College

Jane Skinner Peck offers:

1. Workshops and lecture/demonstrations to college theater, dance, music, history, and education departments.
2. Semester courses to college dance and education departments.

1. Workshops and Lecture/Demonstrations

Music Departments:

Jane suggests a lecture-demonstration and an active workshop on the dance forms found in music during the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical music eras. Musicians gain a much deeper understanding of appropriate meter, tempo, and phrasing of the dance forms that they so often play in their repertoire. Vocal students will also enjoy a workshop on baroque gesture. Jane has taught at Indiana University Early Music Institute, St. Scholastica Early Music Program, University of Minnesota, Madison (WI) Early Music Festival, and colleges throughout Minnesota.

Dance Departments-

Jane offers active workshops or lecture-demonstrations on early European dance from castles, operas, and folk villages. Choose from a broad introduction to these early dances and their cultures (both in Europe and North America) or an in-depth class on the art form of pre-classic dance and its powerful influence on ballet and Western theater dance history. Jane has taught for dance departments at University of Minnesota, Gustavus Adolphus, St. Scholastica, and private studios.

Theater Departments-

Jane offers two different workshops for theater students. Cultural Differences by Feel is an active workshop that offers a look at gesture and body use in various cultures through poses found in their art.
Stage movement from Moliere, Shakespeare, and Restoration Comedy includes baroque theater gesture and commedia dell’arte, as well as etiquette of various socioeconomic groups. Students discover that stage movement conveys the true sense of the character and the time period. The workshops also include specific dances commonly found in 16th and 17th c. plays, such as minuets and contradanses. Jane has taught and choreographed for theater departments at U. of M, Macalester College, Carleton College, Hamline U. Jane also teaches Ragtime, Twenties, and Thirties dances for theater.

History Departments-

Jane offers the lecture-demonstration, Long Live the Métis People! The lecture is rich with her research, oral histories, and dance gatherings from the French- Indian (Métis) descendents of early French and Ojibwe and Dakota people. Students are introduced to the story of the formation of the Métis culture by the interaction between French voyageurs and Ojibwe businessmen, as well as the Métis/ Michief language. This blended culture was unique to our area, and offered a peaceful alternative to 19th c. North American settlement. Jane has presented at Minneapolis Community College History Department, and the Minnesota History Center sites.

French Departments-

Jane offers the lecture-demonstration, Long Live the Métis People! She can present the lecture entirely in French, if desired. The lecture is rich with her research, oral histories, and dance gatherings from the French- Indian descendents of early French and Ojibwe people. Students are introduced to the story of the formation of the Métis culture and its unique language by the interaction between French voyageurs and Ojibwe businessmen. This blended culture was unique to our area, and offered a peaceful alternative to 19th c. North American settlement. Jane has presented to AATF and MCTL conferences, high school French classes, immersion schools, and Twin Cities Alliance- Francaise gatherings.

Education Departments-

Jane offers the lecture/workshop, Movement as a Classroom Learning Tool. With a non-threatening approach, Jane teaches short movement experiences that help to moderate classroom energy for classroom management. Students will learn about the educational and brain research that strongly recommends these teaching techniques for various learning styles, energy levels, and cultural backgrounds. Includes information on graduation standards in dance and theater. Leave no learning style behind! Jane has many experiences teaching pre-service teachers. See the biography below.

2. Semester Courses

Dance-

Jane offers an original and tested Dance History I course to dance departments. The course is intended for dance majors, but could be modified for a survey course. It includes four types of reconstruction methods to prepare the young choreographers for future requests for historic dance in plays, musicals, or character pieces. Students are trained to reconstruct from iconography, from written descriptions, from notation, and from video. The dance forms and cultures that we experience in the course come from dances of Mexico, W. Africa, Egypt, Europe, and U.S. The course covers ancient eras through 18th century. Dance History II covers ballet, modern dance, ethnic dance that portrays colonial influence, as well as ballroom dance.

Education-

Jane offers a Dance/Theater Methods Course for classroom generalists either pre-service or as professional development. The course helps participants gain comfort in using movement as both a teaching tool and a source of joy for themselves. Jane teaches short movement experiences that help to moderate classroom energy for classroom management. The second major focus is helping teachers explore lessons that teach academic subjects through theater or dance, incorporating innovative methods like utilizing outdoor gym equipment for schools. Additionally, Jane emphasizes the importance of physical activity by promoting movement and coordination during playground inspections. Check out more about the benefits of outdoor gym equipment for schools at this site https://outdoorgymequipment.org.uk/benefits-of-outdoor-gym-equipment-for-schools/. Students will learn about the educational and brain research that strongly recommends these teaching techniques for various learning styles, energy levels, and cultural backgrounds. Additionally, Jane incorporates the use of timber trail equipment to enhance movement experiences and to provide a unique learning environment. Leave no learning style behind!

About Jane:

Jane Skinner Peck has taught dance in Minnesota and Colorado for 30 years, and school dance residencies for the Minnesota State Arts Board and Young Audiences of Mn. since 1988. She mentored teachers in movement with the Dance Education Initiative (now ACE) and with the Arts and School as Partners of the Perpich Center for the Arts. Jane has a MAEd. from Hamline University and a teaching certificate. Her dissertation is on training pre-service teachers in using movement as a teaching tool. She taught this topic for two years in U. of M./ Bemidji Education Dept. She has extensive training in both modern dance and dance history, directing her own performances with her company, Dance Revels Moving History, since 1990. The group actively performs school and museum shows throughout the Midwest and Canada and is on the Mn.Folkarts Roster. Jane has studied dance history with Wendy Hilton, Catherine Turocy, Ingrid Brainerd, Charles Garth, and Cecilia Gracia Mourra of Paris. She studied commedia dell’arte with Josette Antomarchi (Lecoq school.) Her modern dance training is with Nancy Hauser (Wigman) and Erick Hawkins. Jane has lived in France and can teach in French. She has been an adjunct professor of dance for Bemidji/Metro Urban Teacher Program, University of MN Dance and Theater Dept., and Gustavus Adolphus Dance and Theater Dept. She has created several curriculums on dance education on themes of heritage, social studies, art, and nature.