| Skill
Sharing Day
Sunday
3rd October 2004
ISTD HQ, London
The
purpose of the skill sharing day was to enable dance teachers
to familiarise themselves with the exam application process,
become more comfortable with the ISTD syllabus design and
content, and also promote knowledge and the adoption of the
syllabus far and wide.
A
group of South Asian dance teachers based in the UK have been
involved in drafting the ISTD syllabus from its initial stages
and have been instrumental in its development. During its
early stages there were virtually no opportunities to receive
feedback from other teachers in respect of the various aspects
of the syllabus from teaching to examinations. Thus, there
arose a need for a skill sharing event for teachers following
or wishing to follow the ISTD syllabus.
The
first of such events was held in Birmingham. Urja Thakur,
a UK based Kathak teacher, commented “...it was a much
needed exercise for myself, being new to the UK dance scene,
and it cleared many doubts with regards to the syllabus design
and content. It was my first ever experience of meeting other
UK based dancers/teachers. The main purpose for my attendance
was to understand the way in which teachers taught their students
and what sort of teaching patterns/methods were used here
in UK. The day enabled me not only to achieve this purpose
but also to understand what students expected from their teachers”.
She
was so impressed by the Skill Sharing Day that she attended
the second one in London. “...this time I was able to
see students performing examples of prepared exam pieces.
I also gained an insight into the examination and application
processes”.
Lakshmi,
a Bharathanatyam teacher based in the UK, was asked about
the ISTD syllabus and skill sharing day and responded as follows,
“Before I became aware of the ISTD syllabus I simply
taught my students dance in the way in which I had been taught.
At the time there was another syllabus in existence but in
my opinion for the lower exam grades, in particular, the requirements
expected of students was not at all consistent with their
age and levels of comprehension. I felt there needed to be
a more comprehensive step by step approach in the earlier
grades aiming at perfecting the basic postures, alignments,
movements and general knowledge of dance and related performing
arts.
The
answer to this came in the form of the ISTD syllabus and having
read through the requirements for each grade I felt that the
syllabus would provide an extremely solid foundation for my
students which would then enable them to develop into not
only accomplished dancers but also be fully aware of the relationship
of dance to rhythm, music and health and safety. Hence, I
decided to adopt the syllabus for ASIA’s dance students.”
Although
she was not able to attend the skill sharing day in London
she received an information pack which she found very useful,
clear and concise. When asked what she wished to achieve from
the skill sharing day she replied as follows: “My main
aim was to gain a clearer understanding of the exam application
process and the format of the prepared piece. I will most
certainly be attending the next one.”
Pali
Chandra
Syllabus
outlines are available from the Sales
Department at ISTD HQ.
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