Today I want to talk about the runners.
You know, the kids who will run circles around the classroom for 45 minutes and never seem remotely tired.
I love these students. Every time I have a kiddo with this much energy in my classroom it teaches me something new about how to be a dance teacher.
Now I learned a long time ago that kids who run in class are learning. It doesn’t usually look like it, but after hearing from multiple parents whose kids rarely participated in class activities that they went home and played “dance class” and regurgitated my entire lesson plan, I had to admit I’d been wrong about them. Sometimes, I learned, it is just too much to come to a big room, with a bunch of people, and lots of distractions (windows, noises, music, props) AND be asked to participate.
You cannot wait for the runners to join you. Well, you can, but then you spend a ton of valuable class time waiting instead of modeling how to participate in a dance class. This is what I do instead: I make it a point to give those kids tons of positive feedback, invite them join the activity often, and allow their learning to happen in their own time and their own way.
And sometimes… I join them.
One of my favorite activities that includes intentional running in class works with the concept of Rhythm. Specifically: breath and pulse.
Personally, I am great at breath rhythm. I love to luxuriate in the slow, soft, uneven ebb and flow of the rhythm of my breathing. Unfortunately, I’ve found that most kids do not.
Which is why I love the activity I’m sharing below. It uses imaginative play to keep kids engaged while learning about breath and it taps into their deep desire to always be running while learning about pulse.
Here it is…
Lungs & Heart
This dance activity has 2 parts. Part 1 is an exploration of lungs & breath. Part 2 is an exploration of heart & pulse. You can do them in this order if you feel like running will get your dancer(s) too revved up to slow down for the breath exploration. Or you can reverse the order if you feel like your dancer(s) need to get some energy out before slowing down for breath. Or you can keep the explorations shorter and do them each twice (part 1, part 2, part 1, part 2). You know what’s best for your dancer(s).
“We’re going to explore two of our body organs today and the rhythms that go with them. The first is our lungs which help us to breath. This rhythm is uneven which means one part is shorter than the other. Let’s take a deep breath together. The other is called pulse. This is the steady rhythm of our heart. Let’s put our hands on our chest and see if we can feel our heart beating.” (If dancers can’t feel their heartbeat, don’t worry! This will be much easier for them to do after Part 2 of the dance.)
Part 1
Lungs & Breath: “Your lungs are like balloons. We’re going to dance the movement of your lung balloons filling up with air and letting the air out. Let’s start. Breath in and move your body as if you’re filling your balloons with air. Now let all the air out of the balloon.” Emphasize variations of in and out breath while moving/floating. Experiment with other concepts: speed (filling the balloons quickly and letting the air out slowly and vice versa), size (expanding your body as you inhale and shrinking as you exhale), weight (active weight as the balloon fills and passive weight as it empties), level (the balloon rising up as it fills and falling to the ground as it empties). All the while, draw attention to the unevenness of the movement patterns they are creating.
Song suggestion: This is the Sky by Rene Aubry
Part 2
Heart & Pulse: “Your heart is a steady beat inside your chest, just like the steady beat of a great song. We’re going to dance to the counts of the music and then we’ll see if we can feel our heartbeat.” This is a great opportunity count out loud and while dancing. Alternate 32 counts of running with 16 counts of jumping. At the end, have each dancer place their hand on their chest and ask if they feel their heartbeat. If they’re having trouble, make sure they are feeling on the left side.
Song Suggestion: Dance, Dance, Dance by the Beach Boys
What have the “runners” in your life taught you? Let me know in the comments below!