Dance 7
Presentation and Performance

It is expected that students will:

• rehearse dance for specific performance environments
• apply appropriate performance skills in a range of presentations
• demonstrate audience etiquette appropriate to a variety of performance situations
• perform dance, communicating 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.

• As a class, brainstorm locations where students could perform a dance (e.g., classroom, stage, hallway, parking lot). Ask small groups of students to each select one of these locations and adapt a dance for it. Invite the groups to perform the adapted dances and describe how they revised their movements for the new locations.
• As a class, develop criteria for evaluating a dance performance (e.g., memory of steps, dance techniques, principles of movement, ensemble work, translation of choreography, mood). Help students organize a dance festival, real or simulated. Then have groups of students each select a style of dance and rehearse it. Challenge them to refine their dances, focussing on the outlined criteria. Ask students to use checklists to keep track of their personal performance levels during rehearsal and their respect for the contributions of others. For the dance festival, invite each ensemble to perform for an audience of student evaluators who analyse the performance based on the criteria. Remind students of appropriate audience etiquette.
• Provide an opportunity for students to observe a dress rehearsal of a dance performance. Ask them to discuss what they see (e.g., lighting, costumes, sets, music, the way dancers preserve their energy for the performance). After the rehearsal, have students work in groups to create a rehearsal and performance manual for school use, incorporating what they have learned (e.g., rehearsal and performance skills, audience etiquette, stagecraft).
• Invite students to watch a figure-skating or gymnastics competition, noting the comment- ators' remarks about performance skills. Discuss as a class the similarities and differences between expectations for these kinds of events and expectations for dance performances. Ask students to use this information to role-play commentators for dance performances.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• When students rehearse and perform dances, observe and record the extent to which they demonstrate appropriate skills and attitudes. Look for evidence that they:
  • willingly engage in dance activities
  • show energy and effort in completing tasks
  • persevere
  • use criteria to accurately analyse their work and the work of others
  • willingly seek and accept feedback
  • consistently support others by offering encouragement or feedback
• As students observe and discuss their own dance presentations and performances and the work of professional dance companies (either through video or live presentations), note the extent to which they:
  • make connections between the choreography and the feeling and mood of the dances
  • show respect for the work of others
  • express interest in the work of others
  • demonstrate appropriate audience and performance etiquette
  • use increasingly precise language to describe dance performances
  • speculate about the relationship between the choreography and the music
  • ask questions about dance
• When students adapt dances to new environ- ments, discuss criteria for evaluating their dance performances. As groups perform the revised dances, have peers use response sheets to gather evidence that the performers meet the established criteria, recording specific examples when this occurs. The criteria might include:
  • appropriately adapts movements for the new environment
  • maintains flow of sequence-uses transitions well
  • uses personal space appropriately
  • demonstrates dynamics
  • demonstrates accurate technique
  • moves with control and confidence
  • demonstrates dance memory

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