Dance 6
Presentation and Performance

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

It is expected that students will:

rehearse dance for presentation
demonstrate performance skills and audience etiquette appropriate to specific performance situations
perform dance, reflecting the sense of feeling and mood in the choreography
revise their performances through self- and peer evaluation

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

Suggested Instructional Strategies

As a class, view a variety of dance performances by the same dancer or in the same style. Have students record how the use of music, props, and costumes contributes to the overall feeling of each performance. Suggest that students use their journals to reflect on how they might incorporate what they have seen in their own performances.

Ask students to work in groups to research performance skills and techniques that are appropriate for a given cultural dance or dance style. Have each group create a visual representation (e.g., tableau, poster, computer graphics, video) to illustrate these characteristics. Then ask them to create or learn dances in that style, focussing on the specific skills and techniques they have identified.
Invite representatives from a professional or community dance company (e.g., dancers, choreographer, stage manager) to visit the class. Have students develop questions for the guests to determine their expectations regarding performance skills and audience etiquette. For example:
- What do you as a performer expect from the audience?
- What training was required for this level of performance?
- What skills are necessary to be a professional dancer?
- How do other people in the company contribute to the dance performance? Ask the guests to teach specific skills, if appropriate.
Have small groups of students create movement sequences or skits to illustrate how an audience should and should not behave during a performance. Suggest that students perform their sequences or skits for a younger class.
Invite students to keep learning logs to document their personal contributions in group and class dance making. Encourage them to focus on their strengths and weaknesses and on plans for improving their own performance.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

Following a performance by professionals from a dance company, invite the performers to visit the class and talk about their various contributions to the production. Ask each student to assume the role of one of the company members and write about what life in the dance company is like. Collect their work and note the extent to which they are able to record accurate and relevant information about their assumed occupations.
As part of their preparation for a presentation or performance, have students in small groups develop feedback sheets that others can use to provide suggestions about their dance and performance skills. Ask students to identify key features for feedback. (They might also develop checklists or rating scales.) After a performance, ask the audience to complete the feedback sheets. Then have the performers present summaries of the feedback and their own self-evaluations. Conference with students and note the extent to which they are able to revise and refine their work accurately based on self- and peer assessments.
Videotape students as they rehearse and perform dances for presentation. Ask them to self-assess their performances and record their reflections as they view the video. Students can frame their responses by using the following sentence stems:
- The new steps I acquired were ----------.
- The mood of the dance was ----------.
- My feelings about my own growth and development in dance are ----------.
- I would like to improve in the area of ----------.
- One thing I could do to improve is ----------.
- One thing the teacher could help me with is ----------.