|
Moving
Words
Northern Ballet Theatre have developed
an exciting new poetry project for primary schools, entitled
‘Moving Words’, which they have delivered for
the first time in four Leeds schools.
An innovative new way of teaching combines
strands of national curriculum dance, music and literacy using
poetry as a stimulus for creative dance workshops.
Pupils learnt about movement through
creating dance with music in response to their feelings about
the rhythms and imagery in the poems, which has helped them
with their literacy skills. They worked mainly in groups,
which encouraged them to really improve their teamwork and
communication skills.
During the 3-week project, the pupils
got to know NBT Dance Education Officer, Sophie Alder, and
musicians Sam Bell and Kate Illsley. By the 2nd week, the
pupils had memorised their warm-up exercises and were instructing
the musicians.
Sophie Alder said of project:
“It was really interesting to see how the children responded
in different schools and how they created completely different
sequences, even though they were working on the same poem.
It was also nice to work in a different way with the musicians;
they were very much involved in the session and working with
the children, instead of just accompanying them.
“Using dance in this way enabled
the children who weren’t so strong academically, to
be able to access poetry and literature, allowing them to
excel in a different way. This made it possible for teachers
to see different strengths in the children.
“I think ‘Moving Words’
was an adventurous project to undertake as it involved dance,
music and English, but it has been great to find a different
way of engaging children in poetry. We are going to developed
this project further, working more deeply on specific skills
and targeting a wider range of schools.”
‘Moving Words’
will be offered to primary schools in January 2007 in Leeds.
To find out more about
the projects Northern Ballet Theatre’s Learning &
Access department can offer, please contact Jo Dean, Learning
Access Co-ordinator, on: 0113 274 5355 or email: jo.dean@northernballettheatre.co.uk
|
