Jenna Bacon, Campus Carrier arts and living editor

Ali Luciani, Campus Carrier asst. arts and living editor

The Collegiate National Association for Music Educators (CNAfME) hosted “Folk Dance Friday,” an interactive event designed to introduce attendees to traditional dances of six different cultures outside the United States. Rather than watching performances, attendees learned and participated in each dance, emphasizing the connection between music, movement and culture.

The organization serves as the collegiate branch of the National Association for Music Education and focuses on preparing future music educators. Junior Emily Crib, who is the secretary of CNAfME, said it’s a great way to bring future music educators together.

“It provides resources for them as they enter into their teaching career,” Crib said. “We have meetings about once a month, where guest speakers that are currently teachers in the field or work in the field in some capacity, come and give us talks on different things. So [our chapter is] also able to provide things like mentorship and connections for when we graduate and are looking at jobs and stuff.”

The event was partially inspired by the elementary music methods course taught by Director of Music Education Stephanie Cash. Students taking the course learn methods and strategies for effectively teaching music to young children, one of those being folk dancing. One of the assignments given in the class is for students to successfully instruct a folk dance. 

“One of the things we’re learning in elementary methods is that so much of music is movement, especially with kids, that’s how they connect kinesthetically with the music,” Sophie Caveney, the president of CNAfME, said. “They’ll dance the way that the music feels to them. And that is something that is really special because it shows how each person as an individual interprets that music and interprets what they’re hearing.” 

When the folk-dance instructions first began, they were only open to music majors. During the folk dance instructions, each student chose a different dance, then took turns teaching the audience. 

“It’s basically an opportunity for the education majors to learn how to both teach the dances and facilitate it,” Crib said. “It was so much fun for us that we decided to bring it to the campus.”

After they decided to open the event up to the campus, it was Caveney who suggested they apply to make it a CE credit.  

“It’s learning dances from different cultures, and there’s a lot that goes into music, and we wanted more students to be exposed to that,” Caveney said. 

Six different dances were taught at last Friday’s event. Each of the six dances represented a different culture, with music education majors leading and instructing. These students used teaching strategies they learned in class, such as breaking down steps and calling movements in rhythm to help further guide each participant through each dance.

According to Crib, there was much fun to be had while the instructors prepared their dances.

“The junior music education majors have been practicing the last week, and we all get so giggly trying to watch each other do the full dance, trying to partner up and not step on each other, and all that kind of stuff,” Crib said. 

According to Crib, dance can act as a relief from life’s daily stresses.

“I think it’s a mental break for everybody because everybody’s very busy and sometimes we forget to move our bodies and get into our bodies, so I think that it’s really healthy,” Crib said. 

Sophmore Caroline Powell, vice president of CNAfME, shared how happy she was to see music being shared with others in such a fun way. 

“It was really cool to see people who came from outside of the music department to participate,” Powell said. “A lot of it was really just loosening up and having fun. I think it was a good way for people who don’t experience music on a daily basis to hear a new style of music.”

Powell said active participation was necessary to fully understand the experience. 

“You don’t necessarily get it if you’re not actually doing it,” Powell said. “It was really fun to see people loosen up and actually let themselves have fun.”

The event also encouraged social interaction, as many dances required participants to have partners and even switch partners.

“The Russian dance specifically is fast-paced, and a lot of folk dances require you to have a partner and you kind of stick with the same partner for each dance,” Powell said. “But for this Russian dance, you would do whatever the sequence, and then you would go and find a new partner and do it again.”

To stay updated on future events hosted by the Music Education Department or CNAfME, follow the Instagram @berrymusiced.