About
Hi! my name is Elaine Foley. I am a junior at the University of Pittsburgh studying English Literature and Dance. I have been dancing as long as I can remember and aspire to become a Dance Therapist. My two most significant dance experiences were being trained at Donna’s School of Dance and performing for the University of Tampa’s dance team. I currently perform for and am a board member of the Pitt Dance Ensemble. In addition, I dance for the Black Dance Workshop,teach at Donna’s School of Dance, and work as the assistant choreographer for the Opera Theater of Pittburgh’s show “Die Fledermaus.”
The purpose of my blog is multi-faceted. I will write about the current heath crisis of obesity and type 2 diabetes with kids in middle-school and share how my Dance Pedagogy class is taking action to combat this epidemic. Most importantly, this blog and its documents will focus on ways that educators can act in the same way as my Dance Pedagogy class by incorporating dance into middle school curricula.
My Pitt dance class works at the ground level of a program that has been created at the national level. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has sponsored the HEALTHY study, which will determine if changes in school food services and physical education (PE) classes will lower child obesity and risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Our class has been selected to instruct experimental PE classes in three different Pittsburgh schools. These classes will substitute dance in place of a standardized gym class to encourage an active lifestyle and a healthy weight.
In addition to educating the public about the risk factors of obesity, this blog will monitor progress in Pittsburgh schools and bring a perspective on our personal efforts to advocate public health. With emphasis placed on dance, through a variety of worldly forms, I hope to advocate intrinsic motivation in our youth. During the classes I aim to create a friendly environment that children can enjoy in school as well as transfer into their everyday lives. I intend to make dance a positive outlet for not only physical health, but for all around wellbeing.
I will be publishing warm ups, lesson plans, and videos of our classes. I hope these supplements as well as the various external links that I provide can act as groundwork for other educators in Pittsburgh to follow. My goal is to educate gym teachers about the benefits of dance and to guide them towards ways that they can “take the reins” to incorporate this enjoyable activity into their lessons and simultaneously advocate public health.
