Past K - 12 Residencies

Here are examples of residencies for different grades.
You may email a request for the DVD with highlights from each of the programs.

Dewey Elementary – Grades K-5, Evanston, IL

Duration: We met with each grade once/day for 5 concurrent days, Dec 1 – 5, 2008. We were onsite from 9 am – 3pm each day.

For Grades K – 2, we taught a routine of solo steps, incorporating movements from the Swing Era dances of the Charleston, Black Bottom and Lindy Hop. There was also a “call and response” section where the girls and the boys had unique moves. The students sang the “cuing phrases” while they were dancing, further engaging their minds along with their bodies.

For Grades 3 -5, we taught the basic rhythms and turns of East Coast Swing. The students rotated partners to heighten their respect for and responsibility to many of their peers.

The weeklong program concluded with a Friday evening assembly in the school gym. During the two-hour event, there was a lesson for the parents (assisted by their children), performances by each grade, a “Pop Quiz” in which the children showed off their knowledge of dance vocabulary and historical facts, a performance by the Big City Swing teachers and social dancing to a live orchestra.

Burr Elementary (CPS) – Grades 5 – 8, Chicago, IL

Duration: We met with each grade once/week for 12 weeks, Jan 9 – Apr 16, 2008. We were onsite from 9:30 – 1:30pm.

Grades 5 – 8 each mastered their own routine, which increased in length, difficulty and variety of movement with the ascending grades. To maintain consistency across all levels, all the routines had common Swing and Charleston elements so the students could practice with friends and siblings in any grade.

This program concluded with each grade performing their routines for the entire school during a black history month assembly.

Deerfield High School – Grades 9 – 12, Deerfield, IL

Duration: We met for a total of 12 hours on Saturdays, 10 – Noon, every other week for 6 weeks, Nov 3, 2007 – Jan 26, 2008.

With this more advanced group, we were able to combine solo and partnered movement, along with safe techniques for eye-catching dips and tricks. Students drilled lead/follow techniques and rehearsed short routines each session. With this gifted and engaged group, we were even able to incorporate their knowledge of geometry and physics to understand and execute the moves.

The result was a series of routines from which the musical theater students embellished the choreography for their spring musical. Others took their skills straight to prom.