Thanks to generous support from Lane Arts Council and the City of Eugene, Sparkplug Dance will share dance and learning with audiences of all ages.
We'll offer an informal performance geared for children (and kids at heart) featuring Sparkplug Dance's students, dancers from Lane Community College, and more.
After the show, we'll invite you to stay for a lively introductory dance workshop for educators, caregivers and kids. Find ways to bring more movement and creativity to your school or home!
Join us! These workshops are drop-in, and free:
| Saturday, April 25 |
Hilyard Community Center (26th & Hilyard, Eugene) 2PM performance 3PM - 4PM workshop |
| Saturday, May 2 | Eugene Public Library (Bethel Branch) 10:30AM performance Eugene Public Library (Downtown Branch) 2PM performance 3PM- 4PM workshop |
Sparkplug Dance has been awarded $10,000 by the Phileo Foundation to provide free workshops for the early childhood community throughout 2009. We're honored to share resources with you, and to be a part of your vital network.
Who we are: A non profit 501c3, founded in 2004, Sparkplug Dance Educational Resources helps communities to unite in their vision and vigor to build the arts and physical activity into every child's education.
Who you are: On staff at an organization serving the early childhood education, health and human services, disabled or early intervention community.
What we're doing: Curricular, brain-based movement and creativity workshops focused on prenatal, infant, toddler, Prek and early elementary education.
When will workshops begin? The first workshop will be Wed. Feb 25, 9AM-noon, at Washington Park Comm. Center, in Eugene. (West 22nd and Washington, on college hill.)
How can I sign up? We will register participants on a first-come first-serve basis. Space is limited to 15 per workshop. Use the registration form to the right.
Do I have to be available for the whole series? No, we will offer the same workshop several times over the course of the year, so we hope your team will find a schedule that works for you. We recommend that you take time for all the components, though, since they're all super fun, and build on each other.
Looking for more information about Sparkplug Dance? For testimonials, class descriptions and background info, please explore this website!
More questions? Would you like to host a workshop? Great!
Please see workshop descriptions, and schedule, below:
"Look at me, I'm becoming neurologically hardwired!" Human Movement Patterning and Brain Development
Learn how movement impacts the developing brain and how we can use current brain research to help us to stimulate and nurture our children. Examine the connection between movement and correlated physical and cognitive skills. Explore creative movement activities that focus on the social and emotional intelligence.
Feb 25, 9AM-noon, Washington Park Community Center
From "Special needs" to "Talented and Gifted," Bending the spectrum to encircle all learners
Bringing together the work of professionals, practitioners, and advocates from the fields of arts and culture, education, and disability services, this hands-on workshop and training session focuses on an introduction to the principles and practices of inclusive programming in developmental movement/ creative dance. Participants from a variety of learning communities learn to utilize the social intelligence, especially rich in modalities such as creative dance, music, drama, creative writing and visual art, to foster a sense of emotional belonging, to create participatory possibilities and to encourage physical and cognitive growth and development for all students.
April 8, 9AM-noon, Washington Park Community
Center, West 20th and Washington St., Eugene
Teen Parent Program: Finding Balance
The Finding Balance workshop addresses the physical and cognitive needs of babies, toddlers and preschoolers; and how movement patterning in early life can enhance the natural learning process. Includes lecture/demo and Developmental Movement classes with teens and their children, where academic ideas are reinforced through play and nurturance of their own Little Ones.
May 6, 9AM-noon, Washington Park Community
Center, West 20th and Washington St., Eugene
Creative Movement as a Learning Tool in Early Childhood Education
In this hands-on workshop, we'll actively explore the theory of the multiple intelligences. Throughout the class, we'll emphasize opportunities for inclusion and engagement for children of all abilities, the ways in which movement enhances brain growth and development, and how and why to bring movement play into kids' lives and learning every day.
June 3, 9AM-noon, Washington Park Community
Center, West 20th and Washington St., Eugene