Dance: How do students learn through Dance?

Various types of learning through dance

Today in the lecture we discussed the various types of learning achieved through dance

• Cognitive learning (Dance contributes to the development of thinking skills – perception, creativity, logical thinking, metaphoric thinking, question formation, decision making, critical thinking, concept formation and memory)

• Sensory learning (Students focus on the use of their senses to develop their expression and imagination)

• Physical learning (Dance is active. Students develop physical skills and learn techniques which require practice and concentration)

• Social learning (Students learn to work cooperatively in groups through dance and study the role of dance in different social and cultural contexts)

• Aesthetic learning (Students learn to use aesthetic values to discriminate, select and respond to and through dance experiences)

Developing a crack Ad

Today in dance workshop we looked at composing an advertisement adopting inspiration from the movements and ideas in a visual stimulus. We started off with a ‘Chain-Tag’ exercise to warm up and to get us into a collaborative mode as our lesson would utilise these collaborative skills to compose and perform together. We were given a photograph of an Airplane and we had to come up with a 30 second Ad show casing the product.
  

 

 

The entire composition was analysed based on the following questions:

 

• Was the product clearly identifiable?

• What was the ‘money shot’ that sold the idea?
• How was the catch phrase delivered?
• How can you describe the way in which the choreography was manipulated?
• How did the process of construction evolve?
• How was the composition implemented in the classroom?

 

Our team of 5 collaborated very well in coming up with the composition. An initial idea put forth would be modified or added on to by the team. We went back to the movements shown in a video clip which was one of the inspirations for the composition and incorporated it to emphasise out catch phrase “There is no comfort like Jet Star comfort” .This catch phrase was the main feature of the money shot. I found this a lot more engaging because we had concrete idea and clear criteria with which to shape the composition.

Ideas for teaching

I can visualise myself taking this or a similar lesson in a classroom where I can give my students a product/theme/ idea and ask them to come up with something meaningful to explain it. Students can gain from this lesson if they are familiar with the concept they are expected to tackle ( like about airplanes), and are given explicit instructions to scaffold the process.

Things to look for (Rubric from the foundation statements)

• Intent: meaning and purpose (How does the dance work?, Role of creator/performer)
• Elements: space, time, dynamics, action, relationship, structure
• Performance Quality: expression, communication, body awareness, variation of dynamics,

   awareness of concept

• Complex movement skills: techniques, sequencing, space, execution