Minute Masterclass Episode 45

Welcome to your one-minute masterclass. I’m Andrea Trench, founder of DiscoverDance. Today, we are beginning a new minute masterclass series on the conceptual approach to dance education. I like to compare conceptual learning to learning the alphabet. Many children as young as two (maybe even younger) can recite the ABC song. It’s the cutest thing to hear them babble out the alphabet as their caregivers look upon them with deep pride and excitement. 

The truth is, if you showed a toddler a picture of an A, she probably wouldn’t be able to tell you it’s an A, the sound an A makes, or that it’s even a part of the alphabet. When she sings her ABCs, she’s just mimicking the sounds she had heard over and over again from her caregivers. At two, she does not know the concepts of what makes the alphabet, the alphabet. 

This is true for dance as well! We can plié and tendu all day long, but if we do not understand the concepts of what makes a plié a plié and a tendu a tendu well, we are just copying a shape (and possibly creating undesired habits that will be harder to break as we grow). There are underlying concepts that apply to every movement in dance. This is where conceptual teaching comes in. 

DiscoverDance teaches dance through the exploration of the concepts of dance. By creating these connections between the brain and the body, our students grow to understand the essence of movement and the mechanics of dance. In upcoming episodes, we will dive into the 11 core concepts of the DiscoverDance method and why they are important to create a solid movement foundation. For more information, visit DiscoverDance.com.

*Click HERE for additional resources on the conceptual approach to dance education.