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THE MARIN COUNTY DANCE CO-OPERATIVES:

TEACHING DANCE TO CHILDREN

I began to teach dance to children in 1940 as a student intern at the University of Wisconsin where I was getting my undergraduate degree. In Boston (1942-43) I taught children again, both at a settlement house for impoverished youth and at a private school for children from wealthy families. I learned an important lesson during these years about the environmental influences on movement, socialization, and childhood development. When I moved to Marin County I became instrumental in developing the Marin County Dance Co-operatives (1947), and through the Dance Co-op I taught dance for the next twenty-five years to children in the community where I lived. I loved teaching children, although I did not value it in the same way I valued my life as a performing artist, and I learned many things about creativity and spontaneity from children, which later found their way into my work as a performer and teacher of other artists.

The following text is excerpted from my writings of 1949-57.

THE MARIN COUNTY DANCE CO-OPERATIVES

The Marin County Dance Co-operatives are a collective enterprise, fueled by the energy of the parents, children, and all the communities involved. The mothers assume the responsibility of management. Together, they design exhibits and posters and plan special events to keep the whole community informed of the activities of the dance co-operatives. The purpose of the Dance Co-ops is to give Bay Area children and adults an experience in creative dance and an awareness of the potential of rhythm and movement as they are manifest in daily life. The co-operatives are entirely independent organizations functioning under the management and supervision of community members. The Dancers’ Workshop faculty provides qualified instruction and assures the maintenance of the highest possible educational standards, but it is the voluntary participation of the parents and friends which makes these classes possible at a minimum cost and well within the means of the average family group.¹ At this time, there are fifteen dance co-ops functioning in various communities in the area and it has been estimated that these co-operatives provide direct opportunities for dance training to more than two thousand people each year.

The children are fully participating on all levels: they’re making music; they’re in their own circle; they are supporting one of their playmates; they’re being given responsibility to create their own experience.

Photo by Ernest Braun, 1953.

From the response of the children, the teacher gets her cue whether to dance about fairies and flowers or fire engines and scribbly houses.

Photographer Unknown.

The Marin County Dance Co-operatives are a fascinating and successful example of the organic development of dance within the life of a modern community. To my knowledge, these co-operatives constitute a unique experiment in the United States. After three years, they have grown in size, number and general community acceptance. Every indication exists that they fulfill a real need in the life of this California community. We believe the story of the Marin County Dance Co-operatives is applicable to other communities and other areas of life.

The immediate stimulus for beginning the co-operatives was a children’s demonstration of dance that I coordinated. Some Marin County parents were present and pounced on the idea of dance classes with great enthusiasm. They decided at once that Marin should have dance classes of that sort and determined to organize the classes themselves. Meetings were called by the parents, and almost overnight, a space was allocated for classes, which started naturally enough with the little girls. Soon there were demands for boys classes, and the mothers bought themselves leotards. Classes grew and grew, and the co-operatives became more active. Soon dance concerts and demonstrations were sponsored and dance literature was made available to the community. The moving force behind the whole organization are the hardworking mothers who, having organized the classes, collected tuition, checked on attendance, and arranged for classrooms, keep the co-operatives functioning. They have not only kept the classes active and alive, but have made the whole idea an important element in the life of the community. Through them, dance has extended its influence throughout the whole fabric of Marin County.

What is the significance of the Marin County Dance Co-operatives? First, they are symbolic of the possibility of re-establishing a community’s direct participation in an art form. Second, the dance artist and teacher has been given the dignity of place within her own community. Third, because of the non-profit element of the co-operative, large numbers of people can afford dance classes. This will, it is hoped, raise the level of excellence in the dance product.

Probably the most exciting aspect of this experiment is to see art fuse with the life of a community, to watch its influence on children and adults, and to see it grow from something alien and esoteric to something very alive and close and fun to be part of—truly a co-operative, communal enterprise.

The children are tuning up their senses.

Photo by Ernest Braun, 1953.

Children using streamers to experience the visual patterns of their movement.

Photo by Ernest Braun, 1953.

THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

It is important that the child’s everyday experience be brought into focus by the teacher in the dance class. It is also an enhancement that the teacher add to whatever is lacking in the child’s realm of experience. The teacher can bring this approach to class by knowing the characteristics of the child’s age level, being aware of her background influences and keeping up with the subjects she is learning in school. The teacher must also have established a friendly and sympathetic atmosphere in the classroom so that the children are free to respond. From the response of the children, the teacher can get her cue whether to dance about fairies and flowers or fire engines and scribbly houses, or just a wiggly movement with a sudden stop. In teaching this way, you never know exactly what will happen in advance of a class. The teacher must plan, but the plans need to be flexible. Therefore a children’s class is never repeated the same way twice. Each class should be a creation in itself—a completed dance drama that captures the essence of a child’s life in that one moment.

DANCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING

We can think of training, first of all, in terms of a learning process. For a child to learn and to progress in technical training, she must have a desire and interest in this direction. What an enthusiastic student she will become if she is aware not only of “what” she is doing but “why” she is doing it. If her technical training is grounded in a kinesthetic awareness of movement, it will be a pleasurable experience. If, in the presentation of a movement idea, the teacher permits the student to take an active role in its development and she is given the freedom to try for herself until the movement “feels right,” she will be able to find meaning in what she is doing.

The child strives for perfection because she understands what she is doing. Her effort takes on purpose, and her attitude will be alert and inquisitive. Over a period of time, she develops initiative and self-discipline. She finds a zest and joy in the learning process. She must be continually activated in her learning in order to develop. A wise teacher will give increasing demands and challenges with very careful respect to the child’s level of development, thereby avoiding discouragement and frustration by not forcing the child beyond her capacity. The child, when ready to meet these new demands, can then work with concentration for the desired control and refinement. Her achievement of these ideals will give her the motivation to continue.

In addition to the process of learning, there is a question—“What is she learning?” She is learning the science of body movement itself, rhythmic factors, elements of force and space, and the relationships of moving with other people, among other things. She is also learning how to discover dance ideas from what she feels, sees and hears. She learns how to use the materials of dance to shape movement experiences into patterns and to create forms for her dance ideas. The result is that her knowledge is not limited to rigid techniques but rather to fundamental materials of dance that draw upon the vast potential resources of the child herself and the principles of art.

A technical training of this nature will enable the child to acquire aesthetic values of images of beauty that emerge out of her own well-spring of responses. What one child has created is shared with others in the class, what they have created as a group is shared together, and in this way, the children gain from each other a breadth of aesthetic values. Because each child has formed her expression in her own way, there are individual differences. Seeing these differences helps all the children be flexible and open-minded, and appreciative and responsive to the feelings and attitudes of others.

A training which integrates technique with expression at every level of the child’s growth will bring forth a child who dances with spontaneity, the freshness and vitality of the expressive mind flowing through the muscles and nerves. When children are trained in the disciplines of intrinsic art principles, they dance with great grace and freedom.

NOTE

1. Classes cost fifty cents apiece. Teachers for the co-ops were trained at Dancers’ Workshop and included A. A. Leath, Norma Leistiko, John Graham, and many others.