The Chance to Dance
Patty Jacobs
Alameda CA USA
Report from 2001 LLLI Conference
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 18 No. 5, September-October 2001, p. 180
Dance was the theme at the
final luncheon and afternoon closing of the 17th LLLI Conference. Founder
Betty Wagner Spandikow introduced and presented the final recipients
of the Board of Directors awards for excellence and achievement. Anne
Green Gilbert, an educator, author, and dancer, described and demonstrated
how movement stimulates the developing child's brain. Haven't we all
done the mother dance? lt's that gentle swaying back and forth in the
hallway late at night or in line at the store. This not only calms babies,
but also stimulates their brains and calms mothers. Gilbert stressed
that babies should be placed on their tummies to play, while awake and
supervised. This encourages muscular development, and right/left and
front/back body awareness. Her slides of babies dancing with mommies
and children playing through movement were beautiful.
In keeping with the dance
theme, the stars of the closing session were the Chance to Dance and
Chance to Cheer performers, ranging from tots to teens, who had rehearsed
for several days and delighted their proud parents and other Conference
goers alike. My heart swelled with pride as my daughter Sarah's image
was projected, larger than life, on the room's big video screens; she
danced with the teen group who introduced our next LLLI Conference locale -- San Francisco, California, USA. The Chance to Cheer group gave a spirited and very clever cheer for the Founders. The International Ballroom boomed with cheering Conference-goers as we echoed the Chance to Cheer group with a big thank-you to the seven Founders.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:29:28 UTC 2007.
