Can you believe we are nearly half way through November friends?! The fall is flying right by! Today we are sharing our Body Gratitude movement cards and a few different ways that you could use them in your dance classes this month. Before we get into all the details about how to use them, we also want to remind you that these would be a great tool to use for NHSDA's "Love Your Body Week" that takes place November 17-23. If you have not used their resources before, please take advantage. This is such an important initiative that promotes body-positive dance environments. If you want more info on "Love Your Body Week" visit https://www.ndeo.org/nhsda/lybw .
Now, the first way that you could use these cards is to draw a body part out of the pile and have students improvise while paying special attention to that body part. Can they initiate with that body part? Can they show care to that body part? Can they make that body part the focus of their movement? This would for sure also be a mindfulness exercise where as students focus on that body part, they can tell themselves all of the things they appreciate about that body part. This could be a great warm up or creative exploration.
Another way you could use the cards would be to have the students focus on the synonym words on the card that help describe that body part, or its functions. Students could each draw a card, and try moving to each word on the card, or make a combo that includes movement that represents each word on the card. This could be a great way to teach the idea of abstraction vs. pantomime.
You could also use these cards as the inspiration for a movement meditation. You could say the body part on each card, as well as the words that are listed on the card, and allow students to meditate and move while they consider that body part. I like to have my students close their eyes during movement meditations, and I also like to turn the lights low, so that students do not have to worry about what they look like during the movement meditation.
I am sure there are many other ways to use these cards, but these are a few of the ways that seemed most natural to me. Please feel free to share how you used these cards in your class, and don't forget to love and appreciate your body as the teacher for all of your students. It has served you so well. Sending love and gratitude your way!
Keep Dancing!
-Whitney
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