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Partner Balance· concentrate!· creativity Page: Say yeS to yoga!

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BEYOND

MaKing connectionS to learning StanDarDS New Victory School tool Resource Guides align with the Common Core State Standards, New York State Learning Standards and New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. We believe that these standards support both the high-quality instruction and deep engagement that The New Victory Theater strives to achieve in its arts education practice.

WHat iS “BeFore” KNEE DEEP?

This section is part of a full New Victory® School toolTM Resource Guide. For the complete guide, including information about the New Victory Education

Department check out: neWvictory.org/ScHooltoolS

INSIDE EN ROUTE

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COMMON CORE STANDARDS

Speaking and Listening: 1; 2; 5; 6Language: 1; 3; 6

NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS

The Arts: 1English Language Arts: 1; 4

BLUEPRINT FOR THE ARTS

Dance: Dance Making; Making Connections

BEFORE provides teachers with engaging, ready-to-implement classroom activities that explore the themes and artistry of the show prior to traveling to 42nd Street. Use this tool to integrate the content of the production into your curriculum in a hands-on, experiential way while building student anticipation and increasing the overall impact of the upcoming performance. This section also includes Creativity Pages that provide students with the opportunity to personally connect with the show content.

KNEE DEEP

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Partner Balance· concentrate!· creativity Page: Say yeS to yoga!activity 1: Partner Balance

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In KNEE DEEP, your students will see astounding acrobatics that require a finely tuned sense of balance and the ability to trust fellow acrobats. Teach these basic partner balances to build up your students' own sense of balance and trust in their classmates.

Face to Face:

1. Partners stand facing each other toe-to-toe.

2. Partners hold each other's wrists in a catcher's lock.

* Catchers’ Lock Tip: Hold your partner’s wrists to create a strong lock between the pair. This signals an agreement to keep each other safe.

3. Instruct students to keep their bodies stiff as boards. Both partners should lean back until their elbows are completely straight. Make sure they are still standing toe to toe as they lean back.

4. Once the pair finds their balancing point, encourage them to release their outside hands, rotating their shoulders outwards and “style” with the free hand.

* Style Tip: Circus performers end each trick or act with a “Style.” This is a pose of your own choosing that lets the audience know when to applaud!

* Safety Tip: Encourage students to keep their knees straight as they lean back. Some students will sit as they lean back, creating a bend. Ask them to pull their belly button forward to make their body straight.

Back-to-Back:

1. Partners stand back-to-back.

* Back to Back Tip: Students should feel their shoulder blades pressing into their partner’s shoulder blades.

2. Keeping their bodies straight, both students walk their feet away from the center.

* Tip: Apprehensive students might want to grab hands - if they do, their arms should be straight down. The shape should look like an A or upside-down V.

* Circus Safety Tip: Remind students that if they stand straight up in the middle of this trick, their partner will fall!

INSIDE EN ROUTE

before | KNEE DEEP

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Partner Balance· concentrate!· creativity Page: Say yeS to yoga!

activity 2: concentrate!

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Focus and concentration are essential skills for any ensemble, especially acrobats and circus performers. Try one or all of these activities with your students to heighten focus, build ensemble and prepare them to see KNEE DEEP!

Walk and Stop

1. Have your students walk around the room at a common pace.

2. Once a common pace is established, instruct students, without talking or signaling to each other, to try to stop walking at the exact same time.

3. As your students become more advanced and their concentration improves, you can add additional challenges such as jumping simultaneously or changing the speed of their pace as an ensemble.

Group Count

1. In a standing circle, tell your students that together you are going to count to 30 (or to the same number as there are students in your class). Everyone in the class has to call out one number and only one number.

2. Anyone in the circle can start the count and a different person has to call out each consecutive number. However, if two or more people say a number at the same time, the count has to start all the way back at number one.

3. Challenge your class to get to a higher number each time you play the game. As the group advances, have them try this activity with their eyes closed or with everyone’s backs to the circle.

Say “Yes”

1. In a standing circle, instruct one student to make eye contact with a second student.

2. Once the second student is convinced that the eye contact is directed at them, they say “Yes.” This means that student 1 can cross the circle to student 2 to stand beside him/her.

3. Student 2 then makes eye contact with a different classmate and the cycle continues.

4. Have this activity start out slow and build up to a faster pace each time it is played.

INSIDE EN ROUTE

before | KNEE DEEP

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NEW VICTORY THEATER© The New 42Nd STreeT, INc.

creativity Page

The performers in KNEE DEEP combine stunning physical feats with finely tuned mental agility and concentration. Yoga is a collection of poses that combine mind, body and spirit to achieve physical and mental harmony.

Learn these three basic yoga poses and then see if you can come up with one of your own! The pose must be physically challenging and require focus and concentration.

Yoga Tip: Remember to inhale and exhale while performing each pose. Holding your breath will make the poses more difficult to maintain.

Downward Dog: 1. Start on your hands and knees. Be sure that your hands are directly under your

shoulders and your knees are directly under your hips.2. Walk your hands forward, spread your fingers wide and press your palms into the

floor.3. Lift your hips toward the ceiling, making the shape of an upside down V. Your feet

should be hip-width apart and your knees should be slightly bent.

Tree Pose:1. Stand with your arms at your side and shift your weight onto your left leg. Slowly put the

sole of your right foot onto the inside of your left thigh, making sure to keep your hips facing forward.

2. Bring your hands in front of you with palms together.3. On an inhalation, extend your arms over your shoulders and hold for 30 seconds.4. Repeat the pose with your left foot and right thigh.

Warrior:1. Stand with your legs apart. Turn your right foot out and your left foot in

slightly.2. Extend your arms out to the sides with palms down.3. Bend your right knee 90 degrees and gaze out over your right hand.

My Yoga Pose:

BONUS: Combine the three basic poses and your new pose into a dance! Decide what order the poses will go in and how you will transition from one pose to the other.

Draw your pose here!