A few weekends ago Henny Penny had a dance recital. One of the perks of living next to a University is you get to take advantage of the many programs they offer such as dance classes for youth.
My neighbor across the street introduced us to this dance program. Her daughter participated and invited us to one of her concerts.
I was so impressed at how the dance company allowed the little girls to be little girls. There wasn't the usual shaking of the hips and gyrating that you see today and wonder why we are teaching little girls to act like they are going to have careers walking the streets when they are older.
They start the children out teaching them to let their bodies move and flow with the music. Slowly they introduce technique.
So refreshing! When we went to this recital to see Henny Penny we watched other classes of younger children skip, and twirl, and hop, and more skipping........ little girls being little girls.
As I sat and watched and listened to their little bare feet pitter patter across the stage back and forth I couldn't help but smile and feel uplifted inside!
It reminded me of little girls playing princess or galloping ponies together. Things little girls should be doing.
In Henny Penny's dance number, the little girls were encouraged to choreograph their dance. They were broken up into groups and each group would come up with a series of moves. The teacher then put the moves together to make up their dance. The results as you will see is beautiful. Little girls being little girls.
I present to you Henny Penny's dance number: (sorry for the video quality..... it's lousy but you'll get the idea).
That was so sweet. Loved the music and the dancing. Makes my heart feel full and happy. Thanks Henny Penny for making my day.
ReplyDeleteAnd I still have to try the yotube thing.
Be brave! Try youtube!! You can do it!!!
DeleteThat is how I felt watching Henny Penny and these girls dancing. My heart felt happy!
what a beautiful celebration of joyful youth and innocence - you must have been really proud xxx
ReplyDeleteI am proud of Henny Penny. I was so excited when we were introduced to this dance company and love how they do celebrate innocence and youth.
Deletelucky you!! and lucky Henny Penny! A great opportunity....good for everyone involved!
ReplyDeleteWe really are lucky! There are several things we are able to take advantage of with the University being so close.
DeleteI'm so glad you recorded it! I smiled too when I finally picked out Henny Penny!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you introduced us to this dance company!!!!! Henny Penny has loved it!
Deletethis is especially meaningful for me today. i just got done sitting through almost 2 hours of dance at the high school on saturday morning to watch emma dance. she took a dance class in place of gym for her freshmen year. she has told me all year that her decision to take dance was a mistake. oh rachel. at the end of the 2 hours i wanted to cry. children. CHILDREN dancing like - i don't even want to type it. it was disgusting. out of the 150 girls participating emma was one of TWO girls that chose to wear an undershirt under her costume. she did all that she could to do the dances as told by her teachers without thrusting things around the way the moves were supposed to have her do. watching all 150 of those LITTLE GIRLS in sexy costumes dancing to music that just...UGH. i just can't write anymore about it. it was horrible.
ReplyDeletethis video was BEAUTIFUL. i cried. why can't we just let children BE CHILDREN?
Oh Misty. My heart. I know what you are talking about...... Brian and I went last summer to a dance concert in the park and were so sad watching all of these young girls acting like they wanted careers with a pole. It breaks my heart and it makes me mad that society is okay with this.
DeleteIt's like walking into the training bra section and seeing them all PADDED!!! Why would you do that???
holy cow yes. it really is sad. i just kept thinking, "but...these are little girls! they are only 15 years old! for crying out loud! just little girls still! but they look like - women.. naughty rated r women..."
Deletesad sad sad!!!!!!
Way to GO, Henny Penny! This was beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteA future for Emmma! :D
DeleteSo very beautiful. Natural and fluid. I love the costumes too. They're simple, elegant, and allow you to focus on the dancers. Just as it should be.
ReplyDeleteMy middling has a recital coming up this week too. The costumes and dance moves are in no way sexy, thank goodness, but there IS a lot of fluff and sparkle this year. It's shocking how expensive fluff and sparkle is.
Yes! The costumes! Exactly. The company provides the costumes. They reuse them year after year. It keeps the costs down and as you said, it doesn't distract.
DeleteWhat a beautiful expression of childhood fun and energy.
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful. Watching it in person was even more so. How rare to be able to say watching a dance is spiritual but it was! It literally was a spiritual experience!
DeleteAmen! Amen! and Amen!!!!
ReplyDeleteRachel that was really beautiful! I totally agree with where you are coming from and am quite glad that I don't have girls when I see the way they are dressed these days and yes the way they dance??? What are the parents thinking letting a 5yr old wear a bra? My friend in England has a daughter who is part of a dance group called Steps in Time and they all wear traditional costumes and do the old traditional dances and they look so pretty. I loved the costumes Henny Penny and the girls were wearing...so fluid and beautiful for dancing. The girls all looked proud of their efforts as well and so they should be, beautiful! Thanks for sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteMy friend - Ariane N. ran this program for years and years. I sent her a link to your blog because you are describing the kind of program she created. She'll be pleased with what you've written and the video, as well.
ReplyDeleteJUST LOVELY and so FREE FLOWING!
Oh neat! I'm so glad she started this program. It has been such a blessing.
DeleteI wasn't 100% sure, so I checked. I'm pretty sure HP's class would fall under the category of modern dance. Sometimes modern dance is down right weird, but if you want to find a dance experience that isn't trashy, modern is a pretty safe bet. One description I found says modern dance is about power and expression of the human soul. I've also found the PHS ballroom program to be pretty decent. Some of the latin dances are a bit sexy, but I wouldn't call them trashy. The director holds the kids to a really high standard. Trouble is, the jr high ballroom programs leave a lot to be desired by way of quality. There are also a lot of traditional and folk dancing opportunities around here. I always wanted to join a folk dancing group.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such a lovely example of dancing. I almost forgot these things existed.
Kathy, you're right. It is a modern dance type dance that she is doing.
DeleteI'm with you. There are several forms of dance that I would love to learn.
Modern dance can be anything, guys - from the beginning, it was fairly sexual in nature. As I recall, one of the first performances was - oh, what was her name? So flamboyant. She was buck naked and took half an hour "flowing" herself into a standing position. Martha Graham is NOT this person, but did a lot of choreography like what I've seen here, and that's the stuff we like. I am on your team here about all this - after seeing the orem high cheerleaders looking like gleeful street-walkers drumming up business in the 4th of July parade and the Provo High dance club, ditto.
ReplyDeleteKathy, I've seen latin I would certainly call trashy.
The world has had a problem since the late 50s, - hmmmm - maybe since the advent of TV, actually - trying to push children into the adult, sexualized world. There are books on it. The Hurried Child is a powerful and enjoyable read. If parents like you, Misty, don't stand up and make sense about it, these idiots the schools hire to do dance will just get stupider.
Now, about this. Kirsten is going to end up taller than both you and the SM. And looking at the shots, I can't think of anything better than what you're doing with her to teach her how to handle that length of arm and leg. You either get grace or awkwardness out of a long body like that - and the training makes the diff between beauty and confidence - and lurpiness and self-doubt. Karate is also good to help a child learn how to drive the body.
She loves it - you can see it in her face. And she will be a more beautiful woman because of this - in her soul, her movement, her confidence. She is built for elegance. Keep her going. Dance is wonderful - systemic - elemental.
I know! Where in the world did she get those long limbs??? She and Mr. C! Possibly Mr. T if he keeps growing.........
DeleteI'm glad of it. The SM and I are more on the short shanks side of things.......... We need to get some height into this family! Mr. J and Mr. M certainly aren't going to be the ones to do so. :D