Winter Registration Opens 12/3 @ 12pm
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Winter Registration Opens 12/3 @ 12pm ○
Dance with
teacher marika
With music and dance, Teacher Marika creates a safe and energetic environment for dancers and their caregivers to learn and explore together.
Inclusive, joyful and educational music and movement classes through Seattle Parks and Recreation
Through fun and engaging movement-based activities, informed by her training of Anne Green Gilbert’s nationally renowed Brain-Compatible Dance Teaching Method, Teacher Marika’s class will strengthen:
Physical Coordination
Social / Emotional skills
Brain Development
SEATTLE Parks and Recreation
dance CLASSES with teacher marika
Registration starts 12/3 at 12:00pm. Call or use the link provided below to register.
Search Teacher Marika on the Parks and Recreation portal and scroll down for all classes offered.
Winter Session #1:
January 6th - February 21st
Winter session #2:
february 25th - march 28th
Dates may vary depending on class schedule
Dakota Pl. Community Center
206-225-8472
Jefferson Community Center
206-684-7481
High Point Community Center
206-684-7422
Rainier BEach Community Center
206-386-1925
Family Dance with Teacher Marika
Age: 2 - 4 years old
Students engage in fun, movement-based activities that strengthen physical coordination, social emotional skills, and brain development. Through music, props, and dance, we explore our imagination and creativity. This is a joyful and inclusive class for dancers and their caregivers.
Caregiver participation required.
Non-walking babies ages 0-2 welcome under caregiver supervision. All walking babies must be registered.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at various locations
Creative Ballet with Teacher Marika
Age: 3-5 years old, 4-6 years old, 6-9 years old
Creative Ballet draws on the imaginative and play-based format of Family Dance, while incorporating a stronger integration of skills applicable to Ballet technique. Students still engage in fun, movement-based activities designed to strengthen physical coordination, social emotional skills, and brain development, but are offered additional, age-appropriate challenges related to body positioning, balance, and technical movements.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at various locations
teacher marika
Marika (she/her) is a dance educator of over a decade with a deep passion for using movement, music, and inclusive practices to provide young children with the social-emotional tools critical to their brain development. Marika holds a B.A. in Dance and Business from the University of Oregon and a certification in Ann Green-Gilbert’s nationally renowned Brain-Compatible Dance Teaching Method – all of which inform her work as a community educator. She has taught dance in studio settings, after school programs, and temporary housing shelters, focusing her primary instruction in Seattle Public pre-k classrooms and as an outreach educator at Creative Dance Center. In addition to this work, she is currently teaching her own classes through Seattle Parks and Recreation community centers across the Greater Seattle Area and is proud to have recently joined Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Community Education Department as a Teaching Artist offering arts integration in SPS elementary schools. Marika is thrilled to be continuing her journey offering inclusive and joyful movement and music experiences for families across her home of the Pacific Northwest - she would love to dance with you!
brain & body benefits
of Teacher Marika’s Curriculum
The BRain Dance
The Brain Dance is the warm-up Teacher Marika starts each class with. It was created by Anne Green-Gilbert and is a brain strengthening technique using movement patterns to stimulate reflexes your brain develops in your first year of life. This exercise re-patterns the neurological system to return the brain to its foundational and healthiest form. The patterns and their correlating social/emotional benefits are:
Breath “Oneness” Moro Reflex – Confidence, sensitivity, and adaptability.
Tactile “Sensing” Palmar, Plantar, Grasp Reflex – fine motor skills, speech, handwriting, and appropriate/safe touch.
Core Distal “Twoness” Moro Reflex, Extension and Flexion – Strengthen relationships to self and others.
Head-Tail “Lively Space” Tonic-Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR) Spinal Galant Reflex – Bonding with others, and the ability to self-sooth physically and emotionally.
Upper-Lower “Emotional Grounding” Landau, Babinski, Symmetric Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR) - Develops emotional stability, ability to reach for goals, set boundaries, self-regulate and problem solve.
Body-Side “Side Dominance” Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR) – make choices and decisions, balance both sides, and express opinions.
Cross-Lateral “Robust Brain” Integrated Reflexes – integrating right and left side of brain and body, problem solving, thinking, strong sensory motor foundation and binocular vision.
Vestibular “First Sense” Moro, TLR Reflexes - Balance, eye-tracking, spatial awareness, proprioception, and joy.
Eye-Tracking “Vision” Landau, STNR, ATNR Reflexes - Visual and spatial awareness, single and multi-focus, and binocular and peripheral vision.
weekly dance concepts:
Place: self and general
Speed: slow, medium, and fast
Energy: smooth and sharp
Body Parts and Body Positivity
Balance: on and off
Size: small, medium, and big (near yourself or far away)
Directions: forward, backward, sideways, up and down
Flow: free and bound (go, go, go, or go and stop)
Levels: low, medium and high
Relationships: on/off, over/under, in/out, around/through
Shapes: curvy, pointy/angular, and straight
Rhythm: patterns
Weight: light and strong (muscles engaged or disengaged)
Pathways: curvy, straight, and zig zag
Focus: single and multi (one thing or many)
social/emotional skills:
Spatial awareness and self awareness
Secure attachment and positive separation
Emotional regulation
Sharing with others
Waiting their turn
Safe touch and consent
Expressing personal needs and boundaries
Decision-making
Reflecting with ourselves and others