Dance 5
Dance and Society

It is expected that students will:

• identify distinguishing features of dances from a variety of historical and cultural contexts
• identify a variety of purposes for dance
• distinguish the roles portrayed by dancers
• describe personal opportunities for dance in the local community

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

• Provide opportunities for students to view a dance production that portrays specific roles (e.g., related to gender, age, social status). Have each student record the roles and identify the movements and gestures, costumes, setting, and music used to enhance each role. Ask small groups of students to discuss how the individual roles relate to the whole production, and then have them re-create the roles using their own movement sequences and incorporating their own interpretations.
• Invite a guest from the community who is involved in dance, through a career or recreational pursuit, to visit the class. Beforehand, have students list questions to ask the visitor, focussing on career opportunities in dance. Invite other classes to the discussion.
• Ask the class to create a timeline of dance in a given culture or society (e.g., dance in Canada from 1900 to the present), including information such as costumes, music, roles, and key dancers and choreographers. Alternatively, invite each student to select a style of dance in Canada and research its history and evolution (e.g., research on Aboriginal dance could focus on the issue of ownership and rights to dances). Have students present their findings to the class. Extend either project by asking students to create Dance Here and Now time capsules that include costumes, music, videos, illustrations, and descriptions about roles and purposes. Invite students to share their capsules with another class before putting them in a safe place, to be opened the year they graduate.
• Have students keep ongoing logs of the dances they learn, including information on the cultural origins of the dances. Students can then research one or more of these cultures, including the purpose of the dances in their cultural contexts.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• After students have participated in a panel discussion with people from a dance company, ask each student to assume the persona of one of the guests and write a short letter home from an imaginary dance tour. Collect their letters and note whether each student has provided accurate and detailed information about the occupation, highlighted differences and similarities among the activities of various members of the company, and offered a personal response to life in the dance community.
• After students have presented research about career opportunities in dance, conference with them to determine their level of awareness and understanding. Pose questions such as:
  • What did you find most surprising in your research?
  • Which of your skills, personal qualities, and attitudes could you use in a dance-related career?
  • What other knowledge and skills would you need?
  • How can you gather further information about these career opportunities?
• As students are exposed to a broad range of dance styles, have them record the dances they learn and their cultural origins. Discuss how traditional gender roles differ among the dances of various cultures. Periodically ask students to summarize their notes and create personal responses to the dances they experience. Use prompts such as:
  • The dance we have studied that I like the best is ----------. I like it because ----------.
  • I noticed men's and women's roles were the same (different) when ----------.
  • Two things I learned about the purposes of dance in different cultures were ----------.
  • By participating in dance, I have learned ----------.

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