In my last blog I shared my reflections around the process of improvisation in dance and my own personal experience with it. In this post I want to share some of my experiences with guiding children through improvisation.
Through my years of guiding children in the Montessori approach, I have found that children are often open and willing to engaging with improvisation based dance activities. When children regularly partake in the process of following one's interests, make choices around their learning experiences and engage in autotelic activities, it appears a suitable foundation is laid from which to embark on improvisation based dance activities. I think this is due to the children having experience with the process of self determination in the Montessori environment.
I have seen children come up with very creative and unexpected movement responses to a variety of stimuli such as a piece of music, artworks, geometry concepts, poetry, texture, animals...the list goes on. There have been so many moments where I thought, 'Wow, I would never have thought to do that!' when observing some of the dance phrases the children have created. It is these moments of awe and wonder that bring the most joy and inspiration to share the language and magic of dance with children.
I confess that it is not always smooth sailing when starting improvisation based dance with children. Sometimes it can feel like pulling teeth when a child is reticent, unsure, concerned about how their movements might be perceived by others or finds comfort in being told exactly what to do. A good dose of enthusiasm, perseverance, empathy, modelling and gentle guidance can lead to a child opening up like a flower bud as they discover that it is not so bad after all and that it can be fun, especially when exploring movement possibilities with their peers.
I'll share some tips in future posts how to set an environment that supports improvisation, creative expression and collaboration.