WORKSHOP 2 - INCLUSIVE DANCE EDUCATION

Lecturer: Jacqui Dreessens
July 19, 2012

• ·      Make sure students are prepared to perform. Knowing what problem they are solving, the intention and the timing
• ·      Set the questions up during preparation time. Why, how are you going to develop?  How can you change elements to make them different and sporadic?
• ·      Don’t make them perform if they are definitely not confident to do so.
• ·      Make it a part of the classroom
• ·      Use movement as a language just like any other
• ·      Dance is the body moving in space.
• ·      Teaching how to read movement language
• ·      Be able to vocalise the language
• ·      Be able to harness movements in space and change the body language during the performance
• ·      Be able to analyse why, how (timing, space, energy), begin with how
• ·      An example of questions would be:

o   Where do you think they might be going?

o   How can you describe the way they move their body

§  What body parts are moving?

§  How are they moving those body parts?

o   Energy: Why do they move away from each other?

o   Space: How do they move through the space?

§  Why do they move across the space?

o   Time: Why are they moving fast?

o   Why are they moving slow? How does this tell the story?

§  Use dynamic quality SSSPVC

·      S – Swinging, curves made by arms

·      S – Suspended, pauses in movement

·      S – Sustained, continuous flow of movement

·      P – Percussion, angular, quick movements

·      V – Vibratory, rapid succession or quivering like movements

·      C – Collapsing, movement release of muscle tension

§  Repeat in movement, fast, slow, static, flowing

• ·      Allow them to see their work afterwards and provide feedback.
• ·      Introduce warm up, themes.  Allows them to be ready, inclusion. They know what to expect
• ·      Eliciting a response to an action “what does it look like when they do that?”
• ·      Arts response is of the moment in the class
• ·      Keep questions open-ended

·      Group 4 analysis

o   Zig-zagged through space, high in space, on toes, suddenly stopping

o   Why did they stop?

·      Using positive/negative space, moving into a negative space to make it positive space

Cannon – Repeat action from persons involved

Retrograde – repeat action backwards

Object interaction

·      Using props such as pieces of material and scarves.

o   Students to use the prop in the movement

o   To create shapes using the props as a focus

In The School Setting

The skills incorporated in this workshop can be used across the school levels as it requires a high amount of coordination development and confidence in movement.  This is especially shown through the cannon work and retrograde where timing is essential to the flow of the piece.  The use of props is a great way of including students who may not have built the confidence of performing in front of others as the focus is taken off of them and placed on the prop being used and how they interact with the prop to achieve the desired outcomes.