WORKSHOP SPOTLIGHTS
Indi Diarra | Mali & USA
One of the workshops I have been conducting is“ Bust A Groove”. In this workshop, students learn through a more hands-on, physical approach. Regardless of dancing ability( or lack thereof), students can choose the session that best suits them, either by time or artist, and come learn a K-pop dance for two hours.
One might ask,“ What does learning a dance teach me other than the choreography?” Well, dancing also teaches confidence, hones observational skills and gets the body moving. Those studying to be teachers know that variation in the classroom is important. Generally, students cannot just sit down and listen the whole time; there needs to be a more physical activity. Dancing is also a good way to exercise and can be very relaxing and fun. Through this workshop, students develop and build skills in an innovative and entertaining way.
Left: Students showing off some of the dance moves they learned in Indi’ s“ Bust a Groove” workshop. Right: Students pose after“ guiding” their peers to different tourist destinations via the New York subway.
Belinda Zhou | USA
A workshop that I really enjoyed presenting was“ Discovering New York City”, which is about my hometown. In this workshop, students were first asked to share what they knew about New York. Most of this information came from films or TV shows, so they often named famous sights, such as Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, and Central Park. However, most students did not have further knowledge about New York, so we went over famous foods, such as bagels with lox( salmon), and music genres important to the city, like hip-hop. Students then tried to navigate the New York City subway system, which has almost 500 stops, by looking at a map and trying to connect three tourist sites. This proved to be a challenge for most students, but since they all have experience with public transportation, they were usually much better at navigating than many of the tourists I have met.
During the activities, students often asked me about what it is like to live in New York. A common question I would get was about safety, since many films and songs portray my hometown as a very dangerous place. In reality, while it is not as safe as Hong Kong, New York is quite safe as long as one stays alert. I also had a chance to talk about growing up in a Chinatown and compare it to living in Hong Kong. New York City is famous for a variety of things, but I really appreciated the opportunity to share some of its lesser-known aspects with students in my workshop.
MARCH 2018 4