Dance 101
I.Concepts to Consider throughout the Movement Lesson
A.Teacher Comfort Zones: Teacher must be confident in their presentation of the lesson (even if you are faking it)
1.Prior Knowledge: Be familiar with casual (pedestrian, basic movements)and formal (stylized, technical) movement terms
2.Modeling the Movement Lesson. When modeling, use pedestrian names of movement and match it with the dance term if there is one. If there is not a technical term or if people don’t know it, have them make up a name for it that makes sense to the class as a whole.
3.The Teacher is also the Artistic Director: Remember that your role is the facilitator of the students’ creative process and arts experience. You must be able to vacillate between sometimes being a teacher, leader, modeler, follower, limit setter, critic, etc…
4.Size Matters:
a)The size of the classroom or space you are using will lend itself to certain projects and rule some projects out. You don’t want to set the project up for disaster because of logistics.
b)The size of the class must also be taken into consideration when developing a movement project. If the class is small, the project must be small. If the class is large, how do you contain the students and should you put them in small groups?
c)The size or amount of time to complete the project is important to address. Will it be a small project? Will you build on it later?
5.Take Charge with Choreography: It is okay to start with organized chaos and move toward concise planned out movement phrases for the end product or performance.
6.Stillness: For movement to exist, stillness must also. A teacher’s dream.
B.Student Comfort Zones: Children are more open to movement than adults. That is, until they hit the 8th grade.
1.Prior Knowledge: Use what the students already know. Many children in the classroom have taken dance – have them model and use what they know.
2. Developmental Level: Just as they have a developmental grade level for academics, they also have a gross and fine motor skill developmental level and keep that in mind.
3.Culture: Some cultures are more comfortable with movement than others. Be mindful that there are students that will feel capable of doing more or doing less and that is okay.
4.Size Matters: The size of the student should also be considered. We all know that Mississippi has the highest childhood obesity rate. That does not mean that the obese child should not be involved. However, you want to be mindful of their comfort zone in regard to their physical capabilities and self image without confining them to specific roles or excluding them.
5.Improvisation: Let them experiment and watch what they come up with. Keep the subject related movement and even change pedestrian steps to stylized to make it officially “dance”.
C.Passion, Praise & Performance:
1.You must have the passion for what you teach and believe in it if you want the students to do the same.
2.Praise can be accompanied with Constructive Criticism: Stay engaged, but scientifically objective when assessing the process to make sure the project is addressing the subject area that you intended. Study what the children are performing and give them feedback. Just because you are not a “dance expert”, that doesn’t mean that you can’t accurately judge or understand the content and quality of the project. We all know what a good performance is when we see it. That is why we are allowed to vote on shows like Dancing with the Stars and American Idol.
3.Perform as you expect the students to perform.
II.So You Don’t Think You Can Dance?
A.Basic Positions in Dance
1.Positions of the Arms – for making shapes, balancing, momentum, style and non-verbal interpretation or mime
a)Low, Middle & High
b)Opened or Closed at fingertips
c)Opposite or same as legs
d)Flat hands, cupped hands and jazz hands
e)Port de Bras – smoothly moving from one shape to the next – use the hands of a clock
f)if you don’t already know the dance terms related to positions of the arms, don’t go there; if a student knows – that is great – have them go over them possibly
2.Positions of the Feet – for making shapes, balancing, momentum and style
a)Turned out or parallel
b)Opened or Closed at the base First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth (don’t need to know names of positions; students may know)
c)Releve = rising or balancing on toes
3.Shapes, Directions & Levels of the Body
a)Shape expresses mood and form just like a sculpture
b)Direction makes a statement – moving forward with strength, backwards with fear and sideways can be relaxed; Direction poses are: Efface or Croise = facing front or crossed (usually at a corner)
c)Levels make the choreography more interesting = low (a low pose or shape; movements on the floor), middle (the average level of space), and high (reaching for the sky, ethereal, flying, on releve)
B.Basic Dance Steps: You have a 50% chance of getting it right = either right or left foot and you change weight or you don’t
1. Poses & Axial Movements (things to do in place)
a)Alignment = Good body posture (no slumping, no sway back, shoulders down, stomach in)
b)Plies = Knee bending (the plie is to for balance and to prepare for leaps, jumps and turns)
c)Isolations = moving a body part in and out of place (for control and style; like touching something hot and moving that part of body)
d)Battements = a leg lift starting with foot brushing or cleaning the floor
e)Stretches & Swings = exactly what they say they are
f)Turns = turns on the axis or a spin like a top pirouettes (en dehors = out the door & en dedans = inside), fouette turns (only en dehor – seen in all major ballets when the female dancer comes to the center and performs a solo of several foutte turns in a row), and turns in second (male counterpart of fouette turns); discuss concept of spotting = looking at same spot to end there and not be dizzy when you arrive
g)Sautee = hop or jump in place like a bunny, kangaroo or a spring (you probably won’t use the formal terms for these like changement, ballonne, or entrechats-quatre)
2.Locomotor& Connecting Movements
a)Marche = Walk or step (have never had a dance teacher say anything but step)
b)Bourree = Walk on tippy toes
c)Jete = Run
d)Grand Jete = Leap
e)Tombe = Lunge
f)Emboite = Prance(also a locomoting turn)
g)Chasse = Gallop; chasing a foot with the other
h)Sautee = a moving jump, skip, step and hop
i)Pas de Bourree = first three steps of a grapevine
j)Turns = Chaines (chains, links), Soutenu (sustained turns???); Pique (pricking the floor – stepping directly on)
3.Combining Movements to make Phrases (Choreography)
a)Demonstration of pedestrian locomotor movements
b)Your Turn: In groups make your own phrases with your favorite movements
C.Qualities of Movement: The Essence of the Dance
Mood and feeling make dance more than a trick or simple exercise.
1.Laban’s Basic Efforts: Space, Weight, Time and Flow – Laban analyzed movement and combinations of movement and linked them to corresponding emotions, personality styles and ways of being. They are as follows:
a)Space: Flexible and Direct (wavy, undulating and straight)
b)Time: Sustained and Sudden (smooth, slow, legato and sharp, quick staccato)
c)Weight: Light and Strong (delicate, buoyant and firm, powerful)
d)Flow: Bound and Free (controlled, stop on a dime and a fall or loss of breaks on a run away train)
2.Imagery & Generating Qualities of Movement
a) Language Evoked: Non-verbal expression can be more powerful than words
b)Art Evoked: Color, line and shapes also stimulate different movement types, qualities and moods
c)Music Evoked: Music styles can stimulate different movement types, qualities and moods
3.More about how Music Stimulates Dance Styles, Moods & Qualities
a)Rhythm is made up of several components including tempo, accents and patterns
b)Tempo is the rate of speed in which the music and dance is performed. And yes, we all have this component of rhythm because our heart beat. Therefore, we have inherent rhythm.
c)Accent is when additional force is put on one or more beats of music or dance movements in a series. Like in the waltz, the “one” count usually carries the accent.
d)Patterns exist rhythmically and can best be seen in musical notes or poetry and always have a mathematical relationship. ¾ and 4/4 time (use eighth notes and quarter notes)
D.Basic Formations in Dance
1.Solo, Duet, Group
2.Lines, Circles, Scatters
III.You Are the Dance Teacher
A.Basic Framework of a Logical Dance Class or Movement Session
1.Warm up – all body parts; that’s what all that elaborate stuff at the ballet barre is
2.Theme
3.Closure/Cool Down – Reverence, acknowledgement and curtsey
List of general dance terms, their meaning, and their purpose (alphabetical)
- Alignment - good body posture (no slumping, no sway back, shoulders down, stomach in)
- Battements – (bat-MAHN) foot brushes or leg lifts that prepare for jumps and leaps
- Bourree – (boo-RAY) walk on tippy toes
- Chasse – (sha-SAY) a gallop, chasing the front foot
- Contractions – squeezing one body part by itself or contracting the muscle like in a crunch
- Croise – (krwah-ZAY) crossing at the front (pose)
- Efface – (eh-fa-SAY) facing front (pose)
- Emboite – (ahn-bwah-TAY) prancing turn
- Grand Jete – (grahnd zhuh-TAY) leap
- Jete – (zhuh-TAY) run
- Isolations - moving a body part in and out of place – for control and style (touching something hot and moving that part of body)
- Marche – (mar-SHAY) walk or step
- Parallel - position of feet
- Pas de Bourree – (pah duh boo-RAY) 3 steps, like a grapevine
- Plie – (plee-AY) bend knees prep work for balancing, jumps, leaps and turns
- Point & Flex– refers to feet for warm up of feet or for style
- Port de Bras – (pawr duh brah) moving smoothly through arm positions
- Releve – (ruhl-VAY) on tippy toes (pose)
- Reverence- (ray-vay-RAHNSS) cool down at ending with bow
- Sautee – (soh-TAY) jump or hop in place like a bunny, kangaroo or a spring with feet flexed and pointed step and moving through space like a skip
- Spotting - looking at same spot to end there and not be dizzy when you arrive
- Tombe – (tawn-BAY) lunge
- Turned out – position of feet
- Turns on the axis or a spin like a top – a) pirouettes (peer-WET) [en dehors (ahn duh-AWR) = out the door & en dedans (ahn duh-DAHN) = inside], b) fouette (fweh-TAY) turns ( seen in all major ballets when the female dancer comes to the center and performs a solo of several fouette turns in a row), and c) fouette turns in second (male counterpart of fouette turns)
- Turns that move through space – a) chaines (sheh-NAY) (chains, links), b) soutenu (soot-NEW) (sustained), pique (pricking the floor – stepping directly on)
Properties of the Eight Basic Effort Actions:
1)Thrusting: sudden time, strong weight, direct space
2)Slashing: sudden time, strong weight, flexible space
3)Floating: sustained time, fine touch, light weight, flexible space
4)Gliding: sustained time, strong, firm weight, direct space
5)Wringing: sustained time, strong weight, flexible space
6)Pressing: sustained time, firm, strong weight, direct space
7)Flicking: sudden time, light weight, flexible space
8)Dabbing: sudden time, firm, strong weight, direct space