This is great. all power to you Mr. E.B.

This is very very cool. I hope a lot of kids see this. I guess it is up to the kids to save themselves.

It's very sad when parents don't or can't protect their children against this kind of onslaught. Don't these school administrators and teachers have any brain?

It's good to see smart rap. All power to EB Chill.

I love "Gon fix up Jonny so he can finally learn to chill". Yeah I'm chillin. No drugs necessary.

Thank you indeed Ms. Fugate and Mr. Bahiri. It is delightful to hear real dancers' views. What a good idea to introduce real artists to MoBB readers -- it gives us ideas but most importantly it inspires us. I would love to hear more about and from JF and MB.

Yes, yes, yes, this is great...!!! Thank you Medhi Bahiri and Judith Fugate and thank you Clara for reminding us of what real artists have to offer. WHY don't we have this kind of influence in our children's lives??? It makes me really angry to have such wonderful people as these great dancers in our communities and have so little resources to connect these people with our kids. We just really need to open our eyes and SEE what real education is and then to demand it from all those people who hold the purse strings in government. It makes me so mad.

Fabulous article! Heartfelt Thanks to Medhi and Judith for their shares.

Clara, this interview also provoked the in me the idea of different learning styles prevalent in boys and girls. When I read Medhi's insight about boys' impatience with learning the basics of pirouettes and their urge to jump into (imitating) the final move, I think that this is because boys are more visual learners and more readily visually stimulated than girls. Of course aside from their testosterone functions resulting in more fierce movements.

Anyhow, Fascinating insights were offered by Medhi and Judith!

Yes, thank you again MB and JF and I totally agree with Laura. Why can't we have this kind of influence in our kids' lives? I couldn't agree more that this is what real education entails. It's so frustrating!

Girls...? I'll buy that. Ballet girls are definitely pretty.

I enjoyed the interview and all the comments!

Very interesting interview. Mr. Bahiri's response to the discipline question was excellent: he said that he would first ask the students WHAT they are interested in and then talk to them about discipline. This is so important. We can't just lecture kids, especially boys. First we have to draw them in the point we are trying to make. This is a very good demonstration of the excellent teaching instinct of dancers!!!

I sure would like to hear more about becoming a professional dancer, especially a man. Mr. Bahiri says he hated the discipline at first and then he grew to like it. But that's exactly what we want to know! HOW did you go from hating to loving the rigor? If we could figure that one out all our boy troubles would be over! (Girl troubles too, actually!)

Wow, I really liked this interview!!! What a great idea to interview dancers as educators. They really do have a lot to teach all kids regardless of whether or not they want to become professional dancers. We definitely need more DANCE in schools!!!

When considering children and dance, why consider formal training only? What active child wants to go to regular school and then have to study special moves and discipline on his/her time off? Why not make it fun, which is what music is all about -- or should be!

For those of us who cannot perform, listening is always possible, and often desired - or just plain ol' background music having some sort of subliminal influence on us, like it or not. Now DANCE is something we can participate in -- it allows physical activity which can be fun and also help an active child expend some pent up energy. How about square dancing? How about jitterbug? What are the popular styles now current?? How about just letting a child make up his own steps to different kinds of rhythms? Pretend they are Watusi warriors; Indian snake dancers -- trudge to slow music -- there are endless possibilities… Keep music/ Add dance. Have fun. Stay healthy and happy.
I would hope that the "bad boys" could have some fun and learning sessions without knowing they were doing so, and everyone would be the happier for it.

Clare, you're definitely right that everyone, kids and adults, would be happier with more dance in their lives. And I myself am a big fan of group dances like square dance. In fact, up until the 19th century most social dancing was group dancing. Then partner dancing became more and more the norm of social dancing in 20th century until the sixties when people started dancing pretty much alone, even when they are supposedly dancing with someone. Interesting, isn't it?! But the last couple of decades partner-dancing has made a tentative comeback. Hopefully group dancing will come back too.

I'd like to add my voice to those who want to hear more. Mr. Bahiri, how did you go from hating to loving discipline and hard work? I suspect it's just maturity combined with exposure to something interesting and beautiful. Maybe that's the best we can hope for: expose kids to good stuff and wait until they're mature enough to realize how good good stuff is!

Very interesting article, thank you. We don't usually hear from dancers.

People in a lot of cultures think dancing is not 'masculine' or 'manly' especially ballet. They have no idea how strong you have to be as a man, both in mind and body. Dancers like Mr. Bahiri are changing that notion. I wish my sons would get into dance.

What a good idea to learn from artists in more ways than one. What artists have to teach is not just sills but a way of living and values and pursuits that make life worth living.

Bravo! I've never thought of music in your terms but, other than some of the horrid lyrics of "modern" music, I've never heard anything mean.

It's great to hear from good teachers. I'm really glad this site gives voice to good teachers. Usually you just hear all the complaints against deadbeat teachers and all the bad things happening in schools. All power to people who are trying so hard to educate our kids, no matter how hard that may be.

I really admire your attitude and patience, Mark. Most people would give up and not care any more. I read your other blog and really admire what you're doing.

This is wonderful. Good luck on your work. Your students are very lucky.

This is really cool Mr. Jackson. All power to you. Please write more.

The article by musician Mark Jackson was a welcome , thought-provoking introduction to the importance of co-operation and in more than just music.
It's a gentle nudge showing us the value, indeed necessity, of such cooperation. In addition, music plays a major role in our lives which often we do not even realize. For those of us who cannot perform in any manner, we still have the wonderful sensation of hearing, and responding to, the music that others create.

Although this influence is often subtle it is there, and we should all become more aware of the influence that it can have in so many different ways. There are tunes and rhythms for every taste. Music can be gentle and soothing, happy and gay and playful, certainly terrible (which we must look out for) and militant.

I think that music can be very good therapy for children , indeed, ll of us. It should be an important part of a child's education. It can soothe and enrich and be fun. It should be a major part of everyone's life, and beginning as soon as possible will help ANY child, and it's not too late to help adults, as well.

Kids are so perceptive! Thanks for the movie review. :o)

What a good idea to interview kids about movies. Very interesting what kids understand from what they watch.

way to go kids!!!! The movie was just loud and fun. And the sky people were mean and greedy bastards.

Hello... I'm writing from Santa Fe!!!! Taos is great and a lot of great people live there. All power to people like Mark Jackson. I can't wait to read more about what he did there.

I think it's a great idea to feature good teachers on this site. There are so many good teachers nobody knows about. I really appreciate giving acknowledgement to teachers who work so hard and are creative. I look forward to reading more about this music teacher. Thank you Mark Jackson already!

This is really heart warming. All power to great teachers. I wish the schools really knew the value of such teachers.