DANCING WITH THE DINOSAURS

Caryn Ott Hillman, Guest Teaching Artist

Oh Yeah, baby!  Dinosaur was the theme to this year's Opera For All and the song choices were soooooooo much fun!
Each song took on a different theme for me, as far as choreography:


Michael Jackson's Bad:

Without a doubt, MJ had a dance style all his own.  There is NO other way to dance to his music, so why fight it?   There were moves that I specifically took from different videos, like "The Lean" from Smooth Criminal, "Walk and Snap" from Beat It and the famous "Moonwalk."  The kids loved-loved-loved this dance and I loved teaching it! 

Katy Perry's Roar

I was excited about this song because of how strong it is.  I incorporated boxing and iconic super hero moves to personify the power of Strength!  Plus, I just had to make the kids real vocalize a Roar every time is was sung in the music.

1980's Walk The Dinosaur

This song takes me back because I was young when this song came out on the radio.  The 1980's had many style of dances that helped define that decade.  Some of my inspirations were from the movie The Breakfast Club and  the rap duo, Kid-N-Play.

Pharell's Happy

What makes me love this song so much is the clapping rhythm that exists throughout the song!  Every time I hear it on the radio in my car, I take my hands off the wheel to "Clap along if you feel what Happiness means to you."  Naturally, I added clapping.  And since I can never make any dance simple, I have different rhythms of clapping layered on top of each other by different groups in each class. (Yes - for this reason, Happy was the most challenging song that I taught!  That, and the fact that  - IT IS SUPER FAST!)  Thank goodness, the kids were proud of themselves when the nailed it.
 
 
 
IN LOVE WITH CHANGING FACES OF CHICAGO

 
     This Spring, Opera For All has chosen schools that seem to represent our changing world here in Chicago. Chase, Reilly and McAuliffe are three of the five schools that I choreographed for.  Based on seeing and hearing the children file into the auditoriums, I was compelled to utilize my very basic Spanish to connect with these 4th and 5th graders.  When instructing my dances, I used words like: durecha y izcierda (right and left), manos (hands),  pied (foot), rodilla (knee) and of course uno-dos-tres-quarto...

It may seem so simple to me and you but for these children, they appreciate being taken seriously.  If I can communicate with them easier and help them comprehend what I am asking them to do, why would I not try to speak in a language they feel more comfortable using?  

     I am realizing that whether we want it or not, the Latino and Hispanic cultures are becoming more and more dominant as our community is expanding.  It is inevitable.  I don't want to fight this metamorphosis, I want to change with the times.  Just like adapting to the new technology around us, we need to accept shifts in the way we USED to do things.  We need to  celebrate new additions to our community and culture.  We need to embrace the people that feel unwelcome and help them root themselves in our neighborhoods.  We all come from some line of immigrants and our ancestors were forced to endure this same transition.  Why can't we learn from the past and move past "scary" differences and offer an open heart without judgment?

     I, for one, am continuing to brush up on my Spanish (and technology knowledge) through Duo-lingo.  Next year, I hope to incorporate more verbs into my Spanish instruction and connect with these darling faces that are staring back at me.