From my experience, dance is very beneficial to one’s personal, developmental, and creative growth. It allows those who engage to think differently in regards to social development, mental and physical health, and creative thinking.

Dance allows participants to work with others whether it be in a group, pairs, or peer reflection. Throughout my dance career, I have had the opportunity to work with many peers and teachers to create new pieces for performance and I have learned how to cooperate and work collaboratively with others. Working in classes and on new pieces, I was able to experience new techniques and dance styles and work with my peers to look at certain stylistic aspects and techniques in new ways. We were always there to support each other and give constructive feedback. Later on, I had the chance to work professionally with one of my peers to create our own performance piece. We had to work together to come up with our inspiration and ideas and collaborate on which steps and spacial arrangements worked well together. By having the opportunities to work with each other in classes and in performance, it made it easier for us to cooperate on this teaching project.

Dance further helped me wit my mental and physical health. Through conditioning classes, improvisation classes, and peer group talks, dance had become a safe place for me and my peers. Physically, conditioning and technique classes promoted the development of safe movement and allowed us to work on developing flexibility and strength that would allow us to limit injury and promote more developed movement while we danced. In regards to mental health, dance allowed us to share and express our thoughts with each other verbally and physically.  It became an activity that was always there for us to escape into after a hard day or grasp fully at the end of a good day. Improvisation classes urged us to take our thoughts, ideas, and feelings and put them into dance. How could we convey what we wanted to say through movement.

Improvisation classes also encouraged our creative thinking which would help us develop our own choreographing skills. While improvising we were able to explore whatever movement we wanted and discover new ideas. I have used this strategy at the heart of my choreography since I started creating. I always found it helpful to explore, find what works well, and then put it together.  I also used this strategy to help me create the choreographic routine that I will be reflecting on within my inquiry.  Further, from experience working with others as well as other teachers, our choreography also occasionally reflects stylistic choices that we have seen from others. Our own creative movements then become inspired by and include movement choices made by others and what we have previously learned. Therefore, choreography can be seen ultimately as a team effort in which multiple artists are involved.

Here is a link to a Tedx application video by Shelby Richardson who went on to present this topic at TEDx UNBC. She discusses using the body through movement to promote social exchange within the community. Notice how she discuss the importance of dance and choreography to get across ideas and refers to the dancer as an interpreter for what she would like to say.

Here another video where the presenter discusses the collaborative aspects of choreography and presents his own choreographic process in front of an audience.

 

Photo credit:

#1 – Photo by Danielle Cerullo on Unsplash

#2- Photo by Inspired Horizons Digital Marketing on Unsplash

#3 – Photo by Samantha Weisburg on Unsplash