Dance 4
Dance and Society

It is expected that students will:

• describe dances from a variety of historical and cultural contexts
• identify a variety of purposes for dance
• describe the roles portrayed by dancers
• identify dance events and activities in the local community

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Dance and Society in other grades click on an icon below.

• Have students use guided response sheets to document where they see dance used during a set time period or era, recording the purpose and context of dance in each situation (e.g., music videos, magazines, computer games, advertising, social gatherings, sports functions). Then ask students to work in small groups to create representations of their findings (e.g., movement sequences, cartoons, graphs, videos, dramatizations).
• Every week (or month) have a class View-and-Tell at which students share and, as appropriate, demonstrate dancing they have seen performed in the local community and in advertisements, TV programs, and films. Invite students to illustrate some of these dances in their journals.
• Invite the whole class to learn and perform a dance from an Aboriginal culture being studied. Invite local band members to teach the dance, using appropriate masks and costumes.
• As a class, brainstorm opportunities for viewing and participating in dance (e.g., social occasions, private lessons, school performances, musical theatre, singing games, exercise, dance competitions and festivals, live and filmed performances). Ask students to suggest where they would go to view or participate in these activities. Use pins to identify their locations on a large map of the local community. Have students write journal entries predicting the importance of dance in their lives 10 years from now.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• Invite students to view a video of dances reflecting an era or a place and then to discuss the dances. Ask them to research the dances and create posters based on their findings. Collect their research and posters, and look for evidence that they are able to:
  • provide accurate information about the dances
  • include relevant and interesting details
  • accurately identify the purpose of the dances
  • express their understanding of dance from another era through visual arts
• Invite students to become dance researchers for one week. Have them compile their findings on Dance Data sheets that are divided into four sections: where dance is being used, how dance is being used, types of dance, and personal opportunities for dancing. Before they begin, have the whole class brainstorm sources for the data (e.g., music videos, computer games, advertising, social gatherings, school functions, private lessons, movies, live performances). Note the extent to which students:
  • accurately identify a variety of dances
  • share their information with others
  • collect relevant data from a variety of experiences
• Ask students to brainstorm personal opportun- ities for dance. Have each student list three dance opportunities she or he might participate in soon or in the future. Students could respond to the following prompts:
  • In the future, three dance opportunities I would like to participate in are ---------- .
  • I chose these because ---------- .
  • I think they would help me to ---------- .
  • I would like more information about ---------- .
  • One personal experience I have had with dance is ---------- . Invite students to interview one another. Note the extent to which they are able to:
  • relate dance and dance opportunities to their lives
  • locate dance opportunities in their community

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