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This playful warmup is the perfect way to begin your creative drama class. As students follow along with the joyful movement patterns, they are building focus and self-control. Incorporating this into your daily practice can be magical. Once students learn the patterns, they can even make up their own Brain Dances! For a written version of this Braindance and more creative activities, check out the Autumn 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
