Move. Create. Educate.
By maria, on August 3rd, 2011%
 Question for you. Do you ever have students in your dance classes who walk on their toes? And I don’t mean when you ask them to rise up on their toes. I mean all the time. Always tiptoeing. I have heard (and read) that it can be compared to sucking their thumb and they should grow out of it in 2-3 months when they are young. I also read that it could be a tight achilies tendon or signs of cerebral palsy. Those are both very different. Continue reading Tiptoeing
By maria, on July 15th, 2011%
Remember this hidden treasure CD I found a while back? Well, I found another song on the Wake Up and Wiggle CD that I absolutely love! It’s called… Let’s Get Jazzy. It’s really cute, and helps my 3′s isolate their body parts! Important to know, right? Continue reading Let’s Get Jazzy
By maria, on July 8th, 2011%
 One of my favorite animals to make a dance about is the giraffe. It’s amazing how many animal dances I make in a week, all a little different, but all so creative! Giraffe dances are my favorite for a few reasons. Tall necks and backs, long legs, and big reaches all lend themselves to dance class so well. The Giraffe dance goes a little something like this: Continue reading Giraffe Dance
By maria, on June 24th, 2011%
 Need a new song? Here’s one for you! My Blue Balloon. It’s awesome! I have used this song for years and I can’t believe I haven’t written about it yet. It works best with 2-3 year olds. They love it! Continue reading My Blue Balloon
By maria, on June 19th, 2011%
Want to know what I have been exploring with lately while teaching? Rope. I had some jump ropes in my prop closet and thought summertime would be the perfect season to use them. Here are some ideas I have tried:
 Continue reading Rope Shapes
By maria, on June 8th, 2011%
My Dear Readers,
Today I have a fun giveaway for you! Want to hear about it? Of course you do! Continue reading Petite Feet Giveaway!
By maria, on May 23rd, 2011%
In my Friday 5-6 year old ballet classes I am working on grand jete. We practiced them a lot of ways through the semester, broken them down, and used props. This past week I thought I would show them a picture of a dancer doing a grande jete. Continue reading Teaching With Pictures
By maria, on May 17th, 2011%
 Do you ever have parades in your classes? I love to do them to teach marching and chasse. They are great ways of making following directions fun while working on locomotor skills. Here’s just one of the parades I do with my students: Continue reading Let’s Have a Parade!
By maria, on April 6th, 2011%
 My 3 year old students are in love with the book A Ballet Book. In that book they talk about the five positions and how when doing first position you could think about putting a slice of pie in between your toes! Yesterday, I was feeling inspired to do something different with first position. I told them to show me first position and I would bring them a slice of pie. I went around to each dancer and gave them a different flavor of pie in between their toes. Cherry, Strawberry, Apple, Blueberry, etc. are some examples. I asked them what kind of pie Miss Maria should have? Their answer: Chocolate! (haha!) They loved getting their own flavor and it really taught them to stand in first position for longer then normal because of the imagery of the pie.
Continue reading A Slice of First Position
By maria, on March 30th, 2011%
 Today over on Picture Books and Pirouettes I wrote a book review on Tallulah’s Tutu. Check it out here! Then stop back here for some great links that go along with the book.  Continue reading Today! Guest Post on Picture Books and Pirouettes
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About 
Maria Hanley is an independent early childhood dance educator in New York City.
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Question for you. Do you ever have students in your dance classes who walk on their toes? And I don’t mean when you ask them to rise up on their toes. I mean all the time. Always tiptoeing. I have heard (and read) that it can be compared to sucking their thumb and they should grow out of it in 2-3 months when they are young. I also read that it could be a tight achilies tendon or signs of cerebral palsy. Those are both very different. Continue reading Tiptoeing
Maria serves on the 