Good Morning! Saturday! When did it get to be Saturday? Silly question.
My little Emma is off to dance classes with Mom today! (My granddaughter.) She has been dancing since she was very little. Dancing like I wish I had been able to do as a child. The closest I came to this was when I was required to take a performance art class for my BFA degree. There were over twenty of us, who were required to perform as one unit, choreograph our own performances, and we had to experience three different live performances. I had not taken dance like most of the dancers. But although I lacked skills I was helped through the classes. I am forever grateful for the experience. So when I saw the determination in Emma, the love of dance in her I thought I can teach her how to feel the music, and understand it fundamentally. I could introduce her to all kinds of music and teach her steps. I could teach her to listen and feel the music, so she would respond to it. This came very naturally to her. I began to watch ballets and musicals with her.
I babysat Alex, Emma, and Oliver and homeschooled them when Mom, Jacobie went for her LPN. I forget how long this was for. Every day meant Emma performed her own dances and Ollie joined in. SO, I taught what I knew about dance and music by introducing her in as many possible ways I could.
When such a small child sits through the whole of a ballet on her own, loving and glued to it ____this says something about her. And it needed to be paid attention to.
We watched Sleeping beauty, Giselle, Swan Lake, Cinderella_____Musical! Cats! And we found 15 different versions of The Nut Cracker! Watching and rewatching her favorites.
Dance____the need to move seemed to exude off Emma. I felt what I could do was to introduce her to a lot of types of music she could respond to. The Greatest Showman became a particular favorite movie and soundtrack. Seeing performances would excite her imagination.
We watched Cats, and I purchased the small book by T.S. Elliot and turned it into a home school class for her. We did the book twice. My goal was for Emma to understand the stories behind the ballets and musicals. Doing this would teach her to dig deeper into the music. That there was more required of you as a dance if you were to “feel it”, you needed to know the emotions a story will tell you of. Clearly, what I saw in Emma was that she was feeling for the music to move her. She would close her eyes and listen and dance. The most natural response!
Great courses offered a wonderful course teaching different versions of the same story. German folklore had darker differences. The storyteller for these classes brought the stories to life in a wonderful way through Great Courses. Again she was very young but she sat glued to these classes. So we continued them.
I wonder where Emma will take her love of dance? I like to think I had a small part in it. I wanted her to know she can do anything!
If there is one thing a mother and grandmother can do for her children and grandchildren it is to teach them the importance of believing in themselves, trusting in themselves! Take notice of what is important to you! Feel the world like you had antennas.
Emma is 7 1/2 now. I encourage you to teach and share what you know.
Anisette Studios & Shibui Fine Arts 