Today and last Tuesday I danced in a teeny, tiny setting in Nottingham. There was twirling and rolling, jumping and sliding, duets and trios and whole group dances. And here’s how we made it happen.
Move the furniture
Seeing your space with ‘moving in mind’ means taking a look at the way the furniture is set out. We made changes to the position of some staple bits of furniture (an easel, the book shelf) which were then moved permanently to enable a larger movement space at a few minutes notice. During my days at the setting it was fascinating to observe how children’s moving and dancing didn't just happen during the allotted ‘movement time’ in the day. Given the space to move, there was swooshing, stamping, twirling, being larger than life and being small as a ball, at different intervals during the day in response to other provocations and ‘happenings’ other than the ones I bought specifically for ‘dance’.
Make sure the floor is “belly ready”
The space we create for dance needs to be inviting enough to be able to be down on our bellies, so nose to the floor. It needs to not be… erm… gritty…. or smelly. Being able to be down on the floor gives children (and adults) a new perspective on the space. The rugs definitely needed to go, who can dance on a wrinkly rug? Unless the rug is becoming part of the dance itself!
Invite ways to move that enable everyone to ‘see the whole room’
We started our dancing by exploring our room (often children do a great dynamic risk assessment at this point) by travelling to different points of the room. Modelled by the staff, the children were invited to ‘see’ the room for it’s potential, just by being invited to move in it. The corners, the bits that stick out (duck underneath), the door that is open, the dead end spaces that you can only walk into and have to back out of. These challenge us to move differently and with more ingenuity!
Nooks and crannies
Even the nooks and crannies a room can provide ample room for a movement exploration. Children used the walls, the small space between the stairgate and the home corner, the bit behind the coat rack by the wellies. Children’s exploration were no less valid, creative or full bodied because they happened in those spaces. The adults joined the children in those spaces giving them permission to be ‘movers’ wherever they needed to.
Risky dancing
Children moving together in a smaller room can feel challenging for us adults. We might feel afraid of bumps, slips and trips. But children are great problem solvers and we adults sometimes get in the way. The staff I worked with in this small setting interacted very positively with the space they had and worked hard to validate the dancing of their children, not once interfering with the proximity of children to each other or to the furniture. The odd bump did occur, but children (all aged 2-3) soon found ways round to create and peform the moves they wanted to without damage to themselves, each other and the environment around them.
So there you have it, five pieces of learning from dancing in teeny, tiny spaces!