The Parkour & Performing Arts Center (aka Free Flow Academy): Movement as a Modality for Personal Development and Play Based Learning

I'll admit. The past 6 years have been a wild ride. Opening Free Flow Academy has been the most challenging and rewarding projects I have ever done. You have to be a gladiator to own a business. Sometimes you do it to honor something greater than yourself. Sometimes you do it for the challenge. Sometimes you do it for the money. I didn't do it for the money. I did it for the challenge and for the opportunity. I can assure you, this has never been, and never will be for money. I've been told that's BS. Everyone goes into business to make money. If you don't, you die. I will say, I do it for sustainability. I want to devote myself to movement and creativity and be able to pay the bills while I'm at it. I want to inspire people to move dynamically, because simply put, I love movement. It changes people for the better. It changes people at the molecular and cellular level. And it makes this world a better place. I feel truly blessed I don't wake up in the morning having to prepare myself to perform open heart surgery on a 6 year old. I'm so grateful for the people in this world that can withstand that kind of work related intellectual and emotional stress. I get to wake up and work with kids and adults, to better their life in some small way. I get to educate and teach in many different forms, from teaching classes, to workshops, to online curriculum, to storytelling. To me, it's all teaching. My job is simple. To help prepare people for their world. To give them the tools they need to cope with the challenges they will face. To give them a greater sense of belonging and connection to this world and to the people in it. I think what I do is a form of preventative medicine. And it's also a form of Warrior Training.

Choreographer/Artistic Director - "Kadaash Zoku" Student Showcase

I write this post as an open journal. To explain my thoughts on play-based learning. At this point in my career I have taught thousands of students. I've taught students Kung Fu, Dance, Acting, and Parkour. Every discipline offers something unique and extremely valuable. All of them build character, and teach practitioners a mindset that will help them in life. Different individuals require different things. And different groups have different needs.

Free Flow Academy - Kung Fu Class

Horizon School District Guest Speaker - "Movement and Mental Health"

I have a group of students currently, who need a lot of creative ownership. They don't do well learning choreography. It's not empowering to them. It's rather stifling. So instead of having them do choreography and structured routines, I set some basic rules: 1) Warm-up and Stretching is Required 2) Your Commitment to Each Other is Required.

For this particular group, I decided play-based learning was the most effective approach. They must warm up and stretch with me. After that, I guide them through their own creativity and I play mediator. They get to be in charge and create their own dance. Here the creativity flows. They come up with all sorts of themes and ideas I would have never imagined. I give them pointers on how to make the movements they are creating more dynamic and graceful. But other than that, it's their brainchild. They work together as a team. And they must commit to each other's ideas. One student had trouble committing to the work of others. She didn't want to do anything if it wasn't her idea. She even hated her own ideas (not at first, but later when the dance wasn't panning out to her expectations). I worked with her on commitment and follow through, as well as listening to others. Being kind to her friends, and more importantly, being kind to herself. She needed constant reminders to not beat herself up. I think her becoming self aware of this habit is the most important thing she'll probably learn all year. Today was the first day she didn't complain once about the ideas of others. And today was also the first day she didn't beat herself up about some small mistake she thought she made.

As a teacher I hope to bridge communities. That is a spiritual calling I feel I have. But I also hope to inspire compassion and joy. As humans we have the power to create. We are the only species on the planet that can create life, technology, art in all of it's complexities, modes of transportation, energy, and even resources that sustain not only our lives, but all life on this planet! We need to find joy in our ability to create! But first we need to be aware of the power of creation. Creating is basically a super power and a gift. Recognizing it as such helps us find joy in that process. We create through play, and play helps us create. When my students make something, it might not be what I would have made for them. But it doesn't matter. In the grand scheme of things, the most important thing to achieve is realizing joy through your own work. And that is play-based learning. Play-based learning is finding joy through your own creation. And that is a life skill everyone can use. So get out there and play. Rechild Yourself!

- Ms. Elle

Free Flow Academy - Acting Class (Seasonally Offered through Media Academy)

The Parkour & Performing Arts Center (aka Free Flow Academy)

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Movement as a Modality for Personal Development and Play Based Learning

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