Description

Jazz dance is constantly evolving. Through examination of a timeline, research and a brief presentation, students will gain an understanding of the evolution of jazz dance. Students will focus on Canadian jazz and its African roots within the American context. They will examine the development of jazz dance and its music through an investigation of its pioneers, choreographers, celebrated dancers, professional companies. Students will distinguish the stylistic characteristics within the dance form.

Learning Goals

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the stylistic characteristics in jazz dance.
  • Develop research and presentation skills
  • Demonstrate an understanding of historical development of jazz dance in North America since 1900.

Materials

  • Book computer lab/library for 2 classes for research
  • Collect and prepare visual aids, e.g. cue cards, visual historical timeline
  • Develop presentation assessments (checklist, rubric)

Minds On (Approximately 10 minutes)

Cue Cards

  • Provide students with topic-related cue cards focusing on different decades in jazz dance history. Topics could include:
    • Dancers, (e.g. Bojangles, Jeff Hyslop)
    • Choreographers (e.g. Brian Foley, Jerome Robbins, William Orlowski, Eddie Toussaint;)
    • Styles (e.g. Fosse, Luigi, Hip Hop;)
    • Companies (e.g. Alvin Ailey, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Compagnie de Dance Eddie Toussaint, Canadian Tap Dance Company.)

Action! (Approximately 40 minutes)

Guided Research Assignment

  • Students will be given two periods to research the historical importance of the topic on their cue card.
  • In small groups students will prepare:
    • Group presentation not exceeding five (5) minutes
    • One-page handout outlining the pertinent information of their topic (must be submitted to the teacher by the group).

Consolidation (Approximately 25 minutes)

Historical Time Line

  • Students will reveal the information researched on the topic indicated on their cue card and as a class, decide its position on the historical time line provided.

Jazz Historical Time Line

Minstrel Shows

20's

Early Jazz

30's

Swing Era

40's

Bop

50's

Cool Jazz
Rock/Roll

60's

Free Jazz
Motown

70's

New Syntheses
Disco

80's

New Wave

90's

Hip Hop

00’s

Urban (Krump, etc.)

Assess:

  1. Individual research material and the research process by collecting rough work
  2. Individual contributions to the research process with a checklist which the students will use to assess themselves and their group members
  3. Final copy of the handout
  4. Seminar presentation

Notes/Assessment/Differentiated Instruction/Resources

  • Assist students in guided research of their assigned topics by helping them become aware of available resources and how to access them.
  • Discuss the research assignment with the Teacher Librarian ahead of time in order to secure appropriate resources.
  • E.S.L. students may be partnered with an English-speaking student for this activity.
  • Extra time may be allocated for students with learning disabilities.