School Assemblies

Schools That Have Hosted Freespace Dance

Freespace Dance believes an education in the arts is an essential part of the academic curriculum. Our assembly program is designed to teach students about dance as an art form and encourages creative thinking.

Artistic Director of Freespace Dance, Donna Scro Gentile, uses this forty five minute lecture demonstration to explain the inspirations of making dance. Donna discusses topics as the company demonstrates how these ideas become dance - geometrical shapes, children's movements, and yoga postures. Basic composition skills are introduced to the lower grades and explored deeper with the older students. Audience participation encourages everyone to find their own inspirations to make dances. "What Inspires Us?” leaves open the possibility for further discussion and exploration of the students' dance ideas.

During the question/answer session, Donna invites the audience to share their own ideas for creating a dance. She asks the students questions as to what type of movement they would use, how many dancers, what kind of music, what the costumes be, etc. By answering, the students begin to bring their inspirations to life. Donna suggests that they continue exploring these ideas by writing them down, discussing them, and creating movement. "What Inspires Us” opens up the doors for creative thinking and demonstrates that inspirations can come from anywhere at anytime and can be about anything.

Outline of "What Inspires Us?" Assembly Program (Grades K-12)

This assembly program is designed in four parts, each demonstrating a different aspect of movement exploration and choreographic content.

IMAGES is inspired by childhood games and the freedom of children's movements. Students notice what sort of everyday actions are portrayed in the choreography. The concept of creating a dance phrase is introduced, showing the similarities of how a sentence is made up by putting words together; a dance phrase is made up by putting movements together.

NAMASTE is a duet for two women showcasing physicality and athleticism inspired by artistic director, Donna Scro Gentile's love of yoga. Some basic yoga postures are reviewed. It opens up the possibility for the students to create their own inspirations of something that they love, for example sports, art, music, etc.

CHRYSALIS introduces the choreographic element of improvisation. A trio of dancers uses a six-foot piece of material to create a magical and surreal piece. In this abstract piece the students are invited to improvise with the material and asked to find the meaning of the work. Collectively the students come to the conclusion that the piece is about a butterfly. This section of the program helps the participants to find the capacity to look at an abstract dance and see its meaning.

LINES explore geometrical designs by using floor patterns that define shapes in space and by using bodies to mold these shapes. Students identify basic geometrical shapes and determine how lines can be used in many ways.

Following the four sections, Donna Scro Gentile opens up the floor to the question/answer session.

Schools That Have Hosted Freespace Dance

Alexander Hamilton School, Morristown, NJ Battin Middle School, Elizabeth, NJ Bayberry School, Watchung, NJ Bedwell Elementary School, Bernardsville, NJ Bernardsville Middle School, Bernardsville, NJ Brookdale School, Bloomfield, NJ Cedar Hill School, Towaco, NJ Far Hills Country Day School, Far Hills, NJ Hillcrest Elementary School, Morristown, NJ Hillside school district, NJ Hillview School, Pompton Plains, NJ Holy Family School, Florham Park, NJ John Farber School, Dunellen, NJ King's Road School, Madison, NJ Kinnelon school district, NJ Lenape Valley Regional High School, Stanhope, NJ Liberty school district, NJ Livingston school district, NJ

Montclair Cooperative School, Montclair, NJ Montvale school district, NJ Montville school district, NJ Mount Horeb School, Warren, NJ Mount Prospect School, Basking Ridge, NJ Normandy Park School, Morristown, NJ Packanack Lake School, Wayne, NJ Passaic School #6, Passaic, NJ Plainfield Middle School, Plainfield, NJ Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, NJ Rockaway Valley School, Boonton, NJ Somerset school district, NJ St. Cloud School, West Orange, NJ St. Rose of Lima, Short Hills, NJ Valley View Middle School, Watchung, NJ Verona school district, NJ Washington Elementary School, West Caldwell, NJ