By Heather Stone, Senior Counselor and Dance Specialist

Shalom! My name is Heather Stone and I am lucky enough to be the dance specialist at GUCI this summer for the third year in a row. While this is my third year on staff, it is my twelfth summer being a part of the camp family and I couldn’t be more excited! I am a rising junior at the University of Cincinnati where I study Social Work and Judaic Studies. I’m really looking forward to bringing new dances to camp and sharing my love of dance with everyone here! Being the dance specialist, I was fortunate enough to go to Los Angeles for a new program called Ma’agal, a conference where people who teach dance all over the country come together and exchange music, dances, skills and teaching techniques. We had the opportunity to meet some incredible people and gained a plethora of knowledge. Before going to Ma’agal I was already excited to help GUCI’s staff and campers learn about Jewish history and culture through dance, but after going to Ma’agal my excitement has been heightened!

Ma’agal was such a great program; we gained knowledge of and covered so many facets of dance- it was unbelievable. We learned about being prepared and professional in relaxed atmospheres, like camp, where it may be more difficult to do so. But with the tips and tricks we learned it’s easy to plan fun lighthearted activities while covering all of the material in our curriculum. We also talked a lot about teaching techniques in regards to word choice and direction. We focused on the saying “you don’t need to know a dance to do a dance,” and how much truth that holds! Following along, making mistakes and self-correcting is the best way to learn. Many of the songs we hear on the radio, and know every lyric to, were never taught to us; we learned through trial, error and a lot of practice. This is a concept that makes sense and I plan on implementing it at camp this summer. Another important subject we covered was how to teach subjects such as history, culture, and Hebrew through dance. I am a huge proponent of targeting numerous, different learning styles and dance accommodates so many of them. I am honestly so thankful that I was able to go to LA for this experience I can only hope that camp benefits from this experience as much as I did. I look forward to seeing everyone at camp over next couple of months! Until then, Shalom chaverim!