Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘dancing’

Nov
13

Glorious Together

I can’t emphasize enough the immeasurable riches and benefits I’ve had in my life because of music and dance. My parents say that I came into the world singing and dancing, and encouraged me at an early age to study both. No matter what the ups and downs of life, I’ve had the enrichment, encouragement, outlet, and community of the arts. Now that I am a Kindermusik Educator; I am blessed with the privilege and pleasure of nurturing the development of children and their families through the same kind of musical and movement activities that have so nurtured me.

I love doing the different dances and movement activities we regularly have in class each week. Participating in open movement activities is great. I love seeing the varied and creative ways grown-ups and children find to dance to music, and of course, scarves and streamers always help.

But, one of my favorite things is group dances. Some are fairly simple circle dances and are easier to pick up; others are more complicated and take a few weeks before they really begin to click. This process is greatly helped when we dance as one cohesive group.

I never require that everyone hold hands when we dance in a circle, but I always encourage it, because, that way we truly dance as a group. This is important for several reasons. First, it is much easier to learn and participate in dancing when we have someone else to do it with. Not only do we see each other around the circle, but we can feel each other as well. We help each other dance by picking up on the collective visual and physical cues of the other bodies around us, which helps us to communicate better.

What is more, being better communicators leads us to another one of my favorite benefits; when we dance together we create community. It is my belief that group dancing is one of the fastest and best ways to create a safe and nurturing community in my classes.

Sometimes when I undertake to introduce a new dance to a class, I wonder what the outcome will be. Will I explain it well enough? Will everyone get it? Will they like it? Usually by the time everything is said and done, all my concerns have flow out the window. We all get up, we all might feel a little silly or vulnerable at first, but quickly realize that we can and will do something wonderful together, and in this place it is ok to be silly and vulnerable.

I see the confidence and courage of both children and adults take a steady climb upward when they feel the comfort and security created by dancing together. We know in that moment as we see the smiling faces of those we are dancing with all around us that we are doing this thing together as a team. It only works if we all work together to make it happen, which results in such a feeling of delight, accomplishment, and solidarity. Even if there are a few bumps and hiccups along the way it doesn’t matter, because hey, we did this thing together and it is glorious!

-posted by Miss Meresa, who thinks the world would be a happier more peaceful place if we all danced together.

Tags: dancing, kindermusik, Miss Meresa, music

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Jul
21

The Arts Develop Smarts!

Posted in Child Development, Education, Music and the brain

Over the next several days, take some time to observe your children (or someone else’s) at play. Notice how many times singing, dancing, coloring, creating, music making, drawing, sculpting (think play dough) occurs. All of these activities are natural forms of art.

I love how Wikipedia defines art: “Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions and intellect.”

That definition totally fits with what we know about brain development from birth to 7. During this period, the brain’s entire job is to organize information (deliberately arrange items) it receives from all the senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, vestibular, proprioceptive), and then learn what to do with that info.

Every time a child has a sensory experience and the brain processes (organizes) the input, neural networks are formed. Your child chooses to engage in the arts during play because he or she instinctively knows the arts are the best way to develop the brain.

As a side note, these networks are largely completed by the age of 5, and after the age of 8, neural pathways that aren’t well traveled are pruned away. (Which is why children who learn a second language during the preschool years speak like natives, and most of us who didn’t take Spanish until high school will always sound like, well…embarrassing.)

Okay. Back to the arts. Arts, especially music, help wire the brain for the kind of learning that occurs in school after the age of seven.

The Encyclopedia Britannica says that art is “the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.” Sharing the arts (group dances, playing instruments in ensemble, working together on a painting) enhances social skills.

The arts also develop essential thinking tools such as perception, attention, symbolic thinking, self-regulation, pattern recognition, reasoning, intuition, memory, differentiation, manipulation, encoding and decoding. Lots of big concepts, but what does this all translate to?

Your child’s painting and dancing and sculpting and especially music making in the preschool years, is the best thing you can do now to help your child later become an avid reader, a lover of math, a self-confident teenager, a curious chemist, a successful entrepreneur, and, of course, an accomplished musician.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who suggests taking inventory of your art baskets and music making and creating supplies this summer, and making sure they well stocked.

Tags: babies, brain, dancing, learning, Miss Analiisa, music, preschoolers, sensory systems

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Dec
29

The Mozart Effect Revisited

Posted in Child Development, Music and the brain, Things to do

The Mozart Effect, by Don Campbell, appeared on the scene in 1997. It was really the first time the public at large was introduced to the effects of music on the brain and body. While some of the conclusions in the book have been debated and perhaps taken out of context by its naysayers, what Don Campbell did was to begin to make us aware of what the researchers knew, and to peak our curiosity and interest in the power of music.

For instance, listening to certain types of music helps to organize our spatial awareness. This music helps the brain “format” itself.

Research shows us that clear structure (we might also call it a “pattern”) in music allows a listener to feel organized. As an example, Mozart’s Theme and Variations K265 consists of 12 different variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. In each Variation, the music is slightly different, but you can still hear the same melody in the music. I’ll note here that this “organizing” music is neither highly emotional nor rhythmic, which is the key.

Need to get up and go? How about a musical shot of caffeine? Highly rhythmic music impels our bodies to move. Think about music you play during your cardio workout. Mozart’s Theme and Variations wouldn’t do the trick. Try the Rossini’s Barber of Seville.

Having trouble expressing yourself? Angry or upset? Too full of joy to find the words? Try a little Beethoven, or Indian classical music. Something from the Romantic period of classical music is sure to help.

Tired at the end of the day, but you just can’t “turn your brain off” and go to sleep? Try Air on a G String by Bach, Greensleeves by Vaughn Williams, Girl with the Flaxen Hair by Debussy.

All styles of music have benefits for us. So the real question is, what does your music “diet” consist of? Think about your “go to” music when doing homework, or housework, or working out. What about when you need to unwind? Don’t have a Master’s in Music History? Do an online search using terms like classical music, joy, workout, homework, relax, rhythmic, etc, and see what you come up with. Search iTunes or YouTube. Try some new pieces, even if “classical” music isn’t your favorite. You might be surprised at what you find your brain likes.

These same ideas will work for your children, as well. Play music in the bedroom as they go to sleep or in the background while doing homework. With children, don’t forget the props! Scarves, instruments, pots and pans, harmonicas, rhythm sticks get them moving and integrating their brains, especially when accompanied by unrestricted, open movement.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, whose “go to” piece to help her sort things out while working on something difficult is Mozart’s Symphony 41, K 551.

To listen to the podcast with Don Campbell and Analiisa Reichlin on BamRadio Network, click here.

Tags: brain, dancing, instrument, listening, music, Things to do

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Jul
1

Born to Dance

Posted in Child Development, Music and the brain

The following is from an interesting article I read in ScienceDaily:

Researchers have discovered that infants respond to the rhythm and tempo of music and find it more engaging than speech.

The findings, based on the study of infants aged between five months and two years old, suggest that babies may be born with a predisposition to move rhythmically in response to music.

The research was conducted by Dr Marcel Zentner, from the University of York’s Department of Psychology, and Dr Tuomas Eerola, from the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Jyvaskyla.

Dr Zentner said: “Our research suggests that it is the beat rather than other features of the music, such as the melody, that produces the response in infants. We also found that the better the children were able to synchronize their movements with the music the more they smiled.”

But, if you’ve come to a Studio3Music Kindermusik class, you already know that, and didn’t need scientific research to tell you so.

What I love about this research is that it enforces what we’ve learned about the brain. In the first 7 years of life, the brain’s main job is to organize itself. It does this through sensory integration. Sensory integration is the process of sorting, ordering and organizing sensory input (sounds, tastes, touch, visual input, smells, the sense of gravity and movement, and where the body is in space) so that the brain produces useful body responses, useful perceptions, and emotions.

When sensory integration is happening as it should, learning is also easy, and children naturally then seek to learn more complicated tasks. There is an inner drive in children to develop sensory integration. Remember how the babies in the research study smiled the more they could synchronize their movements to the music?

They experienced an “adaptive response”, which is a purposeful, goal-directed response to a sensory experience. The sensory input from his eyes, muscles, joints and vestibular system all are integrated and organized in his brain; therefore, he can make his body move in time to the music. And that ability to do so is very satisfying. So the baby smiles.

I think the key is this: Music helps organize the brain. When the body and all of the senses work together as a whole, adaptation and learning are easy for the brain. Most of our learning must occur first through the integration of our sensory systems. This provides the groundwork for later cognitive functions.

But, you already knew that, whether in your head or in your heart. And so does your little one. And that’s one of the reasons you come to class every week. Because music leads to learning, and learning leads to great satisfaction. What better gift can you give your children?

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who loves to watch the babies wiggle in their grownups arms as they head toward the studio, cause they can’t get to Kindermusik fast enough, or the older ones running down the sidewalk towards the door, calling their teacher’s name!

Tags: babies, brain, dancing, kindermusik, Miss Analiisa, music, parenting, physical development

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Mar
31

Dance to Learn

Posted in Child Development, Family, Music and the brain, Things to do

I know all you Our Time parents are wondering when we are going to be done with the “Arkansas Traveler”. I am pleased to tell you that we will be done in week 15 of the curriculum. Now I can hear you saying “WAIT! Isn’t the 15^th week the LAST week of the semester?” Yes. It’s true – we are going to do the “Arkansas Traveler” every week of the semester.

But there’s a good reason. I promise. I wouldn’t make you do it if there wasn’t a really good reason.

Children need several things for learning to happen. First they must be in an emotionally safe place with caring adults to guide them. They need movement, and if the movement can be varied that’s even better. They need repetition and the activity needs to be fun, and joyful. Circle dancing meets all this criteria.

When a child is moving, their brain is actively creating neural pathways. So for the 3 minutes and 8 seconds that we are doing the Arkansas Traveler, your child’s brain is in overdrive. However, those new neural pathways are temporary; they will disappear without repetition. So in order for those new neural pathways to last a lifetime we have to repeat the dance over and over again. That’s why a child’s battle cry is “AGAIN, AGAIN!!” They know that they need stimulating activities to be repeated.

The physical movements in the Arkansas Traveler are varied. The circle to the left/circle to the right sections are large group gross motor activities. Some of the children walk, some of the older children skip, and occasional hopping occurs. Some of the children hold hands, which change how the children balance. The change in direction is fast, forcing the children to reverse their body and their brain very quickly.

The toe tap is an isolated movement requiring the child to use specific muscles in a new way. Typically the muscles used to tap the toe and swing the foot side to side are used in conjunction with the other muscles in the legs for walking. So to tap and swing, we use just some of the muscles and in a different way.

In and out of the circle creates that safe emotional environment that is so necessary for learning. And there is walking backwards in this section. There are not many opportunities to walk backwards in our day-to-day lives, and it requires great balance and reversal of the typical muscle patterns used for walking.

And then we come to everybody’s favorite part- swing your partner all around. Spinning is great for your brain- and for a toddler who really can’t spin that well on their own, having you do it for them is the best way to accomplish this task… and it’s lovely to be held and twirled around by someone who loves you…

But variety is the spice of life- we can’t do the same things all the time regardless of how loud the toddlers call “AGAIN AGAIN”. We all know that we need variety. That’s how we’ll build more pathways- right? So how do we balance variety that with the need for repetition?

There are a couple of ways we accomplish this in an Our Time classroom. There are several activities in each semester that we do over and over again. These activities remain the same each week while the other activities change around them.

And sometimes we change a movement pattern in a big dance for just a little while. So we might swap out kicking in the Keel Row for jumping, or spinning round and round to swinging up and down in The Arkansas Traveler. This variation in the movement allows up to continue building the neural pathways we’ve already established and start building some new ones while were at it.

And yes, you are right again. Now we need to repeat the variation. So you can plan on swinging up and down for a little while. We’ll go back to spinning ‘round and ‘round because spinning really is like a full meal deal for the brain- but more on that later!

-posted by Miss Allison, who will have some very well-worn neural pathways after dancing The Arkansas Traveler over 135 times this semester!