DANCE LITERACY GAMES
Playing Dance Literacy Games is appropriate to learning situations demanding creative higher-order thinking and a strong sense of personal commitment and engagement. When included as a part of daily class instruction games not only teach performance skills but also develop student imagination and intuition. Dance Literacy Games engage students in at least three different levels of learning:
PARTICIPATION - brings both fun and increased mental and physical perception.
PROBLEM SOLVING - encourages increased creative thinking and responding.
CATALYTIC ACTION - supports students' spontaneous improvised solutions to external stimuli.
Dance Literacy Games in dance education inherently give a teacher a unique perspective on their students. They allow the teacher to observe relationships in the classroom, to assess what the students know and can do and how they are able to apply it to new situations, and they offer a relaxed method by which to observe student responses to external stimuli.
Teachers can easily adapt the games to approach online learning with students as well, allowing student voice and choice to remain at the center of their classroom while working through the camera lens.
"Mila Parrish has the ability to synthesize her deep knowing about movement and the arts, young people, popular culture, and educational trends, and come up with exciting activities that are extremely useful in the dance classroom."
--Dr. Sue Stinson, retired Professor of Dance at UNCG and author of "Dance for Young Children: Finding the Magic in Movement"