BRYN MAWR DANCERS WIN RAVE REVIEWS FROM CHILDREN

Andrea Betancourt '05, Megan Snyder '07 and Amie Claire Raymond '05

During the weeks just before Winter Break, 10 Bryn Mawr students introduced children in elementary schools in Philadelphia to an unusual new learning method – dance. Led by Associate Director of Dance Mady Cantor, the Bryn Mawr students presented an educational program focusing on geography and ecology to assemblies at eight public schools in low-income areas of Philadelphia. Letters and drawings children sent to the dancers after performances testify to the audiences’ enthusiasm.

Cantor has been taking groups of student dancers on the community-service road for the past eight years. She says it’s an opportunity for the college students to learn about Philadelphia, see urban public education first hand and get performing experience — some were inexperienced dancers who had never faced an audience before. For the elementary-school students, it’s a chance to see performers and learn that dance can convey ideas and stories, explains Cantor.

"Kinesthetic learning has been shown to be very effective, but there is little room for it in the Philadelphia public-schools curriculum," Cantor says. "I’ve heard from teachers and principals whose students have seen these programs that they made a deep impression on some students they have trouble engaging with more traditional instruction."

The dancers worked in two casts. Crista Fuentes '07, Stephanie Hunt '07, Ginger Kelly '06, Becki Schroeder '07 and Mridula Shankar '06 visited four schools, and Caroline Anderson '07, Andrea Betancourt '05, Amie Claire Raymond '05, Sarah Sadar '06 and Megan Snyder '07 visited four different schools. Both casts performed two pieces written and choreographed by Cantor, who narrated the performance. In one piece, the dancers, representing the continents, illustrated the theory of continental drift: they started out clustered together as the supercontinent of Pangea and roamed to new positions. Another piece presented the tale of a battle between a sandpiper and a whale for the waters around a South Pacific island, offering a message about sharing natural resources.

Teachers reviewed the material covered in the dances beforehand, and the troupe solicited audience participation. At question-and-answer sessions following performances, children displayed intense interest in both dance and college. "For many of these kids, college is not a fmiliar notion," Cantor said, "and few have seen a formal dance performance before. This introduces them to some entirely new ideas."

Original music for the show was written by Ray Lindsey, and costumes were designed by Heidi Barr. "I think it’s important, when presenting dance performances to naïve audiences, to make sure that the production values are very high," Cantor said. "It’s a mistake to think they won’t know the difference. "Everyone deserves good, thoughtfully made, thought-provoking art." The high quality of music and design is important in holding their attention. You can see that in the level of detail in some of the drawings their teachers send us – one, for instance, used precisely the right colors for the complex costumes. Another drew the exact location and shape of the props."

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