This sub-organizer contains the following sections:

It is expected that students will:

• improvise movement:
  
  • to extend understanding of the elements of movement
  • to expand known movement vocabulary in new applications
• apply principles of movement to dance exploration
• apply an understanding of fitness, health, and safety to choreography
• use appropriate terminology to describe movement
  

• Have students select everyday tasks (e.g., brushing teeth, eating breakfast, biking to school) and develop them as abstract movements (e.g., whole-body or travelling). Introduce the term pedestrian movement and the concept of broadening concrete movements to the abstract. Extend by debating a resolution such as: "All movement is dance."
• Establish a routine of selecting a particular element of movement and having students improvise as broad a range of movement as possible within that element (e.g., energy—from strongest to lightest). Use language and imagery to focus students' movement explorations. Extend by asking students to combine two or more elements of movement in the same way (e.g., change the relationship or level while going from light to strong). Have half the class move while the other half watches. Discuss the range of possibilities for movement.
• After movement-exploration activities, encourage students to record their favourite ways of moving. Provide opportunities for students to teach their favourite movements to their peers. Discuss as a class: Are these movements safe? How do they rely on and contribute to fitness and health? Encourage students to keep movement journals for reference in composition.
• Select a principle of movement and use it as a basis for group composition. Ensure that students focus on their use of the chosen principle throughout the composition. Provide activities that develop the principle (e.g., maintain breathing while moving).
• While students are viewing video clips or live performances, have them use guided-response sheets to record what they see, using appropriate terminology. Use this terminology to direct teacher-led improvisation. Introduce new terminology as necessary.
  

• Ask students to observe groups of people engaged in everyday activities in various locations (e.g., school cafeteria, hallways, shopping malls, on the street). Then have them record, on paper or videotape, examples of pedestrian movement that reveal qualities of dance. Invite them to present their examples to the class. Assess presentations for:
  
  • clear and well-prepared delivery
  • clear explanations of how the selected movements exemplify their definitions of dance
• As students select a particular element of movement and improvise a broad range of movement within that element, set limitations to encourage students to solve problems in new ways. (e.g., Show the movement in three different ways. Do the movement with your back to the audience.) Ask students to work with partners, taking turns observing and then giving feedback on which versions provide the clearest interpretation of the element of movement. As an option, ask students to record in their journals how they solved problems in new ways. Collect their responses and look for evidence that students are able to use appropriate terminology to describe movement.
• As students view a videotaped or live dance class, have them use response sheets to record their observations, using appropriate terminology. Ask them to record evidence of the teacher applying principles of fitness, health, and safety in the dance. Collect their response sheets and look for evidence that students are able to:
  
  • accurately describe movements, using appropriate terminology
  • make appropriate connections between choreography and principles of fitness, health, and safety
  
  

Print Materials

• Creative Dance for All Ages
• Dance Composition & Production
• Dance Education Initiative
• Form Without Formula
• Movement Improvisation
• The Young Dancer
  

Video

• Ballet Class For Beginners
• The Dancemakers Series
• The Jazz Workout
• Lester Horton Technique
• The Making of a Dancer

Multimedia

• Teaching Beginning Dance Improvisation

Music CD

• Contrast and Continuum: Volume I
• Contrast and Continuum: Volume II

Previous Page Next Organizer

  BC Ministry of Education Home Page