Workshop: The Aman Dance Educators help students, teachers and others learn dances from Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. With each workshop, participants also expand their knowledge of geography, history and culture, as well as improve their coordination, creativity and rhythm skills. Cooperation and teamwork drive these fascinating and engaging workshops. All lessons are carefully crafted to be grade-appropriate and to correspond to the California Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Standards. The work also makes connections to standards in History/Social Science, Foreign Language, math, English/Language Arts and Physical Education. These Aman educators work with schools to create a custom dance experience for students and can select workshops covering a variety of topics, including the following:

Dance and Community (all grade levels): In this residency, students use their bodies as active tools to learn about different cultures and to understand their own communities in new ways. Participants experience traditional folk dances from a variety of cultures and engage in creative activities that teach them how to create their own unique movement vocabulary that can culminate in a new community dance.

Legends through Dance (K-3rd grades): Sessions in this residency addresses the Language Arts Standards by using dance as the medium to tell stories. Featuring examples of Native American and Polynesian dances, these workshops allow students to explore the basic elements of dance, learn how to communicate or tell a story through gestures, and bring a legend to life through movement.

Dances of California/USA (4th and 5th grades): These workshops make curriculum connections to the 4th and 5th grade social studies standards by using line, square and circle dances from early United States history. The sessions can also include dances related to Fort Ross, California Ranchos and the Gold Rush.

Kristen Smiarowski brings a unique outlook and approach to teaching folk dance due to her extensive experience and training in creative movement, improvisation and choreography. Smiarowski has taught in many southern California schools, and is currently a teaching artist with the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning in the Arts. She also teaches dance at the Skirball Cultural Center, the UCLA Krieger Center, and is on faculty at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica. She holds an M.F.A. in Dance from UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures.

Kristen Smiarowski is also a member of the Aman Dance Educators. All seasoned professionals, the artists include Dawn Dyson, Kristen Smiarowski, Rosina Didyk, Lynnanne Hanson-Miller and Jane Glaser

Workshop Price:
$100 per 60-minute workshop, plus possible planning fee. Minimum three workshops per day must be scheduled.

Age Group: Pre-K - 12
Capacity: 1 Classroom (maximum of 35 students, plus regular teacher)
Availability: Year Round

Teacher In-Service: Price: $300/hour (2-hour minimum required).
Capacity: 40 Educators

To design an arts education program with this artist, please call (213) 250-ARTS or email schoolprograms@musiccenter.org.

Prices good thru 6-30-11