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Dance Project Earns A+At Jefferson County’s Fletcher Miller School, classroom teachers mix with physical therapists, nurses, and occupational therapists. Students range from 3 to twenty-one years old and struggle with physical disabilities, medical problems, and basic life skills. On a given day, you may find children learning to maneuver wheelchairs, struggling with fine and gross motor skills, or working to gain mastery in speech and language. You may also find them dancing with Denver’s Kim Robards Dance Company.Now in its fourth year, the Kim Robards Dance Company’s A + Dance Project, a participant of the Colorado Council on the Arts’ innovative Arts Learning Network, brings a multilayered arts experience to teachers and students in nearly a dozen diverse school populations across Colorado, including incarcerated teens, students in gifted and talented programs, children in isolated mountain communities, and the physically challenged kids at Fletcher Miller. A+ (A PLUS) stands for Arts Providing Learning = Unlimited Success. The project is the brainchild of Kim Robards, whose background in education and expertise in professional dance give her a unique insight into the potential impact of arts education. Associate Executive Director of Kim Robards Dance, LaRana Skalicky, has had an active role in developing the project, and it has had a powerful effect on her as a dancer and as an educator: “This project has made it clear to me that dance can do great things for people at every level” says Skalicky. “I was working with a middle school girl with Cerebral Palsy at Fletcher Miller,” Skalicky remembers. “She couldn’t speak, and she had motor skills in one hand, which allowed her to control her wheelchair. We were asking students to form lines and make patterns through space by following a lead student. I chose this girl as a leader, but I have to admit, I expected to lead her along. I just wanted her to have a chance to be in front. I said to her, ‘Let’s move forward,’ and then tried to lead her forward. She broke away, and I asked her, ‘Do you want to move on the diagonal?’ She lifted her head, and I knew that she was expressing agreement. This was an incredible moment of breakthrough for me. I realized that this girl, who could not communicate verbally, was completely able to understand and to communicate understanding through movement. I think it was a great moment for her, too – a moment when somebody understood that she understood.” Tia Jensen, Fletcher Miller’s Adaptive Physical Education Teacher, agrees that the project has lasting benefits for students: “The A+ Dance Project brings a combination of music and movement to my classroom that enhances the whole child, physically and emotionally. My kids love the creative experience; it raises their self esteem and gives them a chance to express themselves nonverbally, through movement.” The project’s curriculum is defined by each school’s needs. For example, at an advanced track middle school Kim Robards Dance tailored their work with students to reflect current areas of study, including kinetics. “Through dance, we can use the body to experience how shapes effect shapes, how force effects force. We can ask the question ‘how does one thing move another?’ in a new way,” comments Artistic Director Kim Robards. Robards’ project is unique in its multilayered approach, creating a series of hands-on formal and informal arts experiences. “The idea is to give students access to all pieces of the arts experience,” Robards says. The project often begins working with a school by providing a whole school demonstration/narration performance; members of the school community watch a performance, hear about the process of choreography, witness evidence of the hard physical work of dance, and get opportunities to participate. On a more intimate level, dancers connect with teachers and students in the classroom. Teachers take dance workshops themselves, getting both a sense of what their students should expect and an opportunity to experience the pleasure and challenge of moving outside of their comfort zones. Students participate in workshops as well, becoming not only dancers, but also choreographers. As they create movement phrases, collaborate on a “focus piece,” and take part in performances, they build self-esteem and teamwork skills and enjoy creative expression. As a final component, student participants are often given the opportunity to attend a mainstage performance, where they can see the dancers’ work come together. Robards points out that seeing dance in a professional venue is yet another window into the world of the artist: “In the school, students see us up close; they know we’re out of breath; they see how hard we’re working. At the mainstage performance, they see the piece as a whole. It’s different from a distance, on a stage, with fine tuned lighting and sound.” Future plans for the project include a strong technology element. “Through interactive tools like video clips, chat rooms, and discussion groups, we hope to create excitement among those students who feel more comfortable online than on stage,” says Skalicky. “Thanks to grants from organizations like the Colorado Council on the Arts, we have the opportunity to impact educators, students, artists, and community members of all ages and backgrounds, expanding awareness of the potency of arts programming.” |