“Thoroughly
entertaining, yet highly educational, Brian is a master
at combining information, musicianship and positive energy.”
Portsmouth Middle School, Portsmouth, RI
Brian’s extensive experience as a dance
teacher, choreographer and international dance performer
make him the teacher of choice for your next dance experience.
Each workshop session, in addition to introducing friendly,
sequential patterns of traditional dances and improvised
choreography, fosters an atmosphere of positive energy,
historical context, team accomplishment and respectful evaluation.
Even the “average” student will master and create
soulful moves far beyond what they believed possible.
Connecting Poetry,
Rhythms and Dance (grades 3 – 8)
Can all three disciplines be absorbed in one residency?
You Bet! Brian is a multi-disciplinary
musician, poet, drummer and dancer who successfully employs
today’s music and moves as the perfect catalyst for
exploring elements of creative writing, drum patterns and
dance in the language of contemporary youth, dynamically
using all three to accommodate multiple ways of understanding.
Hollywood and 5th Avenue
employ elements of today’s hip hop and pop rock culture
to reach this generation of students. They are on to something
important. As teachers, let’s channel the music and
lyrics to our educational advantage. This also gives students
a chance to express personal and social issues in safe and
acceptable ways and with greater depth of emotion and understanding.
Students paraphrase fables, rewrite stories and create poems;
develop hip, notated drum patterns (we use buckets and sticks)
to accompany their new poems to create raps; invent melodies
to create songs; and design original solo, partnered and
group dance phrases and choreography. Hidden talents come
alive through enhanced emotional and kinesthetic vocabulary.
As a final performance piece, each student gets to recite/sing,
drum and dance at each of three stations. All residencies
address state standards for music and dance.
In today’s hip culture many of the time-honored Ballroom,
Latin and Swing Dance styles need a contemporary boost to
gain your students’ attention. Brian, long-time Ballroom
Dance instructor, swing dance choreographer and hip hop
practitioner, believes in the value and excitement of having
students choreograph their own dances based on the question:
how can this classic dance be “improved.”
First, students exercise analytical thinking skills
as they learn: actual steps, moves, and partnering (as with
the high-energy kicks, jumps and turns of swing dancing);
tricks of leading and following; where the dances came from,
how they evolved and what made them a “craze;”
and the “math” that underlies dance rhythms
and meters.
Then the FUN!Students manipulate the structure and stylings
of time-honored dances, then turn them inside-out with their
own funky stylings and music. Disco, Swing or Cha Cha, can
become electrifying by adding elements of hip hop, pop rock
or foxtrot. The workshop empowers students to exercise their
inner vision and outward cool; and to trust their efforts.
Pump up the energy,
dare to stretch the limits of creativity and choreography
and chose from among many different American dance styles:
1900 – 1910: waltz • ragtime; 1910 –
1920: polka • blues; 1920 – 1930: charleston
• tango; 1930 – 1940: swing • rumba; 1940
– 1950: rhythm & blues • samba; 1950 –
1960: bop/hop • cha cha; 1960 – 1970: rock •
line • novelty dances; 1970 – 1990: disco •
salsa • hip hop
Teachers usually record a performance video for school posterity.
Never
Too Small to Dance and Boogie (grades
K – 3)
Research demonstrates the important
bridge between movement and learning. Add
dance to the equation and learning has a clear and solid pathway
to your curriculum. Brian puts movement, touch, body sculpture,
sound and fun into connections with the alphabet, reading,
math, science, art and other curriculum challenges.
By moving the body low, large, in reverse, as a jellyfish,
to tell a story, to express an emotion, students in the early
grades experience an interactive world that opens the mind
to new possibilities and to stronger
neural connections.
Your
youngest students learn basic loco-motor movements and accuracy
in moving to a musical beat. They explore the joy of creating
and memorizing simple movement phrases, working alone and
with partners, learning simple folk dances and history; and
evaluating dance styles and performance. Very hip!
There is no wrong way, only gentle parameters of self-expression
that help students create, collaborate, evaluate, apply and
understand.
top
Teacher In-Service
Training:
Teacher training and complete outlines and resource packets
are available for all the above workshops. Feel the joy
of dance, and learn sequential dance skills and teaching
methods for effectively interacting with students and for
providing a safe, respectful and energized environment.
“Our students were genuinely
surprised by Mr. Gillie’s dance abilities and enthusiastic
about their interactive roles.” North Center
School, Southington, CT
(culminates with the production of a complete, “hit”
song)
Brian’s music and compositional skills, and
his insatiable sense of wonder and humor make him the teacher
of choice for getting the most out of a songwriting experience.
Brian’s songwriting workshop emphasizes the varied
structures and creative uses of rhythm, theme, lyrics, melody
harmony and style. The classes explore how business, culture
and the rules of grammar, poetry and music determine a song’s
effectiveness. Brian offers an insider’s guide for
effective live performance, a dose of intuitive “cool”
and a little mischief to enhance the mood and break down
inhibitions.
Teacher In-Service Development:
Learn insiders’ techniques and essential elements
for successful songwriting: basics and fundamentals of music,
creative writing, business and culture and their interdependent
roles for producing the final product. Learn methods for
sequential, effective and “hip” teaching.
“Dance in America,” “Song, Dance
and the Possibilities,” “Salute to Song in America,”
“Early Rock and Roll,” “A Grand Night
for Singing and Dancing.”
