Freedom of Expression

new dance class encourages youths to improvise and create dance movements naturally

Anna Soldner

Lynn Dance Class
 
Lynn Dance Class

It’s a chilly Monday afternoon as six children leap, spin, and crawl across a sun-drenched studio room, freely swaying their arms, thumping their feet, and slinking their bodies to fluttering music. What may sound like a wild frenzy of kids on the loose is actually a creative form of dance called improvisation, an alternative dance style centered on communication through the personality and body.

Professional dancer Lynn Buske has taught expressive dance nationally to both children and adults for more than a decade. Years of studying ballet, modern, contemporary, and jazz dance led Buske to the discovery of spontaneous improvisation. “It was fun, easier, and felt … free,” says Buske. “This is a style where dance didn’t have to be a certain way.”

It wasn’t until friend and neighbor Lori Chilefone asked Buske to teach her two daughters that the class known as “Expressive Foundations” became a reality. Combining yoga, theater, dance, and her innate affinity for and experience with children, Buske created a holistic class that “takes off the pressures (performances, perfection, cost) found in, for example, ballet classes, and builds confidence, balance, relaxation, and offers an opportunity for healthy creative expression.”

“Children will learn about how they dance, not how everyone else dances. They are experiencing their bodies, they are experiencing art, and they are experiencing health.”

So what is so unique about Expressive Foundations? “Children will learn about how they dance, not how everyone else dances,” explains Buske. “They are experiencing their bodies, they are experiencing art, and they are experiencing health.”

Observing the dynamics of a class is like observing an abstract painter’s artistic process –organic, imaginative, and deeply personal. Class starts with core strength exercises and spine work to increase body awareness and alignment.

Then the wild rumpus begins. Buske guides the children, encouraging them to release any inhibition and explore their bodies, creating rhythm, abstract skills, and their own choreography. “Kids need very little instruction; … they just run with it,” says Buske. “They show me how they learn; they show me what they need. I just try to pay attention and share what I have to offer.”

The music fades and somehow the atmosphere remains comfortable and balanced – that is, Buske strives to maintain civility while taking an active role dancing and partnering with the children. This non-authoritative approach often interchanges the traditional role of “instructor” and proves effective in generating creativity. “It seems they bring home things I didn’t realize I was teaching, which tells me that this organic process works because they are teaching themselves.”

 


Toward the end of the class, the students are given an opportunity to apply what they have learned and dance in small groups, incorporating the specific opposing energies (smooth and sharp, light and strong) in their movements. Nine-year-old Indigo Degaia, having difficulty remembering the vocabulary asks, “What are all the words again?” Encouragingly, Buske says, “Whatever your body remembers. Just show us whatever you liked from this class.” Buske immediately simplifies the instructions, illustrating sensitivity and flexibility in dealing with the differing ages and ability levels. “There is no right or wrong way of doing something,” she reiterates. “I try to understand and respect where they are emotionally, bringing only what seems reachable for them.”

She hopes this class will prove beneficial in the children’s lives outside of the dance studio. “A lot of us forget to touch that inner part of ourselves and realize how beautiful we are and forget how valuable it is to let it out. I’m giving them the opportunity … to remind themselves of things they already know how to do, which will hopefully help them remember it for their lives.”

The once brightly lit room is now cast with a soft, orange glow from the distant autumn sunset. Similarly, the mood has transitioned to a state of peace. The final stretches have concluded and the studio falls silent. The children lay motionless on the floor, their chests gently heaving in complete relaxation. Class has ended and they are free to go, but they remain resting – overtaken by the calming atmosphere and perhaps hypnotized by thoughts of sleep. It becomes clear that this dance is more than just healthy exercise for the mind and body, but a revival and caring for the inner spirit that possesses us all.

Dancer’s Studio • Banbury Place, Bldg 13 Ste 122 • ages 5-16 • Lynn Buske 829-0754 or touchingenergy@yahoo.com • classes are $10 per child per class, $45 for five classes, $75 for full nine-class series • other ages groups (infant through adult) are tentative, please contact with interest

FREE December classes Monday, Dec 6 • ages 5-8 • 4:15-5:30pm ///
Friday, Dec 17 • ages 9-12 • 4:15-5:30pm ///
Sunday, Dec 12 • ages 13-16 • 3:30-4:45pm

Winter 2011 Nine-week series
Mondays, January 17-March 14 • ages 5-8 • 4:15-5:30pm ///
Fridays, January 21-March 18 • ages 9-12 • 4:15-5:30pm

Spring 2011 Nine-week series
Mondays, March 28-May 23 • ages 5-8 • 4:15-5:30pm ///
Fridays, April 1-May 27 • ages 9-12 • 4:15-5:30pm