Dancing Books: Literacy & Storytelling With Young Learners through Movement Exploration
led by: Justin Gomlak
Together we will explore techniques to bring books to life. Using movement and music strategies, participants will experience the expansion of what it means to tell a story. Literacy standards will be connected to theatre-making and dance. This interactive workshop will engage participants in an immersive movement experience focused on young learners.
We will begin with an interactive warm up exercise, then read a work of children’s literature, Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andrae and Guy Parker-Reese. We will then explore the movement of various characters from the book, focusing on the specialized dance form that each character dances. We will then examine the main character of Gerald the Giraffe. In the story, when he finds music that he loves, he can dance in ways he never imagined. We will mirror this using beautiful music.
After experiencing the lesson, we will deconstruct it, discussing strategies that can be repurposed for any literary work.
PRESENTER BIO:
Justin Gomlak, Director of Education and Community Engagement, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
JUSTIN GOMLAK GREER is an opera singer by training, a veteran Broadway dancer and actor, an arts educator, DEI practitioner and educational leader. In addition to a career that spanned 15 years and 9 Broadway musicals, Justin has been a guest artist, teacher and arts administrator for numerous prestigious arts education organizations including Camp Broadway, Broadway Classroom, City Center, the BRAVO television network, US Performing Arts Camps, NYC public schools, and was on the faculty of the Trevor Day School. Mr. Gomlak Greer was a full-time performing arts specialist on the faculty of Manhattan’s prestigious Dalton School. He extensively lectures and has held master classes in audition techniques, dance, acting, music, and performance. He holds a BFA in Vocal Performance and Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MA in Educational Leadership, Politics and Advocacy from New York University. He is the Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Florida. More at justingreer.net