working with my mentor to put together songs, and to become a better dance teacher.

The final product was a strong turnout. I hosted a “Youth Matters Spring Dance Showcase” at the Venice Island Performance Theatre from 6-8pm. We had a nice audience who was supportive, all of the students remembered their dances, and everyone performed well. The hardest thing would probably be teaching children younger than me because you have to have a lot of patience. Younger students sometimes don’t focus as much or sometimes they forget the moves however I was patient with the little ones and they worked hard.

I learned how to have patience when teaching in general because you have to understand everyone doesn’t catch on as fast as others. I learned how to be a better choreographer by breaking down dance moves step by step and showing examples of what I was looking for.

Annotated Bibliography

Marks, Andrea. “David Howard's 15 Top Tips for Teachers.” Dance Teacher, 4 May 2017, www.dance-teacher.com/david-howards-15-top-tips-for-teachers-2392417451.html.

Using this website I was able to get some tips on teaching dance. I have been dancing for a long time, however, I never taught people on my own before so all tips are useful. The tips provided in this link are from David Howard. David Howard is a professional English ballet dancer. David also taught at 2 dance companies in New York. I used his tips in my teaching. For example one of his tips is to watch other people teach so anytime my dance teacher is teaching I take mental notes on her techniques. All 15 of his tips made me a better choreographer.

Irvine, Sarah . “Resource Paper: Dance Fitness.” Resource Paper: Dance Fitness - International Association for Dance Medicine & Science, 2011, www.iadms.org/?303.

Using this website I was able to look at dance from a different perspective. I normally only think of dance as something fun and something to keep people busy. However, dance can be looked at as physical fitness. People who don't workout much can turn to dancing to lose weight or to stay physically fit. When I noticed that dance can be used as physical fitness I was able to get more people to participate in my dance sessions. This helped me figure out what different styles I wanted to teach. I was also able to learn from this source what different types of fitness I use in teaching my students.

“8 Amazing Hip Hop Dance Choreographers.” URBANTABLOID.COM, 20 Nov. 2014, www.urbantabloid.com/8-amazing-hip-hop-dance-choreographers/.

This website presented me with eight hip-hop dance choreographers. When teaching people a style of dance you will always need multiple different sources and people to look at. Every dance choreographer may have a different dance style or way of organization but they will always help a less experienced teacher figure out how to be a teacher. I did not hear of all the choreographers on this website and it was more interesting for me to read about them and learn about their style. It allowed me a chance to look at hip-hop from different perspectives and I was able to take at least one tip or opinion from each choreographer.

Jimison, Robert. “5 reasons why dancing is good for your health.” CNN, Cable News Network, 19 Oct. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/health/health-benefits-of-dancing/index.html.

This website was a strong source. I argue that this was a strong source because it was persuasive and made some good comments about dance and fitness tying together. When people think of dance they don't think of fitness but it's true that dance is another way to lose weight or stay in the right weight range. I used this source to inform my students on how them dancing in my dance sessions helped them stay fit and how it helped benefit their young bodies. The website actually inspired me to combine fitness and dance more. I also created fitness packets for my students using this information.

“A Guide To Choreographing A Dance.” YouTube, 19 Jan. 2012, youtu.be/6HLQiwvbKno.

Using this video I was taught step by step ways to choreograph a dance. The tips were very helpful and useful. It helped me to create a stronger foundation for my teaching, it helped me brainstorm new ideas and showed me how to be a better listener. Teaching dance comes with more than just you talking and sometimes it's good to listen to people's thoughts and opinions on choreography. Someone else might have a good idea or twist on how to make the dance better so you should be open to others thoughts sometimes. One thing I also took from the video was using creativity. Creativity is important in all choreography because you always want to be original.

“How to Dance to Hip-Hop Music | Beginner Dancing.” YouTube, 2 July 2013, youtu.be/Qx3TkFFQayI.

Using this video I was able to hear some tips from both dance fitness experts and professional dancers. I think hearing things from both helped me better understand how both of these topics connect and helped me expand my knowledge within this field. The video did not tell me tips for teaching instead it was just teachers teaching beginners how to dance to hip-hop and how to develop skills. However it was still helpful because even if the source enplaning how to teach you can learn from seeing others teach to other people. One thing I took from this video was to be very descriptive when teaching someone because you want to be sure that they understand everything you are trying to say or teach.

“Hip Hop Teacher information for the complete beginner.” DanceClass.com, www.danceclass.com/hip-hop-teacher.html.

This website was helpful because it was directed to hip hop teachers in specific. Other websites and videos I looked at was dance in general, however, this was a more specific source. Things that stuck out to me within this article was positive reinforcement and energy. These two things stuck out to me the most because I have heard this from my pass dance teachers multiple times. I will use positive reinforcement to make sure my students are redirected positively and are able to understand what should be happening instead. I will use energy by always keeping energy positive if energy is positive anything is possible and everyone is all aboard to try new things.

Warta, Tamara. “Hip Hop Dance Choreographers.” LoveToKnow, LoveToKnow Corp, dance.lovetoknow.com/Hip_Hop_Dance_Choreographers.

This website was helpful for me because it gave me some information on multiple dance choreographers who are often brought up. Each of these choreographers was from different parts of the world and were of different racial backgrounds. The website also includes popular dance moves that I am familiar with. This source helped me choose some unique dance moves, and some different techniques I could incorporate into my dance pieces. One choreographer who stood out to me the most was Charles Klapow. I am familiar with a lot of his work and I know he is a very original creative dance choreographer.

“How to Teach Hip Hop Dance to Kids : Hip Hop Dance Choreography Demo for Kids.” YouTube, 1 Oct. 2008, youtu.be/qKL1ppbBDm4.

Using this video I was able to learn a lot of helpful tips. Even though the dance teacher did not state actual points I will able to pick up on some of her teaching tools. One tool she used was using eight counts out loud. It's important to count out loud so that the students can hear and know which step goes on what count. When teaching choreography you use counts to keep everyone on the same page throughout each dance. That's why when I taught different dances to my students I used eight counts and even when the music was turned on I still counted out loud until the students could dance without the count.

Rajakumar, Mohanalakshmi. Hip hop dance. Greenwood, 2012.

Using this book I was able to get some key points about hip-hop which were very useful. Before you teach something you should always know the history behind it. This book talks about hip-hop before the time I was born allowing me to learn information on the topic. One thing from the text that will stick with me is that self-expression, earning respect, and originality were key elements of hip-hop culture."This quote will stick with me because it helped me realize that I have to be both creative and show expression within my choreography considering hip-hop dance genre is so symbolic.