CLASSES + WORKSHOPS

As a part of Dance Month’s mission to improve dance education and aid dance teachers, the Jewish Community Center will host a Leap ‘N Learn™ Teacher Workshop Saturday, September 10– Sunday, September 11, 2011.

The Leap ‘N Learn™ Teacher Workshop is a two-day, twelve-hour intensive focusing on the principles of the Leap ‘N Learn syllabus, including positive, creative dance education. The workshop is facilitated by Beverly F. Spell and Annie W. Spell, Ph.D., co-authors of the syllabus. Attending the workshop will enhance your ability to teach young dancers.

Beverly F. Spell has taught ballet for over 33 years, the last 14 as a studio owner. She has also produced 5 DVDs. As a dancer, she trained with many great teachers, including Gwynne Ashton, and was a scholarship student at the School of American Ballet and Harkness Ballet. She is a graduate of the National Academy of the Arts in Champaign, Illinois. In 2003 Beverly began sharing her experience with other dance teachers through Leap ‘N Learn™. In 2004 she co-authored and released with Annie Spell, Ph.D., the Leap ‘N Learn™-A Comprehensive Early Childhood Dance Syllabus. In addition to creating a program taught by teachers worldwide, Beverly has written several DANCEcamps for studios to use as income and enrollment boosters during slow seasons, designed dance coloring books, collaborated with composer Scott Killian and producer Finis Jhung on two children’s dance class CDs based on the Leap ‘N Learn™ Syllabus, developed many dance classroom teaching props, and with her husband, Carrol, designed The Ultimate Barre.

Dr. Annie W. Spell, Ph.D. completed her doctorate in child psychology at Louisiana State University in 2007, and currently works as a licensed and board certified psychologist, specializing in child and adolescence. She also provides psychological consultation to schools in her area and the Louisiana Office of Youth Development. Her involvement with Leap ‘n Learn began in 2003. Since that time Dr. Spell has greatly enjoyed merging her knowledge of research and theory to Beverly Spell’s many years of experience in designing an effective early childhood dance syllabus. Dr. Spell will provide information on the theories of child development and how Leap ‘N Learn capitalizes and promotes a child’s naturally occurring cognitive and emotional milestones.