Alejandra Perez

LBS 400
Instructor Teri Abbott
November 25, 2014
Visual Arts and Performance Reflection
An effective visual and performing arts teacher needs to be well rounded in music, dance,
art and theatre. By this I am referring to teachers having a background in attending classes that
have taught history in dance, music, theatre and visual arts. A good background of history among
these topics, will help develop a sense of where each area originated from, how it evolved, and in
what forms has it affected people. In a way, theatre is the oldest form of story telling that details
back to the B.C era in which stone art walls depicted hunters, gatherers, flora, fauna, and
animals. In theatre, teachers need to be able to stress the importance of collaboration, and the
creative thinking process to students. Music and dance go hand in hand and the study of history
will enable teachers to demonstrate the correlation of dance and music. Teachers can also
demonstrate different cultures and traditions through the art of music and dance. Although each
genre correlates to history, teachers need to have also experienced each study area for at least a
year to become familiar, and comfortable teaching it. This means that museum visits, dance
performances and theatre plays. To clarify, I am not stating that each teacher must be a master of
every musical instrument, rather be familiar with how music is a part of daily life, motivate
students to become interested in how music conveys meaningful ideas, and overall teach students
that music is a form of human expression. Like music, dance is also a study area in which a
teacher should encourage students to be involved in. Teachers should be able to have confidence
in themselves in order to teach dance. Aside from confidence, teachers need to have had some
dance classes in college that teach them how to introduce dance, teach students how to properly

move their bodies across space, instill in students the idea that dance is also a form of expression.
For art, teachers need to give students the opportunity to explore with varied mediums,
clay, chalk, watercolors, oils, paints, and crayons. This shows how students will first develop an
artistic value for their work, and later they will develop a sense of deeper meaning that goes into
creating an art piece. To teach students art, every teacher needs to instill the belief that every one
has a different approach to art, and that no art piece is incorrect or undesirable; rather every art
piece has meaning and thought. Overall, to teach visual and performing arts, a teacher must have
had extensive class requirements met in the study areas of dance, music, theatre and visual arts to
properly and effectively give students instruction and develop their skills in these areas.
In my ART 301 class, Professor David Parsons taught me to let go of my need for
perfection in my artwork. He taught me that mistakes are necessary to improve technique and
comfortability with each medium. Every week was a new challenge for me because I was
introduced to new ways of drawing, such as holding a pencil sideways to shade and sketch. For
me, this was difficult because I had grown so fond of making everything perfect, or making my
work the best in the class. Professor Parsons allowed me to view competition in a new light; it
should only exist within each of us, and that if we wanted to compete against anyone it should be
ourselves, not each other. This believe made me realize that as a teacher, I too should motivate
my students to appreciate each others effort because once competition is out of the picture,
students can focus on their own work and technique.
My Theatre 120 class was a great opportunity for me to break out of my comfort zone.
My professor Rex Heuschkel taught us how to collaborate and make a scene form a play come
to life. Some of the characters that I had to portray were nothing like me, and in a way it helped
me mask my fear of performing in front of strangers. With each acting activity I slowly shed my

fear aside and I no longer needed to depend on the characters I was playing to give a great
performance. I thought that these simple group activities helped students cooperate with each
other and gain confidence in the process. The acting scenes gave opportunities for students to
bring forth new ideas, come up with solutions to problems, work out solutions, and come up with
a concluding thought. I take away from this experience a new take on group work. This theatre
class allowed me to recognize the simplicity in giving students a chance to take the ropes of their
own projects based on their creative thought process. Some of these acting activities are a great
way to encourage group work among students who may be shy. By portraying a character, or
playing pretend, students can feel at ease and comfortable enough to break out of their own
shells.
I feel most prepared in the dance, theatre, and visual art study areas. Dance is my Liberal
Studies option, which has expanded my horizons in the dance and theatre areas. I have well over
two years of dance classes that specialize in the history of dance, dance technique, choreography,
ballet, tap, jazz, middle eastern, and ballroom. Along with extensive dance classes, I too have
participated in several of the California State Dominguez Hills dance concerts. Through the
dance concerts, I have gained vast knowledge on what it takes to prepare, modify, and perform in
front of a live audience. Being on stage has prepared me with new information on stage etiquette
and management. I know the feeling of fear, along with the feeling of accomplishment before
and after a performance. The dance concerts have allowed me to be more relatable to how
students may feel as they have to perform. I would like to think of myself as a teacher and coach
because I know what it is like to have anxiety. Reinforcing effective nurturing and support for
my students by providing them with my shared experiences will give them the confidence to
trust in my exercises and participate in them. I aspire to encourage students to try new things,

inside and outside of the classroom. I feel most prepared to teach visual arts because it is a true
passions of mine, one that I wish to instill in my students. I have taken one art class at
Dominguez Hills, but I have participated in many workshops and as a TA for five years in a
summer arts program called MTRC (Making The Right Connections). This summer arts program
focuses on cultural diversity awareness through arts and crafts. Each week is dedicated to a
different country where students learn about cultural customs and traditions through art projects
and weekly field trips. I loved working in this program because I was able to teach students how
to improve their hand and eye coordination while using art tools, such as scissors, glue, crayons,
and other mediums. History and art are two major components of MTRC; consequently, I learned
that students can gain new information by creating links between school subjects. Overall, I feel
comfortable and well rounded with dance, theatre and art because I have had more exposure,
connection and implementation to these areas of study.
Music is the area of study in which I do not feel adequate to teach. I do not have a vast
talent among musical instruments, nor do I know how to read notes. Most of my musical
knowledge and background relates to basic music terminology, music class etiquette, and music
history. Personally, I am no Beethoven, but I love music and the rich history behind each genre.
Even though I feel that music is my weakness, I like to support it with one of my strengths,
history. I believe that with any subject, students should first gain some insight before immersing
students into a new topic. New information can develop a sense of curiosity for students. This is
a win-win situation for the teacher and students because as students grow curios, the teacher has
more opportunity to introduce new material in a smooth manner. Music implementation also
made me recall my Dance for Children class. This class showed me how music can be a positive
reinforcement for students of all ages. Teachers can use music for almost anything and in any

subject. Lets say that a history lesson about Native American culture was being discussed,
teachers may play tribal music to set the mood for a motivational activity. If students were
learning about Western Civilization and the Manifest Destiny ideology, teachers can provide
students with western instrumental music. Along with music, teachers can encourage students to
relax by asking them to move to the rhythm of the music playing, or to move to a particular beat
to show syllable patterns. Music may not be my stronghold, yet I have great passion for it. My
passion enables me to show students how they can express themselves through music, and that
music itself is an extension of their creative process.
For this portfolio, I want to incorporate two of my art 301 art pieces; one is a horse drawn
with charcoal, and another is waterfall painted with tempra paints. For my dance option I have a
youtube video of one of my dance performances at Dominguez Hills. This incorporates a middle
eastern dance I performed with a group of lovely ladies. The props that we used are called Isis
Wings. I also wanted to incorporate a picture of myself in a contemporary piece by student
choreographer Ruben Medina, in which we all danced to Florence and the Machine in a colorful
Alice in Wonderland setting. My work samples demonstrate my skills as an artist, and my dance
techniques. Both of my artifacts articulate the extensive knowledge I have gained over the time I
have spent in Cal State Dominguez Hills.