Everybody Dance Now

I know we have a lot of dancers at school.  Lyrical and Jazz.  Modern.  Tap. Irish.  And the one I live with, ballet. These kids work hard for hours and hours every week.  I know from experience.  I have been taking my daughter to dance since before she was 3 years old.  She loves it and most likely will major in it next year when she goes to college.

Our amazing PE teacher posts a daily short video of games to do at home.  Follow him (@coachbiehler) if you don't already. They are entertaining and uplifting.  His kids are too cute. My daughter was never really into basketball or tossing a ball around. It was (and still is) dance.  These days she is taking online classes in our dining room. What can you do with your young dancer?

#HowDoYouDance

Back in early January, I shared How Do You Dance? with Mrs. Pryde's kindergarten class and we had a lot of fun dancing around the Dewey Section. Looking at these pictures makes me miss the kids and the library so much.

 

Watch this video of Thyra Heder talking about her book and dancing on KidLitTV. Can you share your dancing videos with the hashtag, #HowDoYouDance ?

I love this quote from Thyra that when you are "not feeling very joyful or feeling very happy to know that you can also move your body then and you can sort of roll around on your floor, you can dance alone in your room...that's also a good idea to show moving on a sad day." How did she know that dancing could be therapeutic especially TODAY?  If you do get a hold of the book, look out for this particular spread, "Good days. Rainy days. Sad days.  Sometimes you just need to flop around until you feel better."  Today I could use a whole lot of flopping around, if you know what I mean.

To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel

In 2015 I met Mark Siegel for the first time at ALA.  I nearly toppled him over.  "YOU'RE Mark Siegel?! My daughter's FAVORITE book is To Dance!" He was very kind to me and we might have chatted for about three minutes. Then I kept running into him, and that was awkward. At every ALA or TLA since then, I have seen him and continue to salute him and remind him of my admiration for the book.

I found the book on Tari's shelf last night.  I know she re-reads it every once in a while.  It's one of those books that always brings her back to a happy place.  If you can get a hold of the graphic novel written by Mark's wife, Siena Cherson Siegel and illustrated by Mark, here are some discussion questions I found from AdLit.Org:

• Do you like this book as a graphic novel? Do you think the story would work well without them?
• Read Jill Krementz's A Very Young Dancer (one of my most favorite books growing up) and find similarities and differences in the way the two stories are told.
• Do you have a hobby that you enjoy? Research ways you can turn that hobby into a job. (You can even think about this question without reading the book.)
• Were you surprised at the choice Shana made when she turned 18?  Why do you think Shana made that decision?

Ivy and Bean: Doomed to Dance

I love the Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrows and illustrated by my friend, Sophie Blackall.  Here's a book trailer for Doomed to Dance, Book #6 (The latest is Book #11!). Read the whole series! They are all good!



Here is an audio excerpt from the same book:

Book Recording | Doomed to Dance on TeachingBooks


And to keep with the Ivy and Bean theme, here is Sophie reading from Ivy and Bean: One Big Happy Family, Book #11:

Dear Ballerina

I met author and illustrator, Monica Wellington many years ago.  She was even our guest for the Read Over Sleep Over several years ago! Her daughter, Lydia Wellington, is a dancer with the NYC Ballet.  When my daughter was about 10 years old we saw Lydia dance in Saratoga and she gave her a pair of her ballet shoes.  I don't know who was more excited, Tari or me?  

How exciting that Monica's book Dear Ballerina can be found at the NYC Ballet gift shop!



Here is a cupcake recipe from Monica's website that your family can bake together.

FYI: You know that leaping sketch of me in my Google bio?  Monica drew that!

There are a lot of other books fiction and nonfiction related to dance.  PLEASE email me if you want any more suggestions. First thing I will do is pirouette over to my daughter's bookshelf. Then I will check out the library catalog.

And for the TEEN dancers in your life...

I just wanted to share Sophie Flack's, Bunheads, another one I grabbed off Tari's shelf.  You know how intense the world of ballet can be and woosh--the music in this interview says it all.

Two wild connections here:  Aunt Ronnie (see above) is friends with Sophie's mom AND Jenna Gavigan is friends with Sophie!

Encore

I hope your very (or not so very) young dancer is still dancing in addition to doing academics, hanging with the family, and of course, playing outside. Even your non-dancer can benefit from a moving around to some music. Get that sunshine in your pocket, dance away and remember to share #HowDoYouDance ?

PS: I found this one I really like but can't get the YouTube link so check it out here to DANCE!

xo

RED CARPET Guys walking

One of my favorite places to be in my free time is NYC.  I grew up in Queens and it always feels like going home to me.  My mom, daughter and I went down there yesterday with the intention of seeing "Giselle" at American Ballet Theatre in Lincoln Center but we did so much more.

We love to walk all around the city.  On April 26 NYT Magazine had a special issue called, "Walking New York."  Here's a cool graphic by Christoph Niemann  from his "Abstract Sunday" column.  That was us in the Village.

The Megabus drops you off in midtown and we always like to go to brunch in the Village.  Yesterday we chose Friend of a Farmer in Grammercy Park.  It's a big place with outdoor dining and two floors upstairs.  There's french press coffee, fruit and vegetable drinks and yummy omelets.  Nothing too unique but a nice atmosphere especially if a red carpet guy is two tables away from you.  Nothing like seeing NEIL PATRICK HARRIS eating brunch with his family!  That was CRAZY!  After I calmed down, my daughter reminded me that this should not be anything unusual for me, since I had just been with an award winner less than two weeks ago!  How could I forget!  Actually the NEWBERY and TONYS are my top favorite awards and yes, KWAME and NEIL are both RED CARPET guys!

After brunch we walked from Grammercy Park to the East Village to get some ice cream.  Then we headed back uptown to Lincoln Center.  On the way, I caught this sign in the window of The Strand Bookstore, "Keep Calm and Kill Zombies."  LIBRARY GIRL was our keynote at our New York Library Association Section of School Librarian's conference this past April and man, was she inspiring!  She told us to be ZOMBIE FIGHTERS!  So I stopped in my tracks, grabbed my daughter's camera and took this picture!

We had to give up midtown to catch a cab because the crowds were just too unbelievable.  This way we made it in time without stress.  As the song from A Chorus Line goes, "Everything was beautiful at the ballet."

Then we walked back to the Megabus from Lincoln Center to 34th and 12th.  Not a stroll.  We made it to the bus with 3 minutes to spare. It was a totally fun and awesome day!

Look at that sky!  It could not have been a more beautiful day!

  (Photo credit TCiverolo)