Can Dancing be a Teaching Tool?

I watched this movie called "Take the Lead" on 8TV few hours ago. It is about dancing and how the lead character in the movie, Pierre Dulaine teaches a bunch of detention students to dance.

The movie is based on a true story. So, I googled up to find out more on this movie as it is based on true story. I also would like to know more as to why Pierre Dulaine uses dancing as a teaching technique. On the other hand, I am also curious about the explaination he made to the parents that how dancing can prevent a girl from getting pregnant and how a guy know how to touch a girl in respectable way.

The Movie Synopsis - taken from New Line Cinema website

Take the Lead is an inspirational drama based on the life of Pierre Dulaine, a Manhattan dance teacher and competitor who volunteers his time to teach ballroom dancing to a diverse group of New York inner-city high school students serving detention. The students are initially skeptical of Dulaine, especially when they learn what he’s there to teach them, but his unwavering commitment and dedication slowly inspire them to embrace his program. In fact, they even take it one step further and combine Dulaine’s classical dance with their unique hip-hop style and music to create a high-energy, unique fusion. As Dulaine becomes a mentor to his students, many of whom haven’t had much to strive towards in their lives, he inspires them to hone their skills for a prestigious city ballroom competition, and, in return, they share with each other valuable lessons about pride, respect and honor.

Then, I read from Wikipedia that Pierre Dulaine actually developed an educational technique known as The Dulaine Method: Changing Lives Through Dance. It is something like the Montessori method and the Suzuki method but Dulaine incorporated a different approach and philosophy.

The Dulaine Method: Changing Lives Through Dance - taken from Wikipedia

Over the past century, there have been numerous attempts to develop educational techniques that help children acquire the skills they need to become successful adults. The Montessori method and the Suzuki method are two of the most thorough, and successful, of those efforts.

What makes these methods so successful is that they combine a clear and compelling philosophy, rigorous and systematic training for those adults who will instruct the children, a program design that inherently coincides with the developmental needs of the children to be trained, and the ability to replicate the program on a large scale.

The Montessori method, with a philosophy grounded in guiding a child’s inner self to perfection, is completely focused on the emerging developmental needs of the child informing the Teacher about when to introduce certain learning experiences. The Suzuki method functions similarly: with a philosophical goal of bringing beauty to the spirits of young children, it builds on the essential developmental drive within young children for language acquisition.

Both the Montessori and Suzuki methods require extensive and rigorous training for their teachers. And both methods are indeed being replicated on a large scale.

Dancing Classrooms also combines a clear and compelling philosophy with a rigorous and systematic adult training model that dramatically coincides with the developmental need within 10-11 year old children to reinforce their social skills just prior to the onset of puberty. And Dancing Classrooms is now being replicated throughout the US and Canada with requests from several other international sites.

As with the Montessori and Suzuki programs, at the heart of Dancing Classrooms is a method – the Dulaine Method.

The Dulaine Method philosophy
Respect & Compassion: At the very core of the Dulaine Method philosophy is the essential respect that goes into being a Lady and being a Gentleman. In a time when we bemoan the loss of civil discourse and our society seems to become coarser by the day, Dancing Classrooms is a program that demands that the children not only treat others with respect but also encourages the children to respect themselves.

Coupled with respect is compassion. Perhaps it is Pierre’s own childhood that predisposes him to walk into a classroom full of children who struggle to believe in themselves, open his arms and heart to them, and then guide them gently along a journey that leads these young people to joy and accomplishment.

Respect and compassion are the foundational elements of the Dulaine Method. Unfortunately, very few adults know how to genuinely treat children with respect. And even fewer adults seem to remember what it was like being a child.

Being Present: Probably the most difficult skill for any teacher to learn is the ability to be completely in the moment when they are teaching. Children in particular are extremely aware of when the adult in charge (parent, teacher, coach) is not really there; and when a child senses that distance, woe be unto that adult.

Pierre’s ability to “be here now” enables him to observe every subtle nuance of student, and group, behavior. He can see when a child is nervous, not paying attention, when the group is becoming antsy and he can respond to those issues immediately, thus keeping the classroom experience flowing. Being present also allows Pierre to express his own positive emotions towards the children at precisely the moment the children need that affirmation.

Creating a Safe Place: Asking children to take the extraordinary risk of embarrassing themselves in front of their peers is precisely what Dancing Classrooms does. And the only reason that the children are willing to take this risk is because Pierre has perfected a way to make that experience safe.

A Dancing Classrooms class is a place in which everyone is equal: the students, the Teaching Artist, and the elementary school staff that are participating. In modern jargon we call this creating a therapeutic milieu, an environment so different from these children’s normal daily environment that simply being in that room and being part of that collective group experience changes that child.

Command & Control: Clearly, if you are going to move 25 children through twenty 45 minute classes and have them successfully learn seven dances, you need order and discipline. Pierre is in command of the class from the moment he begins until the moment the children leave the room.

An essential part of the Dulaine Method is developing the craft of managing the Group. When teachers are being taught how to work with children their training is invariably focused on individual child development. Rarely, if ever, are student teachers taught about group dynamics and how to manage a group of children. In many ways it is Pierre’s innate understanding of how to use the Group to help the Individual that is the glue that holds the program together. The ability to remain in absolute control of the Group while nurturing the children is one of Pierre’s greatest skills.

Language: Body & Verbal Language, both body and verbal, are the great connectors in Dancing Classrooms. Pierre’s entire physical affect is one of openness, warmth, and genuine affection for the children. His verbal repertoire is a consistent barrage of positive comments. There is no denying that when Pierre combines his body and verbal language he is a force the children simply cannot resist.

Humor & Joy: And last, but by no means least, Pierre brings humor and joy to the teaching experience. Humor is perhaps the most difficult, yet powerful teaching tool for a teacher to master. Gentle humor can help a shy child become less self-conscious; humor with that same child handled poorly can make him retreat and never come back out. As clichéd as it sounds, Pierre allows his inner child to fully emerge when he is teaching. He is playful, he is present, and the children can sense that he is just plain happy to be with them. "He also has this little habit of playfully slapping the students at Gateway Academy with his tie.

Being in such a safe place, where the boundaries are clear, the teacher is fully present, where respect and compassion reign – these are the elements that bring joy into the lives of the Dancing Classrooms children. And, as one Teaching Artist states:

"Dancing Classrooms is not about teaching ballroom dancing. The dance is a tool for getting the children to break down social barriers, learn about honor and respect, treat others carefully, improve self-confidence, communicate and cooperate, and accept others even if they are different."

After reading the above, I thinked of Ezel as she likes to dance. It would be great if she able to learn all the above skills mentioned thru her beloved activity, dance. I wonder if Malaysia have this Dancing Classroom.