Week 5:

Dance and Mental Health:

During this class we discussed integrating aspects of mental health within a dance sequence. The main focus of this dance class was resilience, and interacting with peers in a positive way. The other focus this class was

The warm up used in this class was a Karate movement activity, where we got into groups of three and had to come up with three movements and one sound effect. This activity was designed to be an icebreaker, to loosen everyone up preparing us for dance class.

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Summary: 

Overall, dance is a great subject for integrating other subject-matter within the content. The technique explored within this class was flocking. Flocking is an improvisation technique where  a group of dancers have alternate leaders who are in front changing direction and make movements as they. It is a technique where students mirror/ shadow each other's movement in groups. Relating dance to bullying, the strong dominant and aggressive movements were typically displayed by the bully, where the weaker and more gentle movements displayed by the victim. Once each group finalized their movements, the instructor intermingled our groups, having them perform side by side. Having two groups perform side by side, produced an interesting product, seeing how two groups could connect, and promote inclusion with their peers. This flocking activity would be used with younger groups, because of the nature of dealing with sensitive topics. 

Curriculum:

Dance: 

• A1.2 use dance as a language to communicate messages about themes of social justice and/or environmental health. Connecting to the health curriculum, the activity got  students to
• C2.3 apply personal skills and interpersonal skills (e.g., self-awareness and self-management skills, including anger management; communication skills, including listening skills and assertiveness skills) to promote positive interaction and avoid or manage conflict in social situations (e.g., classroom groups, groups of friends, sports teams, school clubs).