Lesson 3: Finding the Source

Creating, Presenting and Performing

A1. The Creative Process: use the creative process, the elements of dance, and a variety of sources to develop movement vocabulary

A1.2 create and perform movement phrases that use the elements of dance to express physical or emotional states;

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

A2.1 use a variety of choreographic forms, structures and techniques to create and perform a series of movement phrases

A2.3 identify and use a variety of compositional approaches to communicate ideas and feelings through dance. 

Reflecting, Responding and Analyzing

B1 The Critical Analysis Process: use the critical analysis process to reflect upon and evaluate their own and others' dance works and activities

Learning Goals

(Unpacked Expectations)

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Express the content and the opinion of an article through movement
• Use a literary source as the foundation of choreography
• Contribute to the group work in a variety of ways

Readiness

Students will have previously explored a variety of stimuli as the basis of choreographic work. The rehearsal and group expectations would be established at the commencement of the course, in terms of focus, genuine collaboration, active listening and productivity. They would also be accustomed to recording reflections and experiences within a dance portfolio for the course. In this lesson, students will be building upon "the ripple effect" concept explored earlier in the unit as the article they select initiates a choreographic reaction from the students.

Terminology

Stimulus

Materials

BLMs

Whole Class > Creating Groups

In various areas of the studio, post a variety of coloured papers with television show titles on them. Ask students to look at the titles around the room and think about one to two of the programs that they enjoy watching. Invite students to stand underneath one of their choices (if some of the students do not watch television, have them stand near a title that may sound intriguing). It should be noted that once there are five people congregated at a television sign, those individuals will sit down and a group is formed. The goal is to complete this group forming task in less than 45 seconds. Prior to this activity, take into account the number of class members so that the number of television shows posted in the studio will correlate to the number of groups (4 to 5 students per group).

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Teacher Observation
Teacher Feedback (verbal-group discussion and written-process rubric)

Assessment as Learning (AaL)

Peer Feedback
Self Assessment (process rubric)
Portfolio (scavenger hunt)

Differentiation (DI)

Utilize teaching strategies and tools that correlate to student learning styles inventory 

Quick Tip

For the major group compositional task, encourage students to explore  the threads of contact improvisation learned in the previous lesson.

If students do not bring in an article for the lesson, have some articles for students to read through (i.e. “Sleepy Teenagers Need Some Zssss” by Barbara Cooke)

Selected articles for this compositional task may vary in terms of their length, tone and subject matter. For this course, the articles may all be tailored to workplace subject matter

Link and Layer

Local & global perspectives
Contact improvisation
Creative Process driven by a stimulus
Portfolio responses

Hyperlinks in the Lesson

Small Group > Exploring the Articles

In the newly formed groups, have each member share his or her article via a summary and his/her opinions about the content. Visually reinforce these tasks on a piece of chart paper posted in the room. Ask students to decide which article (from each group) will be used as the stimulus for this major choreographic task. Circulate the studio to connect with each group and to answer questions and/or offer clarification as needed.

Distribute the Article Scavenger Hunt (See BLM #4 Article Scavenger Hunt) to the students and allow them time to complete this activity in their groups and based on their chosen article. After the scavenger hunt is complete, join two to three groups together. In these larger groups, students will have the opportunity to share the gathered information based on their hunts. After the exchange occurs, encourage students to now share their reactions to the articles in a whole class discussion.

Small Group > Creating Choreography

Explain to students that they will now be investing in the creation of a piece of choreography that embodies the article, its stance and how the group feels about the article’s content. Within these groups of four to five, if there are contrasting opinions about the content and the reactions to the article, encourage students to embed these contrasts within the choreographic work. Distribute the assessment tool for the collaborative process (See BLM #5) so that each group has a solid understanding of the expectations related to the process of this compositional task. As the students begin the rehearsal process, re-collect these assessment tools in order to complete and to provide feedback. Spend some time co-constructing criteria for the final dance piece. Encourage students to draw on ideas from the previous lessons when creating their choreography. Teacher Prompt: Select an action word from the article to help guide your choreography (e.g. verb chains). Could you use contact improvisation as a starting point for your piece?
Ensure that groups have the opportunity to share their creations at various points in the process. Designate part of rehearsal as "work in progress" performances. Via this session, each group receives peer feedback and teacher feedback.

Small Group > Selecting Quotes

Each group will select one or two quotations from the article that is/are highly important to the choreography and to the article’s message. Each group will write their selected quotation(s) on the mirror. If the studio does not have mirrors, this consolidating activity could be completed on a large sheet of mural paper hanging on one of the walls. Each group will have the opportunity to explain why the quotation(s) is important and why the group selected it.