Dance studios in NYC

Here is the link that you can access to the info of dance studios in NYC. Click!

Optimal experience through arts

'Optimal experience' is not my word. It was explained by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (never pronounce correctly.. :-) ) with the concept of flow, "the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it."

As Mihaly already pointed out that his finding about the state of optimal experience that was based on the ESM (Experience Sampling Method) was quite similar to the zen practice. Fully enjoying what we are doing at the moment and be aware of what is happening around us.... It is like when my mind and body are harmonized and nothing separates between me and the universe....

I feel lucky that I am a dancer and I am able to experience 'flow' through dance. When I'm fully engaged what I am doing in space and time, I just becoming myself. My full energy is reshaped into the form of movement in space... and I communicate with myself, others and the world. I have been involved in the collaborative projects where improvisation is crucial. I really enjoy the improvisation because I can feel the moment, fully engage in what I am doing, and feel the dynamic energy around me. I don't need to too much worry about the steps as I used to do. Just let me be flexible and open my six senses to the world.

Dynamic stress in space

Dynamosphere - is one of Laban's concepts that explains how inner motivation of human body creates outer space. In order words, how the dynamic potential leads to space? It is as if your intention makes you move to that direction instead of the fact that the spatial pull leads you to that direction.

Today, I was observing students in the class where I was assisting. They were exploring different Effort factors that Laban talked about. The students were transforming between Weight, Space and Time factors, flowing in and out of the neutral Flow. It was fascinating for me to observe their responses to their breathe rhythm which eventually created the dynamic in space! I of course did not know exactly how each student responded to the self but certainly experienced their intensity to the self and the overall energy that the individuals brought to outer space.

It was so great to see how the sensation of breathe linked to flow in body and how the flow of individual body - holistically integrated body and mind - created positive energy into space and time.

i-phone

pros and cons of i-phone

Resuming my energy

It's been almost a year to come back to my blog.

For that year... what was I looking for? I don't remember or I don't know whether there was one. Maybe there shouldn't be one. You just live the moment and feel the moment although the moments link between the past, present and future.

Life is a cycling of the rhythm of the flow - like waves. Exertion and recuperation.. Mobility and stability.. Maybe the universe needs a balance between the two, the relatively opposite qualites to bring the energy.

Reflection on my work

My tech assignments, making my homepage, was both challenging and interesting. From this process, what I learned best is my artistic and learning styles, and somehow it revealed my personality too. I sometimes feel I am too organized and focused which I think is good generally, yet I need empty space!!! As I looked at my project, orientation of images and texts were too much like a 'textbook'. Isn't it too much like a teacher?? If I have a chance to do again, I will make my project more artistically. By the way, what is 'artistic'? and 'teacher-like? It's really dependent upon situations, right? No judgment!

Please visit my homepage to look at one of my perspectives!

Group project

Our group's theme was to show an example of unit plan for the 7nd graders' social studies which eventually shares different countries' culture and history as well as their cultural music and dance. The initial idea was drawn by FIFA World Cup and we thought it might motivate students to engage the task actively. From my experience, I think motivation is very important element in teaching and it effects the achievement of task. Having the theme of our project, my part was Korea. I focused on traditional Korean music and dance. It was hard at the beginning where to focus since I did not think I could cover all about Korea.

In terms of technical aspects, I realized that visual image is as important as the texts. When there are too many texts in one page, I feel it is hard to concentrate. I realized that "less is better than more". Also using Gif animator and Photoshop, Audacity were great help for me to work and I learned which one is required to bring effectiveness. For example, Gif animator creates a sense of dynamic!

Working with group requires much responsibility and the positive atmosphere which I think was successful in our group. I also learned different learning styles and perceived each one's personality through their works. I think the greatest part was to link each other's site to our group's page. I felt we became oneness. Feel free to visit our group page!

Bridging a gap through technology-- interaction and collaboration

My one of assignments is a collabrative project using technology. I think collaboration is sharing each other's ideas and somehow it needs a negotiation among members. Although there should be a main concept of group, individaul freedom and creativity should not be ignored. In this fashion, I feel this project is a great opportunity to show both collaboration and individuality using technology. Throughout the process, I realized technology plays a great role in connecting the world closer and closer. And I could not help relating this issue to my mission in dance education.

Having been studying in different countries, what I saw as a common problem in dance education is a lack of connection. The connection between practice and theory, connection between dance subject and other subjects, connection between school and community, connection between K-12 and higher education, and national and international connection. I believe that making connections should be conducted both horizontally (integration) and vertically (continuous growth). In order to achieve my mission, techonology seems to be a fundamental tool to increase artistic, professional, and educational connections all over the world. For example, technology would make students participate in professional conferences through the internet. Also, using resources from web, students can be encouraged to collaborate with other subjects, such as music, art, language, and science. Through the interdisciplinary, interactive, and collaborative approaches using technology as a tool, dance education is likely to make connections between practice and theory, connection between dance subject and other subjects, connection between school and community, connection between K-12 and higher education, and national and international connection.