Hip Hop and Conflict Resolution
On December 9th, Mrs. Kautter’s dance class participated in a video conference on Hip Hop run by ArcheDream for Humankind, a dance company from the Philadelphia area. Hempfield High School joined two other schools for an hour and a half program. Students learned some of the history of Hip Hop and were given instruction on some basic dance moves by instructors at ArcheDream. At the end of the conference, students at each school were given the chance to freestyle and show off their own moves for the other participants.
The conference presented some unique challenges. Audio is a key part of dance, and can be one of the most difficult parts of a video conference to get right. While there were some problems with both the sending and receiving of audio, the students adapted and were able to successfully participate. The lessons learned with this conference will be useful as Hempfield attempts more performance oriented student video conferences.
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Hempfield students thoroughly enjoyed participating in this event. We had a post-conference talk back. A summary of their comments:
The conference was both challenging and informative.
They offered some suggestions: First, have the speaker/demonstrator wear a mic rather than relying on an external mic. Students would then be able to hear when the demonstrator turns around or when the music is playing. Secondly, perhaps do this with two schools to permit more interaction. Thank you for permitting us to participate in this new long-distance way of accessing professional dancers.
From: Mrs. Pat Kautter