Books/CDs/DVDs: School Tools
Add these teaching aids to your syllabus this season.
Tap Tunes: For Tap Class and Practice
by Germaine Salsberg
In a nutshell: For tap teachers in search of class music to accompany various tap styles.
Veteran tap instructor Germaine Salsberg teamed up with award-winning Gershwin pianist Kevin Cole to create a new
10-song CD for tap class—a follow-up to the duo’s 2008 The Tap CD. Featuring catchy, upbeat all-piano tunes, this single-disc CD is best-suited for intermediate tap instruction. It offers several recordings at two different speeds, so teachers can adjust exercises as needed. Most songs are 64 bars, but those that extend longer are ideal for prolonged warm-ups and across-the-floor combinations. The collection includes a track for each traditional tap style. Class can easily transition from slow-tempo triplets into a swing mode with “Wizard’s Waltz,” then a military beat with “Van den Boom’s Victory.”
Up, Down & All Around
by Stacey Pepper Schwartz
Leaping Legs, Inc.
In a nutshell: An essential tool for teaching the fundamentals of movement with daily adult-child interactions.
Movers of all shapes, ages and abilities can creatively move together. This is the message of Up, Down & All Around, a new National Physical Education Standards–approved DVD exercise program developed by movement educator Stacey Pepper Schwartz. Suitable for ages 2 and up, the program encourages the development of healthy body image with easy-to-follow games, teamwork and fun imagery set to silly acoustic songs by children’s musician Steve Blunt. Students will laugh and learn, while participating in exercises like the “Name Game.” (Each mover creates a different-leveled body shape for their name, then all come together for a group movement sequence.) Teachers will appreciate the progressive pace and concise eight sections, all beginning with bulleted objectives. Bonus material and a free, downloadable program guide are available on the website www.leapinglegs.com.
Advanced Principles in Teaching Classical Ballet
by John White
University Press of Florida
In a nutshell: An enlightening, in-depth guide to classical ballet training.
Within the sequel to his 1996 Teaching Classical Ballet, John White, co-director of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, hopes to “cure” the quality of ballet education of what he claims has become a rush toward mediocrity. Culling 40 years’ worth of insight from studying and teaching the Vaganova method into 26 disciplined chapters, he discusses the philosophy of teaching, what it means to be a “master teacher” and how to organize a precise lesson, along with the current state and future of the artform. He also details advanced technical issues, like turning, jumping and partnering. But those expecting a picture book with illustrated demonstrations need to look elsewhere: White believes the key to understanding this craft is through internalizing mental images. DT
