UWI dancers triumph over remote learning

Remote learning has upended traditional teaching methods and the manner in which students interact with tutors and even with each other over the past 15 months.

From primary to tertiary, tutors have had to find creative ways to engage students and achieve curriculum goals, while still trying to maintain as normal a life as possible across the screens.

Classes requiring greater physical interaction such as physical education, dance, drama and the like, have been particularly challenging to deliver in the online sphere. Dance schools,too, have had to find creative ways to engage students in the midst of pandemic restrictions.

The Caribbean School of Dancing (CSD) and the University of the West Indies' Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) have had to rise above challenges to motivate students to their best performance.

Bridgette Wilson, Caribbean School of Dancing principal, said after the lockdowns her school saw a drop in the students attending classes as they could not deal with online anymore.

The problem was not unique to her school but it was a national and global one, Wilson said.

In a interview published on June 17 in Newsday, Wilson said the school had to create programmes to inspire students who were having a hard time dealing with online classes instead of pursuing their craft in a dance studio.

At the UWI St Augustine campus dance students also had to combat the difficulties of remote learning to accomplish results. The DCFA shares the experience of Danielle Ryan, Jerome Tang Kwok, and instructor Deboleena Paul who managed to work their way around the challenges of not being in a dance studio.

Ryan, now in final year of her bachelor’s degree in dance, has been learning the art and science of movement in the DCFA’s dance unit, one of the Caribbean’s premier schools for the performing arts. The experience, she says, has been fulfilling.

“Pursuing a formal education in my greatest passion has been a blessing,” Ryan, 34, said in a media release from the UWI.

In March of 2020, her studies were dramatically changed. The national response to the covid19 pandemic required educational institutions to switch to remote learning. Well over a year later, schools are still teaching remotely. For traditional “classroom” students it's been a challenging shift. What about those whose learning experience requires movement and performance?

“The pandemic restrictions and moving to online learning has been stressful,” Ryan said.

That sentiment was shared by other students. They no longer have access to the DCFA’s spacious dance studios with flooring that made them less susceptible to injuries. During online classes they sometimes deal with audio delay. Following movements is sometimes more difficult through a computer screen.

Apart from the practical challenges of online dance classes, there were also emotional ones.

“The energy is different from an [in-person] class,” says Tang Kwok, a 31-year-old professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer. “It’s more emotionally taxing, not sharing a physical space with like-minded individuals.”

However, far from discouraging them, the difficulties of online learning have helped to sharpen their focus. Dance is inherently a challenging discipline, both mentally and physically taxing, and studying dance at the DCFA requires students to bring their best efforts.

“Before the pandemic, studying at DCFA was rough mentally, and emotionally tasking, but extremely fulfilling because even though it was hard you still had the support of your lecturers to push you yet still give the support you need as a student,” said Tang Kwok, who is also a dance student with a minor in theatre.

At the dance unit, students learn Caribbean dance, ballet technique, modern dance technique, dance education, dance injuries and conditioning, Indian dance, dance composition, dance history, and movement analysis. Students can do either a three-year Bachelor of Arts in dance or the three semester certificate in dance and dance education.

“The UWI dance programme is very well developed and has great variety,” says Paul, instructor of Indian dance at the DCFA. “It is not only practise-based, it is also academic-based. Academics is very important to dance education because it gives you the purpose behind movements, the effect of movement on the body, and even history.”

A master and scholar of Indian dance from South Asia, Paul has studied dance since her early childhood and came to the Caribbean as a diplomat and performer with the High Commission of India. Her love of the region caused her to decide to stay and apply for a job at the UWI. The expertise of DCFA’s instructors across several fields of the performing arts is another major advantage for its students, the UWI said.

And like her students, Paul has been required to adapt to the online teaching environment. Unable to demonstrate movements to her classes in person, she records sessions beforehand and uses multiple cameras and monitors to capture different parts of the body in action.

“As a teacher, I always want to watch my students and demonstrate the movement,” she said.

It’s an enormous amount of work, but the students appreciate it.

“My overall experience as a DCFA student has been fulfilling,” said Ryan. “Yes there were obstacles and trials. There were definitely some tears, but the good times far outweighed the bad. I was fortunate enough to expand my knowledge not just in dance but in other performing arts and other aspects of the entertainment and performing art education industry.”

Ryan, who has extensive experience as a dancer and performer, plans on “joining the ranks of qualified and passionate visual and performing arts secondary school teachers.” Both the certificate and undergraduate DCFA programmes qualify graduates for jobs as dance teachers with the Ministry of Education, the UWI said.

Tang Kwok’s ambition after graduation is to continue his studies at DCFA while also becoming a lecturer. He said, “My overall experience as a student has been one filled with self-development and growth. At DCFA you learn more than just your discipline – you learn about life, you learn to think critically and to watch the world through a new lens. You also learn about the business that comes with being a creative within the industry. I will say that you will leave DCFA a stronger person.”

For more info on the Dance Unit and other DCFA programmes: https://sta.uwi.edu/fhe/dcfa/dance.asp