African Dance - Focus Course Profile

Course Profile

This course emphasizes the development of students’ artistry, improvisational and compositional skills, and technical proficiency in global dance genres. Students will apply the elements of dance, techniques, and tools in a variety of ways, including performance situations; describe and model responsible practices related to the dance environment; and reflect on how the study of dance affects personal and artistic development. This course will focus on the dance practices of the African region of the world.

Course Overview 

With the number of countries in Africa (54 countries) and the several different cultural practices, languages, religions and people within each country this course provides only an introduction into the various African Dance forms. Students will learn about different social dance forms from the various parts of Africa-north, south, east and west. Students will learn the historical and cultural significance and reasons why dances are performed; and understand the connections between dance and everyday life. Students will come to realize that the language of dance comes out of life situations and events in parts of Africa (social dances about birth, crops, funerals, celebrations, weddings, initiation into womanhood or manhood). The course will address the differences between tradition and heritage. This course will provide an introduction to the authenticity of traditional dance forms, through performance videos, musical/movement connections and guest artists. Students will come to appreciate and understand that traditional West Africa dance technique is embedded in the life, culture and heritage of the people. Students will embark on the choreographic process and create their own traditional dances.

Scope & Sequence

Unit Descriptions

UNIT 1: Introduction to Style A (20 hours)

Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the history, technique, cultural and social significance of the dance form.

UNIT 2: Kinesiology and Body Awareness (10 hours)

Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of alternative physical practices that enhance and supplement dance training and physical well-being (Yoga and Pilates) with an emphasis on correct terminology and the physiology of movement as they relate to the dance genre.

UNIT 3: Introduction to Style B (20 hours)

Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the history, technique, cultural and social significance of the dance form. 

UNIT 4: Introduction to Style C (20 hours)

Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the history, technique, cultural and social significance of the dance form.

UNIT 5: Composition and Choreography (20 hours)

Students will use the creative process to explore the elements of dance and compositional forms to compose individual and ensemble dance creations applying and building on the students' knowledge from Units 1, 3, and 4.

Culminating Activity

Fusion Dance (20 hours)

Students will create a final dance composition by fusing the techniques of styles A, B, and C. They will apply composition and presentation skills; as well as employing the tools of stagecraft. Through this culminating activity, students will demonstrate an understanding of all of the overall expectations learned throughout the course.

Resources

Books

Dagan, Esther A. The Spirit's Dance in Africa: Evolution, Transformation, and Continuity in Sub-Sahara. Montreal: Galerie Amrad African, 1997. ISBN 978-1-896371-01-6

Kalani; Ryan M. Camara. West African Drum & Dance (A Yankadi-Macrou Celebration). Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing Co. 2006. Print, CD & DVD. ISBN-10: 0739038699 ISBN-13: 978-0739038697 0736000259 
Internet
Dance Companies/Artists in Ontario:
COBA (Collective Of Black Artists) Inc. Website: http://www.cobainc.com/
2444 Bloor St. W., 2nd Floor, Toronto, Ontario M6S 1R3 TEL: (416) 638-3111

For other companies:  http://www.danceontario.ca/

Instructional Strategies

Direct Instruction, KWL charts, Venn diagrams, Expert Groups, Flocking, Group work, Improvisation, Discussion, Reflection, Summarizing

Glossary of Terms Specific to Course

African dance - African dance comprises many traditional and modern dances, with great variation in style and form across the continent. In Africa, dance is closely related to music, mime, storytelling, costume and ritual. African children, who traditionally learn to drum and dance as early as they learn to walk, participate in public ceremonies alongside the adults. Often, a "call and response" dialogue occurs between dancer, drummer and spectators, which makes all parties integral to the event. Source: ArtsAlive.ca
Celebration - A joyful occasion for special festivities to mark some happy event. (Source: www.audioenglish.net)
Djembe Drum - A large goblet shaped drum, traditionally carved out of one log. Like an ashiko, yields a resonant bass tone when struck in the middle, and a high ringing tone when struck on the rim. The djembe is perhaps the most well-known West African instrument throughout the world. Source: Africaguide.com
Flocking - A type of improvisation in which students move in groups, with no set pattern or in a diamond formation, following a leader and all doing the same movements simultaneously. This is an extended version of mirroring for three or more people. Participants do not necessarily need to be able to watch each other, as long as they can see the leader. Source: The Arts 9-12 curriculum document glossary, revised 2010.
Harvest - crop: the yield from plants in a single growing season; reap: gather, as of natural products; "harvest the grapes; the gathering of a ripened crop; the season for gathering crop
Kpanlog - A fairly recent dance form that means turning dance. The dance features wildly swinging arms, gyrating torsos, and fancy footwork. Dancing is high-spirited and the songs are fresh and lively. The drums are conga-like and played with hands. Source: Alokli African Dance
Sabar Drum - By far the most common instrument in Senegal. Most all sabar drumming is accompanied by dancing and usually takes place for special occasions and festivals including births, baby naming ceremonies, weddings, holidays and other special celebrations. Source: Africaguide.com
Senegalese Harvest Dance - A celebratory harvest dance that transitions into a celebratory thanksgiving for the reaping of the crop 
Refer to curriculum document glossary for all other terms.

Examples of Activities

Lesson 1: Exploring a West African Harvest Dance (from Unit #1, 3 or 4)

Students will explore traditional West African dance, specifically, Senegalese Harvest Dance. Students will create a celebratory West African dance and demonstrate how it serves as a vehicle for communicating specific purposes, such as cultural practices, social events and environmental themes.

Overview of BLMs 

Assessment and Evaluation Strategies

Rubric evaluation, checklist, self evaluation, self reflection, discussion, observation.

Sample Lesson: Exploring a West African Harvest Dance

Critical Learning

Guiding Questions

Dance serves as a mode of communication and is performed for many different purposes such as; ceremonies, celebrations and religion.
How is dance used as vehicle for communicating important events in a community?
What is West African dance? 
What are the historical, social, religious, and cultural reasons why people perform West African dance?
How are the elements of dance used in the Senegalese Harvest Dance?

Curriculum Expectations

Learning Goals

Creating, Presenting, and Performing

A1. The Creative Process: use the creative process, the elements of dance (body, space, time, energy, and relationship), and a variety of sources to develop movement vocabulary; 

A1.1 use the elements of dance to develop and perform a series of connected dance phrases inspired by a source

A1.2 create and perform phrases that combine the elements of dance in variety of ways

A2. Choreography and Composition: combine the elements of dance in a variety of ways in composing individual and ensemble dance creations;

A2.2 create a dance composition inspired by a source

Learning Goals

(Unpacked Expectations)

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to: 
  • Identify and use the elements of dance found in the Senegalese Harvest Dance Work collaboratively to create a West African harvest dance

Instructional Components

Readiness

Students have previously learned about West African dance in Unit #1 (see  BLM #1 Background Information on West Africa and West African Dance) Students learned basic information on types of West African Dance in a previous introductory lesson.
Students should have experience working in small groups to create a dance composition and able to share ideas orally in a group
Students need to know "Flocking" and Guided improvisation 

Terminology/Glossary

Djembe Drum
Harvest
West African Dance
West African (Senegalese)
Harvest Dance
Props
Improvisation
Choreography
Dance piece

Materials

Map of West Africa, highlighting Senegal, refer to: maps.google.ca
West African music
West African percussion instruments (djembe drum, rattles, bells, wood blocks, etc.) Use pictures of instruments as an option
Music player
Harvest Dance video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ-L5JZJVKE
Television/DVD player
Chart Paper and Markers
BLMs

BLM #1 Background Information on West Africa and West African Dance
BLM #2 Senegalese Harvest Dance 
BLM #3 Senegalese Harvest Dance Elements
BLM #4 Homework Questions

 

Approximately 25 minutes

Minds On

Pause and Ponder

Small Groups > Stations

Display a map of Africa (highlighting Senegal) on the board. In three stations around the room, preset West African fabric with a picture display of West African dancers. In Station #1, play West African music and display various West African percussion instruments, e.g.: djembe drum, rattles, bells, wood blocks, etc. If you do not have access to these instruments, you could use pictures of these instruments instead. In Station #2, display pictures of props and tools used in harvesting, e.g.: seeds, baskets, hoes, calabash, etc. In Station #3, play video clips of West African Dance (see Materials).  Divide students into three groups and send one group to each of the three stations.

Once you have put students into groups, explain that each group will have a task to complete at their station and they will be responsible for reporting back to the class. 
Station #1-Music:
Identify characteristics of the music for each piece of music that is played 
Describe the sound of each instrument
Station #2-Props: 
What are the props? 
How might they be used?
What is their connection to African dance?
Station #3-Dance:
Describe West African Dance using the Elements of Dance
What kinds of movements do you primarily see (arm/leg movements)?
What is the feeling or mood of the dance?
What do you think would be the purpose of this dance and who might it be performed for?

Whole Class > Sharing

Ask each group to choose a reporter and, one at a time, groups share their findings with the class. Record these observations on chart paper or the board.
Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Observation of students' work in the previous introductory lesson on West African dance will aid the teacher in preparing this lesson. A review on the Dance Elements should be done if necessary before beginning this unit.
Observe student participation during their investigation of the three stations.
Observe and side coach students while they work in their groups to create their compositions.
Encourage and remind students to work cooperatively, share ideas and provide feed-back about created movements.

Differentiation (DI) 

You may want students to physically demonstrate some of the movements that they discovered aligned with the points on BLM #3 Senegalese Harvest Dance Elements.
Students who are comfortable moving will stay in the leader role for a longer period of time while flocking, whereas students who are not as comfortable will remain in the role for a much shorter period of time.

Link and Layer

Ask students to compare and contrast the music and movements of Senegalese Harvest Dance and other West African dance forms previously learned.
Link back to the Minds On as students are exploring the harvest prop movements in the "Flocking" activity.
Remind students to incorporate the Elements of Dance as they compose an interpretive West African Harvest Dance piece.

Hyperlinks in the Lesson:

Approximately 40 minutes

Action!

Whole Class > Introduction to West African Harvest Dance

Lead the class through a discussion on the definition of harvest and help students come to a consensus. Record this definition on the board for future reference. Handout  BLM #2 Senegalese Harvest Dance to the students.
Show students the video clip of West African Harvest Dance (see Materials).
Ist viewing: Students just watch the performance. 
2nd Viewing: Handout  BLM #3 Senegalese Harvest Dance Elements to guide students in their analysis.

Small Groups>Analysing the Video

Ask students go back to their groups from the Minds On activity and share their responses. Direct one student from each group will record their findings in a summary format on chart paper. Ask one student from each group to present their findings to the class.

Small Groups >Flocking

Create groups of 4 and explain that flocking is like mirroring for 4 people. There are four dancers in the shape of a diamond and the dancer in front is the lead and will begin the improvisation. The leader chooses a imaginary harvest prop to be used in the improvisation. The leader may turn at any time and the dancers will all turn so they are facing a new direction and a new leader will be at the front. Remind students to incorporate the qualities of the West African Dance. Play West African music in the background as students are Flocking.

Individual > Generating Movement Ideas

Direct students to spread out in the room so they have some space to work individually. Ask students to improvise and generate two to three movements that mimic using a harvesting prop. They will contribute this movement vocabulary to their group in order to create a group dance composition. Remind students to make choreographic choices while exploring their movement.

Small Group > Creating Choreography

Create groups of 4-5 and instruct students to demonstrate their individual movement phrases to one another. Direct each student to teach each group member their own phrase. Once everyone has learned all of the phrases, ask students to collectively make artistic choices about how to assemble the ideas together in order to create their interpretation of a harvest dance.
Allow each group to choose a West African piece of music from your music selection to accompany their harvest dances.
Approximately 25 minutes

Consolidation

Whole Class > Sharing of Dance Pieces

Ask each group to share their West African Harvest Dance accompanied by the selected West African music.

After each dance piece, ask the class to comment on what they saw in terms of the Elements of Dance, the characteristics of West African Dance and the dance as it relates to the idea of harvest. 
Ask the students what a celebratory harvest dance might look like if it was based on an Ontarian crop such as: an apple harvest, a corn harvest, a hay harvest, cherry picking, the harvesting of the family vegetable garden, etc.
Assign students complete the Homework questions for the following lesson (see  BLM #4 Homework Questions).