|
NEWS for
IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
“Tiny Great Performances Season Opener”
DUPAGE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
Release date: August 31, 2007
DCM Contact: Lynne Jele, Marketing & Membership
Phone: (630) 637-8000 ext. 2600
ljele@dupagechildrensmuseum.org
NEW! Tiny Great Performances™ Fourth Season opens with
In celebration of its 20th
Anniversary, DCM will open the fourth season of Tiny Great Performances™ on Saturday, October 6, starting at
10:30 a.m. with a live performance by the renowned Chicago dance troupe,
Hubbard Street 2 (HS2), which will perform a repertoire of works by some of the
nation’s most promising young choreographers in this special family day at
DuPage Children’s Museum, in Naperville. This season will include performances
ranging from singers and dancers to musicians and actors. All
performances will be in the Creativity Connections neighborhood, on the main
level of the Museum.
Hubbard Street 2 is a company of
six dancers between the ages of 17-25. Don’t miss their amazing show at
DCM on Saturday, October 6, 2007!
For more information about this group, please visit http://www.hubbardstreetdance.org/hs2_home.asp. (Media note:
for photos, please contact Jill
Chukerman Hubbard Street 2 PR Counsel at JAC Communications,
773-525-3974 or jchuk@rcn.com).
Are you
looking for a chance to enhance your child’s imagination? Do you want to
introduce them to the magic of live performance? Then look no further, because
DuPage Children’s Museum, one of
Why Watch a Tiny Great Performance™ at DuPage
Children’s Museum?
Tiny Great Performances™ are
held on various Saturdays throughout the year, starting at 10:30 a.m. A quarterly schedule is published in the DCM Neighborhood News DCM member
newsletter and the dates are also included in the DCM web site calendar (http://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/WebCalendar-1.0.5/month.php).
Watching and participating in
Tiny Great Performances™ is not only entertaining, it enhances your
child’s development of aesthetic and visual appreciation. When you and your child watch a Tiny Great
Performance™, you are facilitating an appreciation of diversity in people,
ideas and communication. Performing arts
motivate and engage children in learning; it helps to stimulate their memory
and facilitate understanding; it increases their ability to use and understand
symbolic communication. That’s a lot of
learning in one short Tiny Great Performance™!
Participating in a Tiny
Great Performance™ helps build upon many areas of your child’s physical,
cognitive, linguistic and social-emotional development, beginning as a young
infant and beyond. Developmental
experiences and milestones for your child may include:
Enhancement for Younger
Children:
·
Music – As young as 3 months, a baby will respond by
turning his head towards music or song.
Your child may enjoy vocalizing and making repetitive sounds to the
music he hears. He may intuitively bang on a table or coo in a musical way. Participating
and listening to music, besides being fun, helps your young child concentrate
and cooperate towards a common goal.
·
Dance – Enjoying or participating in
dance is not dependent upon capability and mobility. Even before your child
learns to walk, the urge to move is evident.
You may observe your child flapping his arms, bobbing his head or
rocking to the movement of the dancers.
Dance helps build and tone muscles.
It increases flexibility; builds balance and coordination. As your child’s physical ability increases,
so does his self-esteem.
·
Rhythm – An innate sense of discovery
awaits your child as he shakes his rattle or moves to the rhythm of the
instruments. Through repetition of patterns in voice, movement and sounds
your young child is developing skills needed for later math and literacy
activities.
Enhancement for Older Children:
·
Music – Most children respond to
music with joy. By now, your child may enjoy listening to a variety of music
choices – children’s songs, rap, classical, rock, etc. You may find him imitating or singing along
with the performance. As your child’s
music appreciation grows, so does his ability focus and actively listen, which
builds upon his increasing attention span.
·
Dance – Some children are fascinated
with dance performances. Your child may
begin to show interest and experiment with sequencing, patterning and spatial
concepts of dance. He may wish to dance
with you or a friend. As your child’s
physical abilities develop, so do his coordination and an awareness of his own
body. The social ability of dance enhances appreciation and consideration of
others. Your child may also recognize
and show interest in dances of other cultures.
·
Rhythm – Your child may begin to
recognize the pattern in rhythms.
This recognition helps to contribute to his sense of time and focus as
his attention to the detail of rhythm increases. Your child may recognize the pattern of the
rhythms in the performance and anticipate what will happen next.
You
can support your child’s aesthetic and visual development during Tiny Great
Performances™ by…
·
Sitting
close to the performance may help in holding your child’s attention longer.
Very young children have short attention spans.
·
If
your child wishes to dance or sing along with the performance, find a space
where your child has the freedom to do so, yet does not interfere with the
performance.
·
You
may want to help your young child clap or tap to the rhythm of the
performance. Older children will model
your enjoyment of the performance.
·
Revisit
the performance by talking about it during your car ride home from the
Museum. Ask your child to tell you their
favorite part of the performance.
You can support your child’s aesthetic and visual development at home by…
·
Building upon
your child’s listening by singing to him and inviting him to sing along with
you.
·
Sing favorite
songs during everyday routines such as riding in the car, cleaning or bathing.
·
Offering a
diverse selection of music for listening.
·
Moving to the
music or clapping to rhythm. Your child
may want to join you in the fun. Varying
the size, tempo, level and direction of the movement will help with sequencing
and patterning concepts.
·
Offering props
for dancing and moving; scarves, streamers, bells, etc.
For further reading about aesthetic and visual appreciation:
·
Imagine!
Introducing Your Child to the Arts. National Endowment for the
Arts. Publication may be downloaded from
www.arts.endow.gov/pub/imagine.pdf.
·
Young Children
and the Arts: Making Creative
Connections. A report of the Task Force on Children’s
Learning and the Arts: Birth to Age
Eight. Publication may be downloaded
from www.aep-arts.org/PDF.
DUPAGE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM:
DuPage Children’s Museum, a
top Chicagoland cultural attraction, is a not-for-profit organization
celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007—an imagination celebration
of the importance of play, as envisioned by our founders.
On any given day, about 1000
visitors come through the Big Red Door of DuPage Children’s Museum and engage
in three floors of open-ended activities. It is a playful, fun environment
where children and the important adults in their lives learn and play together
in thoughtfully planned “neighborhoods” designed to promote skill development
in math, science and the arts.
Thank you for all you
do! The Museum depends on donations and
sponsorships for over 40% of its budget. Your support helps make a difference
in the lives of thousands of children!
Location:
Phone: 630-637-8000
Hours*
Monday: 9 am - 1 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday: 9 am
- 5 pm
Thursday: 9 am - 8 pm
Sunday: 12 - 5 pm
*Call for special seasonal hours.
General Admission: $7.50 per
person, ages one through 59.
$6.50
per person, ages 60 and over.
Admission
is never charged to shop the Explorer Store.
Free Parking. Wheelchair
Accessible. Quick walk from
Annual Memberships: Several types
of memberships and gift memberships are available. Please visit http://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org
or call 630-637-8000 for more information.
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