THE MUSIC CENTER OFFSTAGE
The Music Center Offstage is a virtual destination that takes you beyond the curtain and brings the beauty, magic and creativity of the arts into your home.
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Be a Line Dancer with Dawn Dyson
Step into formation with Music Center Teaching Artist Dawn Dyson as she guides you in the well-known line dance, "Pata Pata". This dance was inspired by the famous South African singer Miriam Makeba, nicknamed “Mama Africa”. This lesson is ideal for grades K-8.
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Dancing a Story
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About Our Teaching Artist
Dawn Dyson's first experience with folk dance was at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. That was the moment and place when she fell in love with this dance form. She responded to the community aspect of the folk style and its accessibility to people of all ages and abilities. She continued her studies at Ball State University and earned a B.S. degree in Dance Performance before becoming a performer, educator, and administrator with the AMAN Folk Ensemble.
During her 10 years with AMAN, she taught numerous student workshops in California and throughout the nation. As the Education Specialist for AMAN, Dyson constructed a curriculum handbook that focused on dances from the United States and helped facilitate the teacher training for other dancers in the company. She also restructured AMAN’s curriculum to include lesson plans implementing the California Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Standards for Dance, as well as making connections to the Language Arts and Social Science Standards.
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