Pas a dos (duet) is the name given to the Tandem project between Escola Bàrkeno and Mercat de les Flors–Graner. We chose this name inspired by the dance term “pas de deux”, which refers to a duet between two dancers. In this way, Escola Bàrkeno and Mercat de les Flors–Graner performed an educational duet, working together as a Tàndem School from 2014 to 2017.
TANDEM was a collaborative project between the Fundació Catalunya – La Pedrera and the Department of Education of the Government of Catalonia. Mercat de les Flors and El Graner partnered with Escola Bàrkeno, located in the La Marina neighborhood in Barcelona’s Zona Franca. Tàndem Schools is an innovative educational project by the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, in which schools, through partnerships with leading institutions in the country, work together with the aim of promoting educational success.
This project is based on the curricular specialization of these schools in a specific subject area (music, science, audiovisual media, etc.). Lasting a total of three years, the Tandem Escola Bàrkeno – Mercat de les Flors project created a broad and sensitive space where the language of dance and movement arts served both as a vehicle and as a subject, as well as a process of discovery and lived experience.
With time, systematic dedication, pedagogical rigor, and through the cross-cutting axis offered by the Tàndem Project based on dance and movement, Escola Bàrkeno set out to become:
- A more open school. Where there is greater fluidity in the social and cognitive relationships of the students.
- A more active school. Where spaces, furniture, and materials facilitate greater student involvement.
- A more global school. Where we have even more transversal understanding of the core principles that guide us.
- A more harmonious school. Where we can further develop emotional education that allows us to live in a healthier way.
And to achieve this, the work lines of “PAS A DOS” were:
Work lines for the 2014–15 school year:
- TRAINING:A practical dance training course exclusively for the entire teaching staff.
- DANCE IN THE CLASSROOM:Integration of dance and movement work into the school schedule.
- DANCED ACTIONS:Dance actions and activities led by the teachers themselves as part of school celebrations.
Work lines for the 2015–16 school year:
- TRAINING: Training is intrinsic to each and every action and work line. Focus on timing and continuity.
- DANCE IN THE CLASSROOM: As a learning area. Integration of dance and movement work into the school schedule. Not only by reserving time and space for dance, but by emphasizing competency-based learning, which more specifically defines the Early Childhood and Primary Education curricula.
- CHOREOGRAPHERS’ COUNCIL: Focused work by learning cycles in order to share choreography processes and tools.
Work lines for the 2016–17 school year:
- REFLECTION: Reflecting to develop a teaching method of our own that facilitates and enables changes within Escola Bàrkeno.
- PROJECT: Designing a project that considers dance as another learning process — how it can coexist and become rooted in the school. Working on emotions through the body and dance.
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