West View Residency
West View
We have loved our time at West View! The first half of our residency was spent teaching basic dance and theatre techniques. Throughout these lessons we decided to follow along with the kids in the school curriculum surrounding fairytales. We integrated different stories such as “Anansi and The Witch,” “Madeline,” “The Magic Pot,” and “The Pine Gum Baby.” Introducing these atypical stories allowed us to step away from ordinary western stories. The second half of the 4 weeks was focused on applying techniques and performing some of the fairy tales and stories we read together.
Throughout the residency, we integrated principles of both theatre and dance to lead the students through topics of ensemble work, character building, elements of movement, costuming and lighting, among others. Each session, we focused on leading the students through various kinesthetic and group-minded activities correlating with our fairytale theme. The students greatly enjoyed discovering how to work with their peers as well as thinking creatively to generate individually unique ideas.
- Testimonials
- “Stepping into the classroom with the students at West View was such an enjoyable, immersive experience. As a fourth year student of the dance program, I gained invaluable skills about pedagogy that will inform my work in the field as I am preparing to graduate from Ball State. There was an observable growth in confidence and creative agency among the students throughout the duration of the session. Some students came in more hesitant than others, but now every student is excited to dive into the work. Overall, I can confidently say this immersive learning experience has shaped and will continue to form my education surrounding pedagogy and integrating theatre and dance curriculas.” -Carmen Gorsuch
- Name the stories we read
- “Anansi and The Witch”
- “The Magic Pot”
- “Madeline”
- Games played
- Can kitty have a spot
- 1000 ways to cross the room
- Buzzing bees
- Story circle
- This is not a …
- Structure of the entire process
- We used the first half of the 4 weeks to teach basic dance and theatre techniques.
- The second half of the 4 weeks was focused on applying those techniques, performing some of the fairy tales and stories we read earlier in the residency.
The West View students worked on two final culminating performances, which will be theatrical/movement based informal sharings of two stories we focused on throughout the session. Students will present character development, design elements, stage direction, etc. Above all, the students will demonstrate their dedication and growth with theatre and dance concepts throughout the last four weeks.