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| Creative Dance  History Children’s Dance Place was established in Denver in 1986. Its founders, Christy Cutler and Ann Musman Quigley, began the school out of a desire to provide a place for their own children to dance. They wanted them to experience the art of dance as a means of expression, to develop physical skills and to discover the joy of creating their own movement. These are the same experiences they hope you and your children will find at Children’s Dance Place today. Why Creative Dance? Creative dance is so accessible to children, who already want to be on the move. Creative Dance is a fabulously fun, creative process that engages all the senses and intelligences, individual expression, the inner choreographer, and performer. How Do You Teach Creative Dance? Creative dance is taught through the understanding of Dance Concepts - the ingredients of ALL dance forms. (See chart below) With practice, Dance Concepts become a movement vocabulary that children understand both physically and intellectually. They use this vocabulary as both dancer and choreographer. Dance technique is added slowly and carefully as the children become ready to practice alignment, specific movements, and steps. Creative Dance at CDP uses children’s literature, props, poetry, visual art, and music as inspiration for creating movement. Each child finds his/her own valid and unique reaction to these inspirations.
Dance Concepts: Place - self space vs. general space, in one spot vs. moving around the room Size – big (far reach), small (near reach) Level – high, medium, low Direction - forward, backward, right, left, up and down Pathway – curved, straight, zig zag Focus – single focus, multi-focus Speed – fast, medium, slow Rhythm – pulse, pattern Energy – sharp, smooth Weight – strong, light Balance – off balance, on balance Parts – all the parts of the body Relationships – over, under, around, through, above, below, beside, between, in, out, together, apart, on, off, near, far etc. Shapes – curved, straight, angular, twisted, symmetrical, assymetrical Locomotor movements: walk, run, jump, hop, leap, gallop, slide, skip, crawl, roll, prance, slither, creep, etc. Non-locomotor movements: bend, twist, stretch, swing, shake, push, pull, fall, melt, sway, turn, spin, dodge, kick, poke, lift, carve, curl, lunge, slash, dab, punch, flick, float, glide, press, wring, rise, sink, burst, wiggle, etc.
Children's Dance Place 303-607-0467
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