Dance and Theatre Education at BDTS

AN UNCOMMON APPROACH TO DANCE EDUCATION

Dance classes in which the learning process is its own reward
At Barriskill our approach to dance education is aimed at helping our students find the intrinsic rewards of learning to dance rather than the external rewards we so commonly strive for.
FlowDance© is a method we have developed to deliver traditional dance curricula

• FlowDance© is a term we have applied to mean: the practical application of the principles and theories of "Flow Theory" observed by eminent psychologist M. Csikszentmihalyi to the dance education process.
• FlowDance© is a specific method of presentation or delivery of a dance curriculum in which the objective is to achieve a psychological state known as "Flow". Applied correctly it allows and encourages the use of traditional dance syllabi like Cecchetti, R.A.D., Vaganova, Luigi, Graham etc.
• The purpose of FlowDance© is to achieve a more intrinsic, present moment based interest in an activity rather than the more traditional extrinsic future based reward system.
• During a flow activity participants have reported feeling happy, satisfied, highly attentive and focused, creative, without self-consciousness and a complete sense of involvement.
• An activity that is reported as flow is said to be so gratifying that one does it simply for the sake of doing it regardless of how difficult it may be without any regard for what they will get out of it
• Most elite dancers report that they are less concerned with the rewards of performance (a highly paid job, recognition, applause etc) but simply dance for the sake of dancing
• The situation one is in when one is flowing is considered to be an optimal experience and the environment that provides that experience the "optimal environment
• FlowDance© is an attempt to more likely ensure an optimal learning environment for dance students.
• FlowDance© bridges the gap between what is considered to be the tedious, strenuous and slow teaching of dance technique with the more "fun" and pleasurable" teaching of recreational dance.
• Flow dance has 4 primary components
  i.  Physicality: "flow" is more likely to occur during strenuous physical activity.
  ii. Clarity of goals: rules and expectations to the student must be understandable, clear, precise and age appropriate.
  iii. Balance of challenge and skill level: there must be a thoughtful, progressive approach to skill training that is not too "boring" and slightly more challenging than current skills allow.
  iv. Feedback should be immediate, obvious and direct: students need to have feedback about the success of their efforts that progresses from the passive feedback offered by the teacher and the mirror to the self-directed feedback noted in the more mature kinesthetic sensations.

"Don't aim at success -- the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run -- in the long-run, I say! -- success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it. "

Viktor Frankl  Man's Search for Meaning 1946

"People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy. "

Mihaly Csikszentmihayi   Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990

When the experience of learning becomes its own reward, that's being in the "flow!" Perhaps when students are challenged in ways that make it possible for them to learn -- taking into consideration their ability, learning style, kinds of intelligence -- and in ways that are strongly motivating, more students may reach that enviable state that Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi so eloquently describes. His work is devoted to examining the state of "flow," how it comes about, and how it can be facilitated.

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi is professor of Human Development and Education at the University of Chicago, where he was formerly chairman of the Department of Psychology and Chairman of Human Development. After graduating and receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, he began his career as associate professor and chairman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Lake Forest College. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Maine, and also at universities in Finland, Brazil, Canada, and Italy.

Read Dr. Csikszentmihaly article in New Horizons for Learning