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Juilliard Performing Arts: Nord Anglia Does Dance
Would it be okay to have millions of students without access to math or language arts? Of course not, and Nord Anglia feels the same should not be tolerated in the arts.
In August, Nord Anglia teachers from all over the world congregated in New York City to learn how to implement Juilliard’s Creative Classroom dance curriculum. Not all of us were trained dance teachers, but we all shared the same ambition, to enrich the lives of our students through dance. We already understood how it helps interdisciplinary learning, encourages critical thinking and collaboration, and promotes cultural literacy. However, our approaches towards best practice varied, until now.
Sharing the learning goals is common practice, regardless the subject. From day one, this common modus operandi was dropped. As each workshop unfolded, we were blind to the learning goal, and we soon learned why. Each activity is designed to engage student’s prior knowledge, make connections to movement, offer creative challenges, before sharing their movement study. Only after we had viewed the relevant Core Work and reflected, did we understand the learning goal. Like Mr. Miagi directing Daniel-san to “wax on, wax off” before revealing to him that he already knew Karate, the Juilliard approach gave us the experience first, so we could then fully appreciate the already-learned goal. Through this process, many of us enjoyed our collaborative movement study as much as the Core Work itself, from Hip Hop to Flamenco, and the ownership that this gave us will never be forgotten. This is the essence of learning, and Juilliard’s Creative Classroom embraces and pioneers it.
is your school involved in the Juilliard Performing Arts Programme? Are you just starting or having you been involved in the past few years? You can find resources and support to help you in the Juilliard Performing Arts area of NAU. You’ll be able to talk to other teachers involved in the programme, your Curriculum Fellows and Juilliard as well!
Ben Lepp
G2 Teacher
Léman Chengdu International School