School:

École Cederdale Elementary School, West Vancouver, BC

 

Teachers:

Misty Paterson, Cynthia Whyte, and Caroline Adam

 

Artists:

Kim Meredith and Heart, Mind and Body Collectives

 

Class:

Grades 1 and 2

 

Sources of Inspiration:

Vancouver Biennale Legacy: Walking Figures (Magdalena Abakanowicz)

Vancouver Biennale BIG IDEAS 2012 Performance Series: Instruction for a Bad Day

 

Overview:

The project was inspired by the opportunity to collaborate with a student dance troupe, Heart, Mind and Body Collectives, (previously known as Youth Street Dance Council) from the Vancouver Biennale BIG IDEAS 2012 Performance Series. Through BIG IDEAS 2013 Art in Action program, the dance artists visited other schools to share their personal experience from 2012 BIG IDEAS learning and performance with other students. The goal of the collaboration was to have the children co-author an inquiry culminating in a Self-Regulated/Social Emotional Learning performance that will help each child to recognize their own emotions and bodies, as well as how their actions can impact others.

 

BIG IDEAS:

My feelings and actions impact myself and others

 

Guiding Questions:

What does sadness, happiness, and peacefulness look/sound/feel like? What do you do when you feel sad? What do you do when you feel peace? What do you do when you feel happy? What do you do when you feel proud? How can you help others when they feel…?

 

Curriculum Access:

Health and Career Education, Language Arts, Arts Education – Dance

 

Learning Process:

The students were introduced to the BIG IDEAS My feelings and actions impact myself and others. The students openly responded to the big idea through guiding questions such as “What do you do when you feel….?” The student dance artists facilitated and recorded the responses in form of movements and voice. This recording became the soundtrack to the performance. Students’ movements inspired the group choreography. Through the process, the team collectively learned a lot about what makes each other sad, happy, and proud. The students participated in putting together the choreography and the session culminated with ways we can spread peace worldwide. The class continued to reflect, practice, polish and the performance was recorded, edited for sharing within the school.

 

Student Creations:

The students created a moving dance performance with recorded voice to express their responses to the BIG IDEA and guiding questions.

 

Taking Action:

Recorded video performance for posting on the school website, shared at an assembly and in person through a presentation to the Board of Education in June (students, teachers and project lead, Misty Paterson). Teachers followed up with the Big Idea in personalized ways to anchor other curricula investigations in their classrooms.

 

Timeline:

Nov

Made contact with the Vancouver Biennale to discuss special project concept for the school. Biennale invited Cedardale to work with (Dr.) Kim Meredith and a dance teacher, activist, and artist, and her dance troupe.

Jan to Apr

Dialogue with Biennale and artist through email to develop the BIG IDEA, guiding, inquiry unit and taking action idea

May

Finalize artist session schedule

Lead artist and student dance artists introduced the BIG IDEAS: My feelings impact myself and others. Teachers and artists elicited the children’s responses to the big idea through guiding questions such as What do you do when you feel….?

Student dance artists recorded children’s responses (movements and voice). This recording became the soundtrack to the performance. Students’ movements inspired the group choreography. This process had deepened understanding of what makes the students sad, happy, and proud.

The choreography was put together. The session culminated with ways the school can spread peace worldwide.

Practice, polish, and record the performance. Artist team finished the recording and provided a video and DVD to share out.