Creative dance and movement classes

Music and Movement Classes

 

Megan takes time out from inserting things into the DVD player to strut her funky moves

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO if your two-year old hit, bit and made an entire ballet class cry because they wanted to do their steps first? Well in Bristol mum Debbie’s case she set up her own dance class.

 

Debbie, a 23 year-old mum from the area they call Southville has put her theatre design career on hold until her two-year old daughter Megan goes to school.

After spending the first two years of Megan’s life juggling work, parenting and stage managing theatre productions, busy Debbie took a time out to talk to us about her latest project.

 

Debbie sips from her steaming coffee, obviously relishing the break. “Children develop through music and parents can be isolated when left alone with their babies in the early days. When Megs was a baby I found myself in this situation and so I took her to all the music groups around South Bristol. Megan loved them, especially Rhymetime.”

 

Rhymetime is a BS3 Southville singing institution and these days fills church halls with babies and toddlers all hokey cokeying and waving bells in the air with great gusto. Their popularity comes somewhat from the fact that the people leading these classes play the songs with a guitar and not a CD player.

 

The parent pound in Bristol has been strong up until the recent credit crunch, but the burgeoning music scene for toddlers still seems to continue unabashed. Debbie carries on: “As Megan grew up singing the songs with actions, so has her level of activity. Keeping her from running lap after lap around the hall where the music groups takes place can sometimes be quite stressful!”

 

As her mum is talking Megan is distracted from the Thomas the Tank Engine DVD and gives us a huge beaming smile, making her beautiful blue eyes light up.“Row, row, row, row…” she chirps, and I’m informed that this means we all have to sing her favourite song Row, row, row the boat. She begins to row with unbridled energy. This rock and roll child would have a great future in an Oxford or Cambridge boat.

 

Debbie continues talking whilst on parent autopilot rowing gently as well: “We have great fun at home listening and dancing to music from Swan Lake to U2.” The various Matthew Bourne DVDs peppering the shelf suggests to me that this dancing is of a highly creative nature.

 

“I learnt to dance when I was young and trained through the ISTD system. I felt that I would like to take her to a dance lesson,” Debbie says brightly. “I took her to various different dance lessons. One was a creative movement session and one a ballet session. I quickly realised that these were designed for slightly older children and toddlers that were quite happy to take a slow approach and didn’t mind waiting their turn.”

 

 Debbie rolls her eyes while she continues: “Meg being a typical very active toddler did not want to wait her turn and in the end managed to make the whole entire ballet class of girls cry. I found this was slightly distressing but a bit funny at the same time. I used every method of parenting power and control possible but we had to leave after twenty minutes. This made me realise that in terms of dance classes there was nothing in between, it is either singing or pure dance.”

 

By this point Megan has removed the Thomas DVD and has replaced it with a toy penguin that she is trying to shut in the DVD drawer.” It’s probably because she wants to watch Pingu and she’s hoping that by putting the toy in the DVD will make a penguin appear on screen” Debbie explains.

 

Debbie hands me a flyer adorned with a happy child jumping in the air. She continues to talk whilst wading in to break up the Megan versus penguin versus DVD battle: “So in October this year I set up a movement group for toddlers in Bedminster. The class has developed over the weeks so it is appropriate to the children that come. As you get to know the children you know what they like to do and you can structure and tailor the class to what they like and what will benefit them.

 

“The session has now been structured to a warm up, usually to a funky pop song with a strong beat where we warm up the body by various moves of stretching up high, patting the floor, nodding heads, star hands, tappy feet and my favourite wriggly bum. All the mums join in and it’s a great informal way of getting the body moving and to let your toddler vent some energy in a warm dry hall.”

 

“We also do lots of activities from pretending to be different animals, the go and stop game and moving at different speeds. After every one is warm we play parachute games (the parachute being a big piece of muti-coloured material) this is anything from shaking the parachute up and down, singing songs and using it as a prop, to the toddlers lying down underneath it to be fanned.”

 

“At the end of each session we have a calming down period where we can do different art activities, this has varied from drawing on huge sheets of paper to playing with play dough. This activity also allows mums and dads to sit down and have a chat while the toddlers are engrossed with the activity.”

 

I am surprised as she reveals the end of session activity. It seems like a genius idea. It’s a bonus extra to get the kids doing craft sessions without the mess and glue losing you your own huge landlord deposit at home.

 

The sessions are every Friday at Bedminster United Reformed Church and it’s safe to say I will be booking time in my diary to get my Chopsy child burning his excess energy at the classes.

Movement and Music
Toddlers creative dance and movement
Every Friday
Bedminster United Reformed Church
(Corner of West Street & Stanley Street South – just along from Tesco)

10 – 10.40 am

£2.50 per family – drop in session