Everybody Move it! The necessity of movement in Arts programs.

“James Catterall, professor emeritus at UCLA, says his 12-year study of 12,000 kids found that arts education helps lift academic achievement, especially for children living in poverty.” NPR Radio.

Somewhere along the way, America lost its focus on the child and pointed it towards achievement. This positioning took out of frame the key elements that most students elementary through high school look forward to, art, music, dance and drama. There could be no room for such trivial matters when the goal was achieving projected goals in standardized testing.

“The day the music died.”

Suddenly, educators like James Catterall started to take notice of one main factor, kids love color, creating, movement, dress up…they are after all children.

And thus slowly we see a new surge of specials and electives taking children back into the creative over grown too-long ignored pathways to color, sight and sound.

Elena Aguilar addressed art in the educator’s magazine Edutopia in this manner, “The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution, that there are many ways to see and interpret the world, and that the limits of language do not define the limits of our cognition.”

Children need art in order to be expressive, to problem solve, to invent. There are components of art that may not be present in math, history or even English and Science. There are moments when students need a full on art moment, where their work is subjectively observed, where it affects each observer differently and personal.

I went out into the community of teaching artist, to get their take on kids and the arts. It was an enlightening moment.

First, I reached out to JuNene, dancer, singer, actor and mother extraordinaire and owner of Perpetual Motion Dance and Performing Arts Studio in Dallas, Texas. I asked her why movement is so important to a child’s development and she responded, “It's actually a part of my dance packet. Rhythmic movement helps stimulate brain function which allows a child to organize thoughts and behaviors. It also helps deal with emotions. Everything in life has a beat. Once a child learns how to identify that beat and understand that rhythm of whatever particular instance in life,  he will be more adept in handling not only his own emotions but also become proficient at processing other's emotions in a non-conflicting way. Simply put, allow a child the chance to dance around on the floor and ultimately keep him out of the ground or from behind bars.”

Organizing thoughts and behaviors go hand in hand with academic achievement. When students are able to focus and organize their thoughts they are also able to map out conclusions or consequences. Ideas are developed and actions, especially those that may have a negative result, are avoided. All of this outcome could be attributed to the acquisition of learning rhythmic movement. Brilliant!

However, I wanted a second perspective on movement and its effect on students so I went to LaRome Armstrong, filmmaker, teacher, dancer and choreographer, who lovingly and patiently works very well with challenging children and sometimes, adults. I posed the same question: Why is movement so important to young people. Mr. Armstrong gladly responded, “Movement is essential to learning because it provides new information into our learning social networks. It allows self-expression, memory skills, concentration, social interaction, [while it also] enhances fine motor skills, coordination and motivates self-esteem for children of all ages and walks of life. The rhythmic movement process is always present when movement is taking place even when walking. Every time we move in an organized manner, full brain activation occurs which allows learning to take place. Movement facilitates the development of increased blood vessels that make learning essential no matter what age, such elements as water, oxygen and nutrients pass through the brain. Movement also improves bone strength for life; plus it enhances the immune system and reduces the chance of having type 2 diabetes. Moreover, movement has been known to increase attention span in primary and secondary school for children. Finally, movement is Scientific as a byproduct of Dance, Sports, Cheerleading, and Exercise because it is interconnected to physics, chemistry, biology and math. SO EVERYBODY MOVE IT!”

With arts being re-introduced into many schools across the country, we need to understand how essential self-expression is to students as well as how it will be a life-long benefit for students. Yes, they need to focus on the core subjects, there is no dismissing this factor, however, students, similar to adults need an outlet to maintain the ability to be creative, to be free to move and color their world, to build and to dream. There is no need to question why movement or any of the arts are important in an after-school or summer camp program, other than, we can we see the final product? 

 “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”~~~Pablo Picasso

July 21, 2014 ~~ p.sanders