Selenna was a shy, quiet, reserved Cambodian girl whom I had known since first-grade. For four years at the school, she refused to participate in music classes, preferring to watch in silence, huddled in her winter jacket even in warm weather. During the first music class of fifth-grade, however, she accepted my invitation to participate in mirror movement. In this particular activity, students pair up and face each other – one is the mirror of the other, moving as the mirror image of the leader. When partners are very good at it, observers cannot tell who is the leader and who is the mirror. To facilitate movement, I play music with a slow tempo and smooth, legato lines. Selenna removed her jacket and stood facing her partner on the rug in the center of the room. The music started and the two began to slowly move together. For the first time I saw how gracefully Selenna moved, her hands turning elegantly, fingers curved expressively. This was a girl I had never before seen.
After that music class, I asked Selenna to be a dancer in the West African Drumming and Dancing Ensemble and she accepted the invitation. Ensembles consist of multi-aged groups of students (usually third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders) that rehearse weekly during the school day. The work is an outgrowth or extension of the work I do during regularly scheduled music classes. The various ensembles afford students opportunities to develop the skills learnt in class and to explore a particular genre more deeply. Because they are multi-aged, the less experienced students learn from the more experienced ones similar to an apprenticeship.
An additional component of ensemble work is journaling. Each participant writes to me during the initial few minutes of rehearsal. I then write back prior to the next week’s rehearsal. In effect, the journals are written conversations between the children and me. The following are a couple of excerpts from Selenna’s journal during the semester she participated in the West African ensemble:
[my entry]
I enjoy watching you dance – you’re very graceful, especially with your hands. Have you danced before? Outside school somewhere?
[Selenna’s response]
Thank you. I never danced before. I never like to dance. I just started dancing when I started dancing with these people [the West African ensemble dancers].
[my response]
Hmm, I guess that means you feel comfortable enough with the people in the group that you can relax and dance with them? That’s good. It’s also wonderful to see you come out of your shell this year. You’re a beautiful girl with lots to offer – I’m glad you’re letting yourself shine!
[Selenna’s response]
Yes I do feel very comfortable with my group. I know that last year I always refused [to participate] but this year I feel like I want to come out of my shell and shine. This is very fun because I get to learn how to dance in different ways and enjoy myself because I feel very relaxed. Today was fun. I like it here.
What prompted Selenna to finally participate in music class and in the West African ensemble I cannot say. So many factors could have contributed to the change in Selenna – transformation (just like the arts themselves) is not measurable or predictable. However, I feel her experience with the arts encouraged the change because the arts make discovery possible: “Discovery occurs as students learn through adventures in the arts something of the possibilities of human experience” (1). I suggest that music class and the West African ensemble afforded Selenna the space and opportunity to take the risk to try on a different identity – in effect, to help shape her own life story.
It was wonderful to see Selenna shine and grow in confidence during rehearsals – a child who previously was not willing to take the risk of performing and who eventually participated in a public performance in front of the entire school. I continued to watch her participate fully in all her music classes throughout the rest of the year, as well. Though she remained shy and very quiet, she smiled a lot more – and the jacket never again entered the music room.
(1) Eisner, E. (1998). The kind of schools we need: Personal essays. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. (p. 85).
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