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Pre-School Class Preparation

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Teacher article

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I find that the summer is a great time to sit down and really take some time to plan classes for the fall. For our pre-school age children we offer two fifteen week sessions and so I like to make sure that the dancers will be taught as much technique as possible. By using stories from the Ballets and making sure that they become used to using different props it gives the dancers a good chance of understanding how to do different movements. In my experience, using props such as scarves, hoops, flags, crowns and stuffed animals not only make the classes fun but also teach the dancers to have spatial awareness and dexterity of the hands. The stories from the well known ballets and books such as Angelina Ballerina are also extremely good teaching tools because young dancers who have wonderful imaginations can become engrossed in the story and this gives you, as a teacher, a way to enact the story by using classical technique and making it fun and approachable. It is so important to stimulate these young dancers both mentally and physically and if you do you will have no trouble getting them to attend every class.

Author

Angela D'Valda Sirico

Angela D'Valda Sirico

Originally from England, Angela spent her early years in Hong Kong where she studied with Carol Bateman. She continued her training at Arts Educational Trust in England. After moving to New York City she continued her studies with Martha Graham and Matt Mattox. She appeared with the Matt Mattox Company and toured with the first Disney On Parade working with Disney and N.B.C. Contracted to the Teatro National of Buenos Aires she performed for one year and spent an additional year as a featured soloist at the Teatro Maipo, Argentina. Travelling to Madrid, Spain she worked for Spanish television in a weekly variety show Tarde Para Todos and from there decided to form her own Dance Company. With the Company she choreographed and performed throughout Spain in theatres, and on television. Angela met her husband Steve while working together on a television special The Valerie Peters Show filmed in Tampa, Florida. In 1979 they formed the Adagio act DValda & Sirico appearing in theatres, clubs and on television shows such as David Letterman, Star Search and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. In 1982 they were contracted to Europe and appeared in a variety of shows in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Italy before going to London, England where they appeared as Guest Artists for Wayne Sleep (formerly of the Royal Ballet) in his show Dash at the Dominium Theatre. Angela and Steve have owned and directed their dance studio in Fairfield, CT. for the past twenty two years and in 2005 added music and vocal classes to their curriculum. Angela served as chairperson for the tri state panel of the Royal Academy of Dancing and is Co-author of a Partner syllabus currently used for teacher training by Dance Educators of America. She continues to adjudicate and teach for major dance organizations and choreographs for theatre, television and conventions and was commissioned by Boston Ballet 11 to choreograph the highly acclaimed Brother Can You Spare A Dime? DValda & Sirico are currently in production choreographing the opening to the National Speakers Association convention on Broadway at the Marriott Marquis for August of 2008. Angela is co-owner of Dance Teacher Web designed as an online resource for teachers worldwide.

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