Photos by Al Zanyk OSU dancers Jessica Witt, left, and Jacyln Augustyn perform a tap piece for students at Cedarwood Alternative Elementary School.

Dancers in the Schools program opens young eyes

Ohio State Department of Dance students are sharing their talents and enthusiasm for dance to show Columbus area elementary schools that modern, jazz and tap dance styles can be accessible to everyone.

The Dancers in the Schools program is a 50-50 balance between dance education and outreach, said Margaret Kennedy, program coordinator. Schools choose either a choreographed OSU student dance performance or an interactive workshop that teaches children the elements of dance -- or both.

And if the reaction by Cedarwood Alternative Elementary students to a recent OSU dance performance is any indication, the project is a rousing success. Art teacher Babette Dusang-Jones said her kindergarten through fifth- grade students were mesmerized by the show.

"They were just sitting there with their eyes and mouths open -- they just didn't move for an hour," Dusang-Jones said.

The performance altered the children's perception of dance as it took them through a brief history of dance, she said. They saw some vintage jazz from the 1920s, a modern piece from 1956, two modern pieces choreographed recently, and a tap piece set to the music of Keb Mo.

"It showed all kinds of different movements that the kids didn't have any sense that that was dance, and that was what I was looking for because they need to broaden their horizons," Dusang-Jones said. "I'm trying to stimulate the idea that creativity is definitely a wonderful place to be."

Dusang-Jones said she learned about the program through her work on an education advisory committee of the Wexner Center for the Arts.

OSU dancer Sarah Morris performs at Cedarwood Alternative Elementary.

Kennedy said the OSU dance department and its Dancers in the Schools program focus primarily on modern dance, an area to which elementary school children have had little exposure.

"Kids know about jazz and hip hop from TV, but have not seen much modern dance," Kennedy said.

While modern dance is hard to define, she said, it is fairly easy to teach to children because it is basically human movement -- the key is to learn how to express and conceptualize it for yourself. While the performances incorporate dance history and many dance styles, the workshops introduce dance elements such as space, time, energy and shape, and the exploration of feelings, stories and music through movement.

Its relationship to the community has always been a priority to the OSU dance department. Initially, the University Dance Company would tour the schools to share its program. Now in its second year, the Dancers in the Schools program has stepped into that community outreach role, giving students a chance to perform to an outside audience and opening doors for those interested specifically in outreach and working in the schools, Kennedy said.

First-year graduate student Jessica Lindberg is one of those interested in teaching, rather than performing, after college. She participated in 30- to 60-minute workshops at two elementary schools during spring quarter.

"The kindergartners were very excited, while the fifth-graders were really fun and very interested in exploring the different aspects of dance," Lindberg said.

She used a "spring animal" theme to present motif notation, a system of written dance. As she showed a notation symbol such as "high," "low" or "turn," the kids would express that symbol through movement. "They like knowing the behind-the-scenes type of things, such as what makes it a dance and what goes into a dance," Lindberg said.

Kennedy said the Dancers in the Schools program is "a way of giving something back" to the community and especially to the schools in the Columbus area that offer field experiences and become resources for the OSU dance student teachers.

"They talk a lot about dance and learn about dance, but the Columbus schools don't always have the resources to bring in dance performance groups," Kennedy said.

The dance department also reaches out to children by hosting workshops during Take a Daughter To Work Day each April, and involvement in the Shadow a Student Program, in which eighth-grade students from local middle schools spend a day with a group of OSU students going through their normal routine.

"The hope is that if they have an interest in dance as a career, they can spend a day on campus and begin to visualize themselves as college students," Kennedy said.

For more information on the OSU Dancers in the Schools program, contact Margaret Kennedy at kennedy.74@osu.edu.

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