March 31, 2000
PS 261 Schoolwide Simultaneous Dance
In an effort to encourage youngsters to consider dance as a form of communication The Micro Museum collaborated with the Arts Committee of PS 261 in a project funded by the New York Foundation for the Arts. It was conducted by artists Kathleen and William Laziza and a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade class. The project involved learning different dance material and music and math terminology. Each student created a calendar and was responsible for teaching others the dance material and telling others about the event on March 31st as well as the Worldwide Simultaneous Dance which is scheduled for April 29, 2000 as a part of National Dance Week.
The students learned a dance called ÒThe MixerÓ where they formed two concentric circles with the outer circle moving clockwise so that all students change partners throughout the dance. They also formed a conga line, learned a chain step and a wave step as well as qualities of movement: legato and stacatto, accelerando and de- accelerando as well as other mathematic terms perimeter, circumference, parallel, concentric circle, perpendicular patterns etc.... Students learned to feel their heartbeats and to use that rhythm as a basis for movement. They also learned about various forms of stop animation
Photography and video were used to capture images for a future web presentation. Here are six still shots of students learning and practicing the movement material. The final videotape was recorded in the school yard of PS 261.
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