Lessons are based on the concepts of space, time, force and body and may include folk dance, simple or complex choreographic projects or dance explorations that also teach core curriculum: science, language arts, math or social studies.

As a means of studying curriculum, dance is an excellent way to embody the sequences of a scientific process, grasp the meaning of prepositions, understand through muscle memory the nature of symmetry, or feel the emotional upheaval of a runaway slave.

Kate always includes a brain-compatible warm up in her lessons, so that students can benefit from the profound effects of better brain organization for overall learning.

Kate has taught dance in the schools as a Teaching Artist since 1982.

• One Day Workshop
  Up to six classes. Combined classes by consent. Prefer gym or multipurpose room to classroom. Preschool–Grade 8. Based on Braindance, dance concepts or curriculum integration.
  
  
• One to Three Week Residency
  More coverage or more content than a one day workshop. Number of contact times dependent on size of the school. Multiple sites optional.
  Example: The "Simple Machines and M.E." curriculum is a one-week residency that focuses on one specific science topic and one specific grade level. Each day, third grade students explore a different area of the curriculum for 60 minutes using movement, music, rhythm, and rhyme. Activities are reinforce through writing and drawing prompts in a special journal.
  Other ideas (a very partial list) :
  Science:Water and Weather (2nd)
  Social Studies:Native Americans (4th, 5th)
  Language Arts:Dance A Story, Dance A Poem (K, 1st)
  Language Arts: The Write to Dance (4th)
  Math: Geometry (3rd)
  Arts: The History of Contemporary Dance (4th - 12th grade)

• One Week Intensive
  One or more groups devote the entire week to the creation and production of an original dance/drama based on some area of the curriculum. Some themes Kuper has explored in previous years include Genetics and Cloning, Ecology, American History, The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and the Solar System. Original, live music provided by composer/percussionist Rocky Maffit makes the final performance an unforgettable experience for students and audience alike.
  
  
• One Month Residency
  Three to four days a week, for four weeks, Kuper comes to your site to create dances with students that either emphasize elements of the art form or are based on areas of the curriculum. An opening assembly, teacher workshop, family program, and culminating assembly of student dances round out this exciting month.
  
  
• Two to Three Month Residency
  A more in depth program, possibly working at two sites simultaneously, that allows select groups to do more developed creative and choreographic work.

For Illinois schools, matching funds are available through the Illinois Arts Council’s Arts-in-Education or Quickstart programs. For further information please visit this web site.
www.state.il.us/agency/iac

All workshops and residencies are developed in consultation with Kate. Fees include plan and travel time and may also include supplies and guest artist.

 

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