Confused or overwhelmed by the new dance curriculum? This is your opportunity to have it explained in plain language. Learn the elements of dance, basic dance movements, sequences and patterns, dance observation skills and assessment techniques. You’ll take away a comprehensive understanding of the curriculum requirements and lots of great ideas for dance lesson plans.
About Bizz Varty
Bizz (Elizabeth) Varty earned her Specialized Honours BFA in Dance at York University where she studied choreography, dance kinesiology and dance pedagogy for young students, as well as educational and developmental psychology. Following her studies in dance she completed a Post-Graduate Certificate in Arts Management at Humber College. Bizz has over 12 years experience teaching dance to students from 3 to 80 years of age, and is a certified teacher of yoga and pilates. She began teaching dance and yoga in schools in 2009 and has facilitated workshops for grades K-8 in TVDSB, LDCSB and Montessori schools. Most recently she has delivered dance curriculum through the London Arts Council’s Artists in Residence (LAIR) program. Bizz is currently organizing the first-ever London Dance Festival to be held in May 2014. She is also the General Manager of Dasein Dance Theatre in London.
Bizz has choreographed and performed across the province, including the 2009 BAZAAR dance festival at Toronto’s Opera House, Massey Hall and The Rivoli in Toronto, the Emergency festival in Peterborough, and the Earthdancers festival in Sudbury. As an administrator she was the Coordinator of the Dance Teachers Alliance of Canada from 2008-2011, and in her position as the Marketing, Development and Arts Education Director at Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre she coordinated over 100 workshops for local elementary students. Bizz has taught and choreographed for the New World Dance Company, and worked with the Ontario School of Ballet and Ontario Ballet Theatre.
A certified Pilates teacher since 2009, Bizz completed her Yoga Teacher Training in London in April 2012. She teaches group classes and private lessons in yoga, pilates and fusion, including conditioning for dancers.
Find out more about Bizz on her other websites:
Creative Problem Solving
Creative thinking skills are essential to the healthy development of today’s students, and they need opportunities to learn in creative ways. The Movement Experience workshops shows students new ways to solve problems that they may have struggled with on paper. All students will benefit from physically acting out the steps of solving problems as the action will reinforce classroom lessons and support the development of muscular memory.
Increase Emotional IQ
Students also benefit on a social and emotional level by practicing group participation and learning group leadership skills in Movement Experience Workshops. Movement increases body awareness, and movement activities in a positive environment will give students an opportunity to gain confidence in their bodies and their movement skills. Improved self-awareness through movement will also promote increased emotional intelligence, and by playing different roles students will have the chance to reinforce what they’ve learned through teaching and guiding others and thus build confidence in their own movement skills.
Co-Ed Wednesdays! 7-8:30pm at CCDT
“Bizz, your videos are very inspiring. Honestly have to say, I find your approach and instructions are a pleasure to follow.”
-Deborah Alice Zuskan
Get Your Beach Body Back with
Co-Ed Wednesdays!
Maybe you’re like me and you spent all winter hibernating and trying to convince yourself that the cure for your blues must be at the bottom of this bag of chips (or the one after that…) And maybe now you’re wishing you had spent less of your spring cursing the still-cold weather (and said chips) and more of it working up a sweat. Well it’s not too late!
Tone up your abs, arms, legs and butt in a fabulous summer edition of my signature blend of yoga & pilates. The classes will be 1.5 hours long to give us time for a little cardio – just what you need to get back into those 2010 pants. In just 4 classes your body will be centered, lengthened, strengthened and ready for the beach!
Co-Ed Wednesdays!
Wednesdays 7:00-8:30pm
Rediscover the joy of movement while building stability and improving strength and flexibility. This all-levels class blends yoga and pilates to engage your core and strengthen your mind-body connection. Tone your body to the rhythm of your breath as you move through a flowing sequence of poses. Learn the universal principles of good alignment while energizing your body and invigorating your mind!
July 20th – Centre, Abs & Rock n Roll (Or why yoga turns me on)
July 27th – Let Your Backbone Slide (Lengthen and strengthen your spine)
August 10th – Beefy Arms (Arm strengtheners that won’t necessarily make you look beefy – unless you want to!)
August 17th – Hip Hop Ya Don’t Stop (Hip openers to unlock your leg power)
LOCATION
Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre
509 Parliament Street (just N of Carlton)
FEES
$20/class – CASH ONLY!
BYOM
Bring Your Own Mat! (You can get a good one for less than $20 at Winners, but I’d avoid the dollar-store ones cause they tend to disintegrate quickly)
July Bizzness Newsletter – Birthday Concert and New Classes!
New video: The Hippy Hippy Shake
Yeah you heard me! This month’s video is all about hips, with a side of hamstings. This flowing sequence does an amazing job of warming up the hips so you can get a great stretch for those stiff leg muscles. Whether you sit at a desk all day or spend it on your feet, your hips will be doing a happy dance by the end of this 30 minute workout. (Just a small disclaimer: I was feeling a little random the day this was recorded, and a few of my cues are mumbly and there are a couple lively demonstrations of the wrong way to do an exercise – just saying, you should watch carefully the first time through so you catch everything!)
So for goodness’ sake, roll out your mat and take my mom’s advice, which, depending on the day, is “throw a pose” and/or “shake what your mama gave ya!”
April’s Bizzness Newsletter!
This Week’s Class: Just What You Wanted for V-Day!
Give yourself a little love in this week’s class: A Girl’s Best Friend (Diamonds, and/or loose hips). Align your hips and knees and open your hamstrings with a fun workout that will improve your flexibility and stability. Thursday 6-7pm at CCDT. Join us!
We’re Going to be Friends
In honour of the White Stripes’ legacy, this week’s class will be White Stripes themed and feature an all-Stripes soundtrack. I am a big fan of the Stripes commitment to working with the basics to develop creative, visceral, original experiences. Join me this Thursday to discover your own inner Detroit blues punk, make friends with your body and get a great workout while you’re at it!