This semester I’ve had an amazing time volunteering with NCAIA and their weekend arts program. Being able to act as a dance teacher, demonstrate, and interact with so many young dancers has been so fun and fulfilling. It has been incredibly rewarding to see students start to come out of their shells when I dance with them or help them understand a piece of choreography. I’ve loved learning about different strategies to effectively teach individual dancers as well as the ways in which dance can act as a medium to help learn about other subjects. For example, the dancers are currently working on a project about exploring North Carolina, its history, and its notable figures. They are incorporating research, writing, and choreography into their projects and it has opened my eyes to how dance can be a vehicle to help students learn and express their ideas. This is a concept I learned about last semester, but it has been really exciting to see it happen in real life.
Looking forward, I am really excited to create a long-term partnership with NCAIA. I spoke with 2 of the other teachers/coordinators last weekend when I was volunteering and they were enthusiastic about the idea. They want to get in contact with Mrs. McDonald, my content advisor, as well so that we can brainstorm what would be most helpful to the program. Mrs. McDonald has been really helpful throughout this process because she has been able to advise me on how to begin these conversations with representatives of various organizations. She has also helped me come up with numerous ideas for what a potential partnership could look like. I am really excited to continue my study and hopefully form a beneficial partnership.