Chapter 24 Rhythmic Movement and Dance

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Rhythmic Movement and Rhythmic Movement and DanceDance

Boni B. Boswell

C H A P T E R

Three Types of Dance

• Rhythmic movement

• Creative educational dance

• Structured (pattern) dance

Defining Rhythmic Movements

• Balance of contracting and expanding movements that are connected and repeated, such as inhaling and exhaling.

• When movements such as inhaling and exhaling are connected and repeatedly performed, a rhythm is created.

Defining Creative Educational Dance (CED)

CED is a movement program that

• focuses on exploration of space, time, and force;

• focuses on creative problem solving; and

• uses the process of solving movement problems to create simple dances.

Defining Structured Dances

• Patterned (or recreational) dance

• Composed of specific steps

– Common formations

– Common figures

Rhythmic Movements: Where to Begin?

• Begin with students’ internal rhythms such as breathing patterns.

• Then, ask students to match breathing patterns with external rhythms such as drumbeats or musical accompaniments.

Rhythmic Movement Content Four essential elements:

• Pulse—underlying beat

• Tempo—speed

• Accent—emphasis

• Rhythmic patterns—combinations of rhythms

Suggested Teaching Style: Guided Discovery

• Guide students by asking questions and presenting tasks that require students to discover possible answers.

• Two components of teaching rhythmic movement:

– Problem-solving activities

– Speaking rhythmically

Guidelines: Developmental Progression of Activities

• Focus on internal before external rhythms.

• Provide opportunities for listening to the pulse before moving to the pulse.

• Begin with nonlocomotor movements and then locomotor movements.

• Begin with clapping or other simple hand movements before using other body parts.

(continued)

Guidelines: Developmental Progression of Activities (continued)

• Gradually increase the number of concepts explored simultaneously.

– Present moving forward with a rounded shape, then moving forward with a rounded shape and at a low level.

• Begin individually, then with partners, and then with a small group.

Suggestions for Students With Severe Disabilities

• Match students with disabilities with peers or cross-age tutors.

• Use a progression of steps to actively engage and foster responses:

– Provide passive assistance.

– Focus attention (if possible, secure eye contact).

– Provide opportunities for mirroring active movements.

– Encourage original movements.

Rhythmic Movement Objectives for Beginning Students

• Increase awareness of internal rhythmic patterns.

• Enhance the ability to mirror simple rhythmic patterns.

• Foster the capacity to initiate rhythmic patterns for others to follow.

Creative Educational Dance (CED): Where to Begin?

• The heart of CED is exploration of the elements of movement.

• Students begin by actively learning about the basic elements of movement:

– Space

– Time

– Force

– Body

Key Definitions for CED

• Exploration is “a systematic investigation, examination, search for making specific discoveries and learning about something” (Smith-Autard, 2000, p. 80).

• Improvisation is spontaneously responding to a stimuli, or “invention without preparation” (Smith-Autard, 2000). During exploration of the elements, teachers present questions that guide students in using improv as a strategy for exploring.

CED Content

• The concepts of space, time, and force as they relate to movement

• The body and its movement potential

• Creation of dances through solving movement problems

CED Content: Space

• The medium in which our bodies move and create designs

• Includes

– self-space, general space, level, and focus; and

– shape, size, direction, and pathway.

CED Content: Force

• Describes the energy level of movements.

• Quality refers to how the energy moves the body; often described as swinging, smooth (sustained), sharp (sudden), and shaking.

• Flow describes whether the energy is bound (controlled, tensed) or free.

CED Content: Time

• As rhythmic movement, time includes the following:

– Beat refers to the underlying pulse of the rhythm.

– Tempo describes whether the beat is fast or slow.

– Accents are stressed beats (or emphasized movement).

– Patterns refer to the combinations of rhythms.

CED Lesson Format: Four Phases

• Student exploration:– Students explore space, time, force, body.

• Teacher presents movement problem: – Problem describes the boundaries for creating

dances.

• Students create dances: – Students create dances by following boundaries.

• Students perform and respond: – Dances are performed and group responds.

Using Images in CED

• Many authors warn against using images for CED. Why?

– Stereotypic images often hinder exploration of the essence of the movements.

– For example, animal images such as bunnies and dogs lead to stereotypic movements and therefore hinder exploration of the movement concepts.

Extending CED Content

Students delve deeper into the content and examine the qualitative aspects of movement by exploring the eight basic effort actions (see next slide).

Qualitative Focus on Movement

• Eight basic effort actions

– These actions are the bases from which more subtle movement qualities are drawn (Preston-Dunlop, 1990).

• Actions are clarified by examining three of the movement elements:

– Space, time, and force.

– Elements exists on a continuum, ranging between the extremes of the element.

Continuum of Movement Elements

• Indirect___________Space______________Direct

• Slow______________Time______________Sudden

• Light_____________Force_____________Strong

Process of Re-envisioning Dance

• Recognizing the value of movements previously considered unacceptable

• Identifying a motif (a single movement, spatial design, or brief movement phrase) for creating a dance

• Guiding students to explore movements associated with motifs

Structured Dances• Specific steps performed in a variety of

formations

– International folk dances

– Line dances (e.g., Electric Slide, the Freeze)

– Social dances (e.g., swing, waltz, salsa)

Structured Dance Content

• Nonlocomotor movements

• Locomotor patterns

• Combinations of locomotor patterns

• Variations or combinations of these patterns to perform: two-step, schottische, polka, grapevine, and waltz

Presentation and Teaching Styles

• Weikart—Say and Do method—verbalize cues with the steps.

• Kassing and Jay describe the inclusive teaching style:

– Students work on variations of the content.

– Teaching can be extended to include problem solving.

Teaching Process

Method varies with dance and student needs.

Suggested progression:

• Students listen and clap.

• Basic step is introduced. (Demonstrate facing the same direction as the students and explore modifications as needed.)

(continued)

Teaching Process (continued)

• Difficult step is taught.

– Modifications are developed to match the students’ developmental level.

– Practice step with music.

• Remaining steps added and performed with music.

• Provide cues and demonstrations as needed.

Questions for Modifying Dances

• Can a section of a dance be shortened?

• Can steps that require balance be modified?

• Can the tempo be slowed or movements performed using twice as many counts?

• Can the turns be modified?

Summary

• Rhythmic movement and dance are powerful and joyful content areas for developing the following:

– Problem solving

– Creative expression

– Motor skills of students with and without disabilities