Level 6
Developing Practical Knowledge in Dance (PK)
Students will identify and contrast the vocabularies, practices, and technologies of selected dance forms.
Developing Ideas in Dance (DI)
Students will explore and use choreographic processes to give form to dance ideas.
Communicating and Interpreting in Dance (CI)
Students will apply performance skills and appropriate technologies to enhance communication through dance and will make critical responses to dance.
Understanding Dance in Context (UC)
Students will investigate dances from selected historical periods and describe the influences on their development.
Learning Examples
- Identify and learn popular social dances from two or three decades of the twentieth century (e.g., rock 'n' roll from the 1950s, the twist from the 1960s, the hustle from the 1970s). Discuss the similarities and differences between the vocabularies, techniques, stylistic qualities, and performance protocols of the various dances. Using these experiences, select one decade and investigate and describe the social influences that contributed to the development of its dances. (PK, UC)
- Investigate the content, form, and presentation features of a dance from a stage show. Use this information as a stimulus for developing movement material. In a group, choreograph and perform a reinterpretation of the original dance, setting it in a local or modern-day context. (UC, DI, PK, CI)
- As part of developing an original dance for performance, use a video camera to record work in progress. View the recording with others and discuss the strengths and limitations of both the choreography and the performance. Use the results of the discussion to assist in developing the dance and to refine performance skills. (CI)
- Improvise movement related to the idea of flight and individually make a movement sequence based on this idea. Teach the movement sequence to a partner, and then together teach the two sets of material to another pair. Decide on an order and combine the material into a dance that clearly reflects the idea of flight. Perform the dance and discuss how flight is represented. Finish by reviewing the experience of using the process of collaborative group choreography. (DI, CI)
- Explore the vocabularies and practices of two genres of dance (e.g., jazz funk and hip hop). Identify the similarities and differences between the genres and investigate the influences on the development of each. For each genre, learn a short movement sequence choreographed by the class teacher or a visiting tutor. Video the sequences and view and discuss the results. (PK, UC, CI)
- Improvise movement using a prop (e.g., a chair), and record and view
the results. Discuss the literal and metaphorical ideas suggested by
the use of the prop. Choreograph and perform a dance based on prop manipulation.
(DI, CI)
- Use chance as a process for choreographing a dance on the theme of
transformation. Throw a dice to determine movements, pathways, repetitions,
and so on in the dance. Perform the dance and evaluate the effectiveness
of using chance as the development process. (DI, CI)
- View and practically explore dances of a variety of ethnic groups that use specific objects as integral parts of the dance (e.g., a taiaha, a scarf, a fan, bamboo poles, castanets). In a group, investigate the who, what, when, why, where, and how of one of the dances and present the findings to the class. (PK, UC)
- Investigate one or more dances that involve a combination of voice and movement (e.g., haka, hula, musicals, ma'ulu'ulu), and examine the relationship between the movement and the text being voiced. With the teacher, choreograph and learn a dance that involves a combination of voice and movement. Present the dance to an audience, focusing on such performance skills as projection and focus. (UC, PK, DI, CI)
- Rehearse and perform a dance in a variety of school contexts (e.g., a classroom, assembly hall, outdoors), adapting it as appropriate to suit the space and the location of the audience. (CI)
