Melody Movement Early Learning
The appeal of ‘Melody Movement Early Learning’ to very young dancers and to their teachers, is the unique syllabus which addresses the needs of children from ‘Melody Bear’ toddler classes to ‘Junior Ballet’ for 6 year olds. The concept encourages children to safely learn the basic steps of ballet, tap, music and movement in a way appropriate for the child’s level of physical development. It is tailored to discovering and fulfilling the potential of each child and nurturing their creative development, whilst supporting teachers with the tools to deliver effective and happy Melody Bear classes.
Since the launch of the first ‘Melody Movement Class-in-a-Box’ syllabus in 2006, its compendium of class activities, dance characterisations, explorations of story narrative in music and group interaction has been embraced worldwide. It is now a mainstay of dance schools in the UK, Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Japan. Since its inception, the ‘Melody Movement Early Learning’ program has expanded to include ‘Little Bear Feet’ starting at 18 months, ‘Melody Movement’ for ages 2 to 4 years, ‘Milligan Bear’ themed specially for boys, and ‘Tip Tap Toe,’ a fun tap dancing programme for the under 5s. ‘First Ballet with Melody Bear’ and ‘Junior Ballet’ are the ideal next step for children aged 4-5 and reception age, 6+, respectively. At each stage, the carefully crafted syllabus is finely tuned to the relevant age group, stimulating young minds, developing musical appreciation, introducing ensemble skills and working co-operatively within a group of dancers.
The ‘Melody Movement’ syllabus has been created by Jill Bridger RAD Teach Dip., AISTD, MNATD a registered Royal Academy of Dance teacher with over 20 years experience of teaching young children to dance. Jill Bridger is also a registered member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance, National Association of Teachers of Dance and an active member of the ISTD Natural Movement Group. Jill created her syllabus to give her pre-school students a creative and inspiring programme of classes which would incite a love of dance and music and meet the needs of all children.
Loveable teddy, Melody Bear, is the focal point of the pre-school syllabi and all her activities, stories, ideas and dreams can be told through dance and movement. The all-encompassing curriculum means the classes are the ideal entry into the world of ballet and dance. The very special appeal of Melody Bear is the way creator, Jill Bridger, has designed each of the elements to appeal to a specific age group. The specially composed original music and songs, the professionally photographed story ‘picture cards’, the cartoon illustrations, easy to follow class plans and dance exercises create a world for Melody Bear to inhabit in which she turns her adventures, experiences, senses and feelings into dance. Children can learn from a young age how sound and music, movement, dance and imagination, can be combined to tell a story and convey emotions.
An exciting part of the ‘Melody Movement’ resources are our popular award schemes. Children love stickers and Melody Bear’s have proved wholly successful in encouraging eager participation and long term commitment, in addition to enforcing movement vocabulary. The stickers reflect the levels of progress from those showing Melody Bear skipping, hopping, jumping and galloping to the ‘Junior Ballet’ stickers introducing the young dancers to the glossary of French ballet terminology. There are a variety of schemes for all the ‘Melody Movement’ courses whereby children save and collect their achievement stickers on work cards, books or student work files in order to receive awards working upwards through the medals, rosettes and Melody Bear gold trophy. New for 2011 is the ‘Junior Ballet’ jewel awards whereby dancers collect their ballet vocabulary stickers and learn about the classical ballets whilst working towards their Ruby, Emerald and Diamond Medals. Each level reflects the changes in a maturing child, making learning fun with Melody Bear.
None of the awards in the ‘Melody Movement Early Learning’ classes are competitive but seek to acknowledge each child’s progress through the course in a way that rewards their individual accomplishment.
www.melodymovement.com provides full details of Melody Movement classes and dance teachers can ring the Melody Bear HQ for a brochure of all our products and resources. Training programmes are available for suitable applicants together with a new Teacher Training workshop package to be launched in February 2011.
The Melody Movement Team is happy to advice and support teachers
and assist parents looking for Melody Bear classes.
Contact details:
Melody Bear HQ
Unit 33 Stephenson Road,
St Ives, Cambridgeshire
PE27 3WJ
Tel: 01480 469711
