The Kinesiology and Health Promotion (KHP) department will hold its annual event “The Beat Goes On” on Monday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m in Sartain Hall.
The “Beat Goes On” is a dance program that showcases various types of dance taught within the KHP program for the education and entertainment of the public.
Jessica Richards, a graduate teaching assistant for the KHP department from Eufaula, said that the KHP department teaches a variety of classes, such as Methods of Teaching Dance, Yoga and Ballroom Dance.
In these courses, students learn universal styles of dancing that represent many countries and cultures around the world.
“ ‘The Beat Goes On’ represents dancing in a universal light and has continued to stand the test of time in a world that is consumed in a fast-paced lifestyle,” Richards said.
According to Catherine Flynn, a professor within the KHP department, the department aims to integrate informative introductions of the dances about their origins and characteristics within the performances.
“Students will show their skills in tango, foxtrot, cha cha, waltz, swing, folk dances, rhythmic gymnastics, clogging and line dance,” Flynn said.
“We will also try to get audience participation by inviting everyone down to the floor to do some line dancing.”
Participating students are not only KHP majors, but students from a variety of majors who enroll in the courses to satisfy elective curriculum requirements.
This year, preschoolers from Charles Henderson Preschool will also participate in “The Beat Goes On.”
According to Candice Howard-Shaughnessy, a professor in the KHP department, the children are involved in a perceptual-motor program at the Hank Jones Early Childhood Center implemented by physical education majors from Troy University.
According to Howard-Shaughnessy, a perceptual motor program is a group activity with a ratio of at least one adult per three students. The program was jointly devised by physiotherapists, occupational and speech pathologists familiar with the particular needs of special needs students.
The program aims to train the nervous system so that a child develops the ability to remember patterns of movement, sequences of sounds, and the look and feel of things.
“Dance is included in the program, and this year the preschoolers learned three short dances to perform,” said Howard-Shaughnessy.
As a past participant, Richards said that the event prepares future physical educators for their careers by helping them to overcome their fear of crowds.
“You obviously cannot lead a classroom of students if you are intimidated,” Richards said.
Richards said that the event has taught her how to incorporate a small dance unit into a physical education curriculum to break up the monotony of sport-related physical education activities.
The event has been held for over 30 years, and the department hopes to continue to put on the event each fall semester, free of charge and open to the public.
Flynn said that the event truly represents the motto of Troy University: to educate the mind to think (memorizing the moves), the heart to feel (the music and rhymes) and the body to act (the actual performance).
With spring registration around the corner, the KHP department encourages students to enroll in one of the many electives to be offered, such as beginning yoga, ballroom dance and step aerobics.
“Those classes normally fill up very quickly, so if students want to get in, they should register early,” Flynn said.
Comments