Summer Holiday 'Day Of Dance'

Dance Space Essex will be hosting a 'Day of Dance' in the summer holidays, on Wednesday 29th July at the Brentwood Baptist Church, 10am-1pm for children 5+ years of age and above, the cost of the day is £15.00.

It will be an amazing fun day of training. I have guest choreographer Greg Mcpherson who is head of the foundation course at Urdang Academy one of the most prestigious dance colleges in London teaching a commercial dance master class. Greg is a leading dancer and choreographer, whose credits range from Ray Charles, Footloose, The Brits, Girls Aloud, Sugar Babes and Little Mix, alongside this I will be teaching a contemporary lyrical master class incorporating props. At the end of the day students will perform a short demonstration where friends and family are invited to watch.

Please email nicole@dancespaceessex.com  to book your child a place on the 'Day of Dance', places will be limited, so please ensure you book early.

ARTICLE on dance space essex, in the MADE IN ESSEX NEWSPAPER

View fullsize

The Wind in the Willows & My First Ballet: Swan Lake

Yesterday I drove across the river to Greenwich to watch Open Book Theatre Company perform 'The Wind in the Willows'. Open Book Theatre Company stages adaptations of classic novels in libraries; they are a not-for-profit organisation born from a sheer love of literature and drama. Their vision is to make theatre more accessible and less exclusive, to get people visiting libraries and inspire young people to read.

The hour long production had the audience completely captivated, the library became part of the staging and we were taken on a hilariously witty journey with Toad, Mole, Badger and Ratty, bursting with songs, dances and costume changes. The best thing, it is entirely FREE!

Nearest libraries to Essex,

Saturday 21st February, 11am, Plaistow Library.

Sunday 22nd February, 11am, Stratford Library. 

http://www.openbooktheatrecompany.com/

After the success of Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia The English national Ballet and English National Ballet School have created Swan Lake another in the series of My First Ballet. The performances are aimed at young children from the age of 3 and include a narrator to communicate the story, with tickets costing as little as £10.00 and a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children) costing £65.00 this is a wonderful way to introduce young children to Classical Ballet.

 2nd April- 23rd May 2015.

http://www.ballet.org.uk/whats-on/myfirstballet-swanlake/

Fantasia

I have been busy all week preparing the half term ballet and craft workshop. In the midst of all the ribbons and glue I rediscovered Disney's Fantasia and what a spellbindingly beautiful film it is!

I could not think of a better way to introduce young children to classical music than the 2000 animated anthology. Fantasia consists of several different animated short films set to pieces of classical music. I will be using ‘Carnival of the Animals, Finale’ by Camille Saint-Saens for the workshop and have spent the last hour shall we say choreographing in preparation for Tuesday. 

And so in the words of the newspaper, Made in Essex who have just written a feature on Dance Space Essex ‘prepare to have fun’, not only do we teach the fundamental steps of classic ballet but we teach the art of FUN!

Tuesday 17th February, 10-12.30pm, 4-8 years, £10.00, The Brentwood Baptist Church, Kings Road, CM14 4DR, email nicole@dancespaceessex.com to book a place. 

Changing Education Paradigms

The RSA posted a clever animation on YouTube adapted from a lecture with Sir Ken Robinson on the current education system, he talks about the arts and how they address the idea of aesthetic experiences whereby the senses are operating at their height. According to Robinson, “The education system has become obsessed with particular forms of academic ability…many people leave education never realizing their intellectual capacities”.

It could be argued that a focus on ‘the mind’ alone marginalizes many pupils and ignores vital senses and aspects of the physical body, which I believe are also essential to learning. Government strategies, such as All Our Futures, Building Schools for the Future and The Children’s Plan, highlight the on-going debate around the relationship between physical knowledge, environment and learning.

Do we place too much value on the mind?