Module 2

Introduction to Dance K-6

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

How does dance as an artform contribute to the curriculum?

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

Dance provides opportunities for personal expression and enjoyment

Students value dance as a form of cultural expression related to culture, tradition, location, gender, social and technological issues

Dance provides opportunities for students to express their feelings,moods and ideas symbolically through movement

Dance is an artform that uses the body as a means of expression and communication

Dance is a way of knowing about oneself, other people and the world

Dance has been an integral human activity in most cultures for thousands of years Dance is a means of

expressing cultural identity

Dance has many functions - artistic, theatrical, social, religious and ritual

Learning in dance involves technical skill, physical awareness and aesthetic and artistic understandings

Dance provides opportunities for creative action

Dance contributes to cultural understanding

Dance is a unique medium for learning

How does dance as an artform

contribute to the curriculum?

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

How do students learn through

dance?

Cognitive learning

Dance contributes to the development of thinking skills - perception, creativity, logical thinking, metaphoric thinking, question formation, decision

making, critical thinking, concept formation and memory

Aesthetic learning

Students learn to use aesthetic values to discriminate, select and respond to and through

dance experiences

Physical learning

Dance is active. Students develop physical skills and learn techniques

which require practice & concentration

Sensory learning

Students focus on the use of their senses to develop

their expression & imagination

Social learning

Students learn to work cooperatively in groups through dance and study the role of dance

in different social and cultural contexts© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

How does dance as an artform contribute to the curriculum?

The study of dance in the creative arts provides students with the opportunity to learn about and through the integrated practices of composing, performing and appreciating.

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

Activity: “Snowball”

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

Activity: “Snowball” variation

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

Activity: “Snowball” variation

What locomotor patterns were used?How did the stamping and clapping pattern change?Which body parts did the groups use? How did they use them?How fast or slow were the movements performed?What sort of energy levels did the group use? What sort of mood did this create?Did groups use a particular formation or pattern in the way they changed partners?Did the dance express an idea or have an intent?

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

What do students learn to do in dance: performing, composing, appreciating

•develop physical skills and techniques

•apply safe dance practice to their own bodies

•use interpretive skills to express movement quality

•experience different kinds of dance

•understand intention in dance making

• respond to stimulus through dance

•use the elements of dance to structure movement and express ideas

•create a structure for dance

•view a range of dance genres and styles

•view live and videotaped performances

•develop understanding of artistic, cultural and social meanings in dance

•communicate about dance

•develop a dance vocabulary

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

How do I teach dance?

Teachers guide and support students’

dance making

Teachers provide the structure and ideas for dance

making

Activities in performing, composing and

appreciating that draw on established dances

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

How do I start?

Sequencing learning

activities?

Addressing the outcomes?

Getting ideas?

Structuring my lessons?

Using the elements of

dance in units of work?

Utilising teaching

strategies?

Assessing learning?

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

Teaching and learning process

• exploring, developing, reflecting

• connecting and sequencing learning

activities within a unit of work

• cyclic process

• allows for consolidation, revision and

extension activities© Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

Elements of dance

action dynamics

time space

relationships structure

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

•Kinaesthetic words which evoke movement exploration such as melt, swing, tap

• Tactile piece of slate (cold, smooth, hard) pineapple head (rough, sharp, jagged)sponge (bouncy, textured, pliable)

• VisualWorks from Enter Art such as:Michael Johnson’s After Sirius is a work which refers to the subterranean seascape of Sirius Cove on Sydney and uses long horizontal lines and textured paint to build the layers of the seascape Ken Thaiday’s Beizam (shark) dance mask, is an example of fusing performance rituals with visual artsKen Unsworth’s Suspended Stone Circle II could explore weight, suspension or swing

• IdeationalA narrative (e.g. Jack & the beanstalk)A metaphor (e.g. as rough as the ocean)A cycle (e.g. birth, growth, death)

• Auditorybody percussion (e.g. slap, click, thud, stomp, rub)Quantum leaps CD / Vocal-Ease CD / Musica Viva CDsa poem read aloud (e.g. hectic from contrast unit in Quantum leaps)

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

Where can I go for further support?

Curriculum K-12 Directorate resources

Board of Studies support material

© 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training