Maternity Leave

3rd October 2016

We’ve had a new, unseen member with us during classes this year. I’ve been pregnant all year and am due November 23rd. It’s been interesting teaching dance and drama while bub has been growing. Much thanks to all the parents and students who have been very understanding for the times I’ve had to rearrange classes to rest when needed.

We made it through to the end of Term 3 though, ending with our performance highlight of the year at the Deloraine Youth Drama Festival. This year we submitted 3 items from our 3 classes. All the students did very well, demonstrating confidence and team work. Well done to the drama class who improved on their projection greatly since last year. Congratulations to Ebony and Mae who received Awards for their performance in “The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly Poly Pudding”. Ebony was BEST ACTRESS and Mae: RUNNER UP BEST ACTRESS for the Intermediate section. What a lovely surprise!

Term 4 classes have been cancelled for the year due to my due date mid school term. I’ll be taking a break and will let parents know what plans there are to recommence in the new year once bub arrives and I know better where we’re at.

Many thanks to my students and their families for a wonderful year. I’m so very proud of each of you. I wish you all the blessings for a lovely end to the year and the Christmas holidays.

See you soon,

Love Bec

Out with the Old?

23rd February 2016

Happy New Year! A bit late I know but since Creative Hearts Classes have just returned for the year, it still seems appropriate some how.

That well known New Year’s song, "Auld Lang Syne" questions whether “auld acquaintance (should) be forgot”?

In other words, should we be out with the old?

I confess… I’m good at starting new things but not so good at finishing them. My creative studio is full of projects that once had a burst of new energy and now sit, awaiting completion. Depending on the project’s urgency or purpose, I do finish them (eventually) but it’s always a push. It’s hard without that new excitement though isn’t it?

When I was a child, I danced five days out of seven for many years. It didn’t feel like too much. It was my thing and I loved it.

I can still picture the day that I questioned it. I was older then and at the park across the road alone. I imagined what my life might be like without so many dance classes. I had mixed feelings. It brought up questions of identity: “Who was I if I didn’t dance?” But it also offered a sense of relief.

I was grateful I didn’t have parents that pushed me into dance. I had choice and they supported it. When I talked to them about quitting, they helped me balance out those mixed feelings. I decided to not quit everything but continue with the ones I loved the most. My stepping back from the intense schedule gratified the sense of relief. The passion to dance was encouraged by continuing at a discipline in which I excelled. Reflecting now, I am thankful that I persisted and gained the skills I still use today.

While a child should never be pushed to continue an extra-curricular activity they truly don’t enjoy, there is value at continuing year after year to develop skills that take maturity and time to hone.

As we cull some of our schedule, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Let’s keep at the activities that are worth our time and effort.

That’s what leads me into our 3rd year of Creative Hearts, glad for the past and new students already in attendance. See you in class!

Topping up our creative hearts

22th July 2014

Over the holidays I took to the pile of junk mail with some scissors and glue. I cut out words and images that caught my attention and compiled them into a collage. I had no plan. As I played, themes emerged and I was able to tap into my deeper sense of self. My creative heart had some time to speak and in its expression, it got topped up.

What have your kids gotten up to over the break? Let me clarify... Not what outings or friends they hung out with or what movies they have seen...but what have you noticed them doing with the extra time that the holidays allow? With what (supposedly) random activity have they busied themselves? In what have they gotten lost when you're calling them to dinner? As Kathryn Hayden (2014) puts it "What lights this child up ...?”

Were they making monsters from soggy leaves and twigs? Caking the kitchen floor with cake mix? Making loom band creations...stretching the possibilities beyond the straight forward patterns? Dancing about their bedroom to Katy Perry? Designing and building lego architecture? Does that mean they are they our next landscapers, chefs, designers, dancers and architects? Or is the process of play enough without an end result? This kind of creative play can (but doesn't have to lead to an artistic endeavour) but will more often than not, nurture a happier and healthier individual. It really tops up a child's creative heart as they become whoever they are going to be (and indeed who they are right now!)

As every child is different, so is their passion and what fills them up and refreshes them. In her article, "Writing in Your Underwear and Creative Expression" Kathryn Hayden (2014) draws a link between embracing our children's differences because of the importance of finding our own unique passion to encouraging our children to "find what works for them (and) might support them as they grow in confidence and creative expression", like the many great artists' who have gone before them. From cake batter to pumping music, it's all creative and it's all important.

Holidays are wonderful opportunities to find this space but how do we create this regularly? Artists might seem random in their approach to life. Often, though, a flourishing artist has a lifestyle with an intentional routine shaped to offer this kind of space to find the random play and creative expression that tops up the heart.

At Creative Hearts classes I'm seeking to offer that weekly space for the children in my care. Each with their different nuances and needs but each one keen to play... to connect with each other and with themselves as their creative heart has a chance to explore and express. My hope is that it tops them up and they are free to be more of who they are right now and are becoming.

References
Writing in Your Underwear and Creative Expression
By Kathryn P. Haydon | Jul 01, 2014

Community over competition

15th July 2014

We’ve had many weeks now to get to know each other at Creative Hearts classes. It’s starting to become evident that trust is forming beautifully to create a safe community for these participants.

As I nurture this group bonding and observe trust growing, I begin to challenge them further. Recently in my Gr 3-6 Drama class, I introduced a new activity that requires the group to stand in a circle and focus. The students randomly volunteer to jump in and say “Ha!” and we as a group follow and try to copy the action simultaneously. As I gently built them up to this risk taking opportunity, I observed many were feeling self-conscious and nervous about being embarrassed. One student in particular was hesitant to take the risk to lead the group. However, after the others had a go, she stepped in and led us. After everyone went with her and copied her action, she broke into a coy smile. Debriefing the activity, she shared that at first she was worried that everyone would laugh at her but after everyone followed her, she felt supported. It was beautiful to see her flourish in a safe environment where she could trust her community. Being supported and knowing everyone was with her, gave her the opportunity to take a risk and discover a part to herself that even she hadn’t seen before.

Some choose competition as a way of pushing students to do their best. But I’m convinced that community, connection and trust can foster student growth, personally and artistically in a much a healthier way. That is why I am so aware of group dynamic and bonding, fostering a safe and supportive environment and guarding that trust.

Mission Statement

Creative Hearts School seeks to nurture the well being of emerging artists while holistically developing their talents and skills by:

• fostering trust, growth and respect in our relationships and activities.
• creating and upholding a safe and loving environment that encourages positive personal growth and learning experiences.
• encouraging collaborative teamwork that is inclusive of and values each participant.

Easter School Holiday Program

1st April 2014

Don’t be bored this school holidays… Creative Hearts has 3 mornings of Drama & Dance!!!

For: any child Prep-Gr 8

28th, 29th and 30th April 2014 9am-midday @ Longford Town Hall 67 Wellington St, Longford, TAS

Enrol now! Early bird price: $75 per child (closes Thursday 17th April) Normally $90 per child.

Holistic = Part of a Whole

1st April 2014

A holistic approach means acknowledging students emotionally, artistically, socially, mentally, physically and spiritually. To be aware of the whole allows students to be the fullness of who they are.

Consequently, their one or two hours a week at dance or drama needs to be just one part of the whole: one part of their schedule; one part of their focus; one part of their many life experiences. To expect students to make dance or drama classes their whole world (as sometimes happens at dance schools) tips that holistic balance off. If a student needs to be absent for whatever reason, who am I to question that?.

I recently heard a story of how one of my students had a past experience at another school. Her grandfather nearly died and she was made to feel bad that she had been absent from class to visit him. As much as I love having my students in class each week, if I am to be holistic in my approach, I need to recognise that their world is bigger than their presence at my dance and drama school.

I hope that, because of that recognition and freedom, their one or two hours a week at dance or drama can be even more significant to them. The quality (rather than quantity) of a holistic approach can give students the space and encouragement to be the fullness of who they are and who they are becoming.

The Why behind the How: the motivation for a holistic approach

Wednesday 12th February 2014

As a child my week was packed with dance classes. Tap on Tuesday, Ballet on Wednesday, Theatrical on Thursday and Saturdays full of all three. I loved dancing. Never did I feel pushed to do that much. More likely it was I who dragged my supportive parents into the dance world that was completely new to them.

I grew up in this world. It became what I knew best. Its cycle of competitions, exams and concerts shaped my year. I often wore curlers to school and in at least 2 sets of school photos because this dance world’s norms became my norms. Its worldview became my worldview and how it saw me, I started to see myself.

Unfortunately the reflected image was a distorted one and fed on perfectionism and insecure pride. My sense of self was built shakily on my ability to do the splits or a double turn or get first place. On my off days when I couldn’t live up to this standard, my self worth plummeted.

In this world, I learnt that I was only as good as what I could do. Since then I have been unlearning this lie. Developing an eating disorder in my teenage years was a wake up call and around that time I transferred to a different dance school where there was more community and care. It was many years later though when I was away from dance for an extended period that I started to truly heal. When I returned to dance, I found such freedom and joy in expression and community.

As I reflect on my dance background, it occurs to me that it doesn’t have to be this way. Students need support to develop their skills but they also need support in who they are becoming in that process.

My heart is to create a school where students receive quality skill training in an environment that embraces them and truly builds them up in who they are. With that vision, my classes nurture community over competition and process alongside product. This is the difference of Creative Hearts School.