Types of Dance Research

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

6, 7

Overview

The students will choose a type of dance and research a description, history, and equipment needed for the dance. A Google Doc is included to be copied and shared with students. 

Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 6 - Dance

AE17.D.6.20

Use a variety of resources to research a social topic of great interest and use the information to create a dance study that expresses a specific point of view on the topic.

UP:AE17.D.6.20

Vocabulary

  • Genre-specific dance terminology
  • Movement vocabulary
  • Dance movement principles
  • Theme
  • Dance study
  • Evaluative criteria
  • Artistic intent
  • Choreography
  • Artistic Intent
  • Elements of dance
  • Cultural Movement Practices
  • Dance Literacy

Essential Questions

EU: As dance is experienced, all personal experiences, knowledge, and context are integrated and synthesized to interpret meaning.
EQ: How does dance deepen our understanding of ourselves, other knowledge, and events around us?

Skills Examples

  • Learn dances from three genres; then, when the class is divided into groups, work with one's group to observe and comment on the different qualities of each dance.
  • Use the elements of dance and principles of choreography/ composition to construct, explain (using the vocabulary of dance), and perform movements.
  • Listen as the teacher plays recorded music from different genres. After learning some terminology and techniques from that genre, improvise some dance movements for each piece of music.
  • Discuss hip-hop dance and how African American music/ dance relates to the Civil Rights Movement. Choreograph a dance to commemorate the civil rights movement.
  • Observe and discuss how the technique and styles of choreographers differ (i.e., comparing Martha Graham and José Limon).
  • Differentiate between the theatrical/ artistic purpose of a post-modern dance and the archival purposes of a cultural narrative dance that has been passed down.
  • Research "coming of age" rituals and choreograph a dance to highlight universal aspects of that theme.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 7 - Dance

AE17.D.7.20

Research a historical dance genre or style and use knowledge gained to create a movement study that evokes the genre or style, then share the study with peers as part of a lecture demonstration that tells the story of the historical journey of the chosen genre or style.

UP:AE17.D.7.20

Vocabulary

  • Aesthetics
  • Elements of Dance
  • Genres
  • Artistic Expression
  • Movement phrase
  • Dance study
  • Choreography
  • Genre
  • Style
  • Genre-Specific Terminology
  • Similarities and differences
  • Artistic Intent
  • Cultural Movement Practices
  • Dance Literacy

Essential Questions

EU: As dance is experienced, all personal experiences, knowledge, and context are integrated and synthesized to interpret meaning.
EQ: How does dance deepen our understanding of ourselves, other knowledge, and events around us?

Skills Examples

  • Watch film clips of different professional dancers performing (or watch the teacher demonstrate) different styles or genres of dance; then, compare and discuss the dancers' use of time, weight, and space in each style or genre (i.e., compare ballet and modern dance).
  • Participate in an exercise in which the students compare their normal, everyday locomotor movements to their movements when they walk in a jazzy style. Discuss how emotions are communicated by means of different movements.
  • Research the relationship between oppressive societies and the suppression of dance.
  • Research the roaring twenties to create a movement study depicting the style of dance during that era.
  • Observe two or more dances from different localities/ communities; then, consider their purpose (to entertain, to celebrate, to build community, to worship, etc.), the influence of climate and geography, or the dance's relationship to historical events.
  • Gather examples of dances from three different localities/ communities (for example, Hawaii, the American Midwest, and Mexico); then, compare and contrast the dances and discuss the factors that influenced each dance's development.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences.

CR Resource Type

Learning Activity

Resource Provider

Other

License Type

BY-NC-SA

Resource Provider other

Open Educational Resources Commons
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