by Melissa Stouffer | Nov 11, 2025 | All, Dance/Movement, Literature, Music History, Musical Cultures
November is Native American Heritage Month. As I’ve said before, I’m very much a person who makes sure that I cover different cultural groups all year and not just in ‘the’ month that is set aside. But I still think it’s important to cover them in that month. So here...
by Melissa Stouffer | Aug 26, 2025 | All, Dance/Movement, Guest Posts, Musical Cultures
I’m admittedly not great at thinking through adaptions like my friend Melissa Fuller Flores (@melodiesandmoves). Zach VanderGraaff and I have chatted about trying to be better at incorporating modern music with folk dances. During the summer, Zach and his wife...
by Melissa Stouffer | Apr 15, 2025 | AAPI, All, Dance/Movement, Literature, Music History
The world is full of dance and there are hundreds of kinds of dances. For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I thought I’d feature some AAPI books about dance! AAPIHM Month is celebrated in May so this post is a little early so you have time to...
by Melissa Stouffer | Feb 25, 2025 | All, Dance/Movement, Music Games, Special Topics
Sometimes it happens. You partner with the Phys Ed teacher. You combine because the students have lost their minds with 30 straight days of indoor recess. Maybe your room has been commandeered by an event or you all are just friends and know that you can combine class...
by Melissa Stouffer | Jan 21, 2025 | All, Dance/Movement, Improve Your Skills, Music Games, Musical Cultures
Since the Michigan Music Conference has been eating my life the last few weeks, I thought I’d give you a quick preview of what I’ve got coming up at my sessions at the Michigan Music Conference later this week. For those of you not in Michigan, I hope you...
by Melissa Stouffer | Feb 27, 2024 | All, Dance/Movement
We tend to think of “folk dancing” as square dancing even though there are other formations. If you ask non-music educators or dancers, a lot of the people will probably call folk dancing like this Square Dancing. But folk dancing isn’t just the...
