So my husband, Scott D. Southard, does this thing on his blog where he features 5 things he is into right now. I thought I’d steal the idea. Here goes:
Anna Halprin: Experience as Dance by Janice Ross
On my birthday, I read this interview at Stance On Dance and it inspired me to pick up Ross’ book (again). Halprin’s philosophy of dance education, dance-making, and life in general hits close to home these days and is helping me articulate some of my own thoughts and feelings in these categories. The body-mind connection has been a point of direct interest within the last few months for me, as has the utility of dance for self-acknowledgement, self-assessment, self-reflection, and self-expression. This has lead me to weighing dance education and dance performance in a variety of ways. As I have been examining my own personal strengths in these categories, as well as my experiences in professional-track dance and liberal arts environments, this reading has been quite a welcomed source of connection to like-minded artists and educational guides.
Journaling
For my birthday, I received a new journal (always a great gift) and I have been putting it to good use as I sift and sort through the thoughts and feelings notes above. This newest book is the official Dr. Who licensed TARDIS journal inspired by the one owned by River Song in the series. Love.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company DVD recording of the final performance at the Armory.
Another b-day gift, this has been playing in my mind over the last week as I have been thinking about “tea-cup breaking” (to reference the opening anecdote in Ross’ book about Halprin) examples of dance-making by interesting dance-makers.
John Dewey, Educational Philosopher and hero.
I am so “Dewey-ian” in my approach to teaching in that I view every learner’s education to be individual. He just keeps cropping up in my life in various contexts. I have been inspired by him for some time but have been enjoying revisiting his influence on the development of dance education through pioneers such as Margaret H’Doubler, who shifted the role of dance in academic curriculum.
MAEIA, DITA, and other neat acronym-ed dance projects.
My work with the Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment project amps up again tomorrow and it appears I will be performing with DITA within the next few months. Details to follow as they become available…..
HVS Movement Studies 