To watch the full video, become a member of Drama Notebook, or log in.
Incorporating a Brain Dance warmup into each creative drama class is the perfect way to create focus with your young students. As they brush, dip, and splash imaginary colors, they become both energized and regulated. Many students even have fun making up their own Brain Dances! To find more playful activities tied to this warmup, check out the Art Themed Creative Drama Lesson.
The Brain Dance, developed by dance educator Anne Green Gilbert, is an 8-step movement sequence based on the developmental patterns humans naturally move through during the first year of life. Cycling through these patterns helps organize the central nervous system and integrate the brain and body at any age.
The 8 Patterns:
Breath
Tactile
Core-Distal
Head-Tail
Upper-Lower
Body-Side
Cross-Lateral
Vestibular (In these videos, we use “whole body” instead of vestibular)
Learn more about Brain Dance here:
Brain Dance Lesson
Brain Dance Video
