Professional Development for those wanting to teach adapted dance for older adults (65-90+).

Training content

18 october:

• Introduction to the subject of “Dance, Health and Ageing” and the practice of dance for seniors.
• Direct practical experience of a basic class for older adults to raise participants' awareness.
• • Demonstrate a safe, appropriate and progressive warm-up.
  • Increasing awareness of the breath.
  • Exploring the learning progression with weight transfer (WT) in place and moving in space. Increasing the complexity of the danced challenges: proprioceptive and spatial awareness.
  • Demonstrate different teaching styles, speeds and appropriate teaching vocabulary - specific non-body.
• Collective sharing of observations from practical experience.
• Discussion of the basic structure of the course.

13:00 – 17:00 - Progressive warm-up. What is it for? Why?

• Collective analysis of the progressive warm-up, best practice for seniors.
• Introduce OVAIM teaching considerations: Objectives, Velocity, Attention, Instruction (Language - External Attention Focus (EAF)) and Music (musicality/rhythm/choice)
• Create your own progressive warm-up - for dancers, standing and/or seated
• Teaching by the participants, sharing, observations and exchanges.

19 october:

9:00 – 12:00 - Why fall? Weight transfer and moving in space

• Introduction to the aggravating components of falls.
• • Identify the aggravating factors in loss of balance and falls in the elderly in relation to dance.
• A practical exploration of how to deal with some of the aggravating components of falls in dance.
• Taking into account different weight transfers (TdP) - specific and progressive challenges for seniors.
• Create your own basic ToP exercise for older people taking into account the OVAIM criteria: Objectives, Velocity, Attention, Instruction (FAE Language) and Music (Rhythm/Choice) studied.
• Teaching by the participants, sharing, observations and exchange.
• Introduction of the self-assessment cycle and pedagogical adaptations.

13:00 – 16:00 - Why creativity and improvisation? A practical introduction to improvisation strategies in dance for older people.

• An introduction to the importance and progression of improvisation for older people.
• • Theory: Levels of proprioceptive learning involved in dance.
• Practical exploration of various appropriate improvisation strategies.
• Create your own improvisation exercise for the elderly
• Teaching by the participants, sharing, observations and exchange.

Closing: Considerations for learning progression, inclusion and adaptation

• Collective realisation of the process of reducing/decomposing the complex movement.
• • Identify the levels of complexity involved in dance movement.
• Sharing, observation and exchange.

Professor

Clare Guss-West MA, dance and health specialist.

Language

French