Chart activities

Safe warm-ups/cool-downs

1. While practicing safe warm-up and/or cool-down sequences, explore the following actions:
   • bend,
   • stretch,
   • swing.
2. Using these movements, students develop and manipulate them to create their own warm up and cool down sequences using the following aspects of major dance elements:
   • quality (an aspect of energy)
   • tempo (an aspect of time)
   • symmetry (an aspect of body awareness).
3. Students take turns at leading the class through their sequences at the beginning and end of a dance lesson.

Using choreographic devices

Embellishing and fragmenting

1. Teach a short sequence of movement.
2. Students use this to explore some of the choreographic devices listed on the chart. For example:
   • repetition = dancers repeat a movement,
   • canon = dancers make the same movement starting one after the other (such as a Mexican wave)
   • retrograde = dances do a movement backwards (like rewinding a film)
3. Students develop a dance using their chosen devices, and share it with others.

Developing a motif

1. Create a movement/gesture motif from a topic common to all the students. For example:
   • exams,
   • relationships,
   • a school-related issue,
   • a current local/world event.
2. Working individually, students develop this movement or gesture in a variety of ways using one (or more) choreographic device from the chart. For example:
   • augmentation = making the movement larger in space or time,
   • embellishment = adding detail to the movement, such as a hand or head move
   • insertion = adding new material into the movement, such as a leap or turn.
3. Sequence these moves, putting the original motif first followed by the developments.
4. Students form pairs, and perform their sequences to each other.

Using choreographic structures

Learning the structures

1. With the students, read and explain the choreographic structures listed on the chart.
2. Discuss when a choreographer and/or a particular dance form might use these structures. For example, how do the structures help to strengthen a dance performance or idea?
3. Compare and contrast the following terms:
   • chance & narrative,
   • rondo & accumulation,
   • theme & canon.
4. Find and show videos of dances that use any of these structures. (For example, dances from the Stage Challenge.)
5. Share a story with the class, and then ask them to choose one appropriate structure to create a piece of dance work based on the story. Encourage students to keep notes about their creative process.

Rondo dance

1. Teach, learn and discuss a traditional dance that uses rondo structure – following the format ABACAD.
2. Students create their own social dance for a particular context using the rondo structure. (Some examples of suitable dance contexts could be greeting and farewell, harvesting food crops, local/family stories, or myths and legends.)

Accumulation and canon

1. With the students, read and discuss the chart definitions of the choreographic structures accumulation and canon. Describe the similarities and differences in the two structures (and between canon used as a device and as a structure).
2. Teach the class a simple movement motif. Call this "A". Try this as a canon either in a line or a circle formation.
3. Add three more movements, calling them "B", "C" and "D". Practice this as an accumulation – following the format ABCD.
4. Now ask students to collaboratively find interesting and effective ways to develop this piece of dance work using both accumulation and canon.

Combining devices and structures

Making a large group dance

1. Looking at the chart, discuss which of the following could be used most easily and effectively for a large group dance:
   • dance elements, such as symmetry and shadowing,
   • choreographic devices, such as canon and repetition,
   • structures, such as unison and narrative.
2. Students form groups of eight or more. Each group chooses one element, one device and one structure, and uses these as the basis for making a dance.

Dancing characters

1. Study the people illustrations in the chart and the words next to them. Have the students imagine who and where the characters might be, and what they are doing.
2. Use these ideas to initiate dance movements.
3. In small groups, students use two or three of the character ideas to create a short dance sequence to share with the class.