The summer is a great time to work on something different with your students. Very often during the regular season, it is difficult to fit something like improvisation into your classes. There is always technique that needs working on, choreography to perfect and sometimes the distinct feeling that there is just not enough time to get everything done! Plus it will really give your students a reason to continue taking classes over the summer if they know that they are going to be working on different techniques and styles of dance.
Even little dancers in the beginning stages will love improvising. If you put different pieces of music on for them to use their creativity it may surprise you to see that four and five year olds have actually remembered many of the steps and also combinations of steps that you have taught them. I always suggest subjects for this age group and usually let them present their improvisation one by one as they have difficulty putting things into a group setting. Ideas that I might give for this group are: Princess Dance, Kitten Dance, Raggedy Ann Dance, Little Mermaid Dance, Butterfly Dance, Soldier Dance, Airplane Dance. These are just a few ideas for boys and girls of this age group.
Once the students are eight and over I like to get them working in duos, trios and small groups. I really feel that it is important for dance students to understand how to work with others. It teaches them how to dance and socialize in different settings and helps them to form bonds together. I always help them by giving definite steps that must be included in the improvisation and I choose the music. For students from eight to ten years old I might choose music from Ballet, Lyrical Jazz, Jazz or Musical Theatre. I like to encourage the dancers to use any acting ability that they may have. Giving them a story line helps them utilize their imaginations so that it is not just about the steps but the reason to link them together. Here are some ideas for dancers in this age bracket: For Ballet, Swan Lake as a theme. Girls utilizing port de bras to suggest wings.Boys using port de bras to suggest using a bow and arrow. Choreography to include at least two pirouettes, pas de chat, pose temps leve in first arabesque, coupes and grand jetes. For Lyrical Jazz, choreography to include triplets to both sides, compass turn, at least one other pirouette, chaine turns, fan kick and a split in one direction. For Jazz, choreography to include at least one shoulder, rib and hip isolation, Jazz kick in second, two Jazz pirouettes and a leap in second. For Musical Theatre, I recommend using a prop such as a hat, cane or chair. Choreography to include Jazz walks, step pivot, kick ball change, front kicks, hip and shoulder isolations and a shimmy.
For the older students I also like for them to work in larger groups. Again to help them to relate to others and also to give them a better understanding of how the composition and formations of a dance are put together. Here are some ideas for your older and more advanced students: For Ballet, style of the choreography to be determined by the music. Choreography to include, arabesque in two different positions, glissades, balances, cabrioles, at least two pirouettes, one en dehors and one en dedans, pique turns, a developpe and saut de chat. For Lyrical Jazz, style of the choreography to be determined by the music. Choreography to include, front kick with layout, pirouette in arabesque, pirouette in attitude derriere en dedans, contractions using hips and ribcage and a section using only port de bras. For Jazz, style of the choreography to be determined by the music. Choreography to include, pirouette in coupe devant, pirouette in second, lunge into split, hip pike into slide, axel with chaines, at least four different isolations and a turning hitch kick.
These are just some of my ideas but obviously you will want to use steps that you are working on in class. Most of the time, I choose the music and I will give them between fifteen and twenty minutes to work on it. Then, all the dancers in their individual groups will get a chance to show the others what they have created. It is always interesting to see their ideas and also helps you to see how much of your training they are retaining. Sometimes I will tell the students to choose a piece of music and form their own groups. Very often I will put the different groups together as the dancers tend to get in cliques if not. Have fun watching the dancers become involved in the whole creative process and seeing them become more confident. They will also have a better appreciation of what it takes for us, as teachers, to create all the numbers that we do.
