Creative Movement

About Creative Movement

In Creative Movement, students learn movement fundamentals through dance, games, music, and imagination-based activities to help build coordination, spatial awareness, balance, and critical thinking skills. No prior dance experience needed.

What Kinds of Movement Activities Are There in Creative Movement?

Creative Movement is a movement class with a strong dance focus, though activities vary between coordinated, rhythmic movement (in other words, dance), and activites focused around movement fundamentals like coordination, balance, jumping, and stretching.

While this is not a class that teaches a specific dance discipline, Creative Movement is intended to prepare students for a broad range of movement activities, including sports, as well as dance technique classes like our Ballet, Tap, & Hip Hop class, which serves as an excellent follow-up class for students interested in learning specific dance styles.

Typical activities in Creative Movement can include, among other things:

• an open "runway" when they arrive marked out by colored cones for students to begin moving at their own pace as they feel ready to join
• a dance-based warm-up accompanied by music where they are invited to copy the instructor's movements
• "animal dances" where students choose an animal and show how they might move like that animal
• dancing with small squares of light, colorful fabric to engage their upper limbs and learn about object manipulation
• light stretches
• jumping practice where they learn to try new kinds of jumps over a line on the floor
• balance practice where they try walking on a piece of colored tape placing one foot in front of the other

Who is Creative Movement Designed for?

Creative Movement is designed for young children between the ages of 2.5 and 5.5 who find joy in movement and imagination.

Students who are new to classroom settings will find ample encouragement and an abundance of patience as we warmly invite participation and foster movement curiosity. Students will have plenty of time and ample encouragement to acclimate to social interaction and group activities at their own pace.

Ages: 2.5–5.5 years.

Class Schedule & Meeting Location

This class meets weekly for forty-five minutes on Saturdays starting at 10 a.m. on the second floor in the room between the gym/basketball courts and the track area.

When exiting the elevator on the second floor, it will be directly ahead. When coming up the stairs, it will be behind you, turning all the way around to your right.

Class Structure

Class begins with a brief warm-up to help the students prepare their bodies for the rest of class. This is typically followed by a short stretch exercise and a variety of dance and imagination-based movement activities to help students develop their curiosity and coordination.

Attire

Clothing should be comfortable, non-obstructive, and support safe, dynamic movement in all spatial planes. Some wearable items like toy jewelry, capes, and the like can obstruct some kinds of movement or pose safety hazards. Consider safe, non-obstructive alternatives.

Shoes

Footwear requirement: none. Class can be done in soft-soled shoes such as ballet slippers, or in comfortable, non-marking sneakers.

Accessibility & Inclusivity

In Creative Movement, I use a dual system of auditory and visual communication methods to help students receive and process instruction information in a variety of ways. Class instruction is also provided bilingually in English and Spanish; I also am proficient in a number of other languages including French, Portuguese, Persian (Farsi), and American Sign Language (ASL), though students who require ASL interpretation are encouraged to contact the City of Evanston (see below) regarding ASL interpretation (which I am not certified to provide).

In my young children's dance classes, I incorporate activity "sign-posting" where I describe activities and classroom plans and any accompanying expectations before we begin as well as how long they are expected to take. Similarly, I also announce when activites are about to conclude and what will follow next.

Furthermore, I include sensory check-ins with students to make sure music volume levels are appropriate, and I also support students who want or might benefit from sensory breaks.

Given the nature of recreational activities for young children, one thing to keep in mind for the Creative Movement class's age range is that some strong auditory stimuli can occur especially as young children vocalize. Students are encouraged and empowered to take sensory breaks as needed, and all activities are invitations to join (i.e., not compulsory).

City of Evanston Accessibility Statement

The City of Evanston is committed to promoting a city-wide culture of accessibility and inclusivity. To request an accomodation for a program, service, or activity, please call 847-866-2919 to make an ADA service request or fill out a request form online at evanstonil.qscend.com/311.