Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Teachers
Dance technique for primary students
Teacher dance resource developed by The Arts Unit
Safe dance practice
The Department of Education has a range of safe dance practice resources that are designed for Years 7 to 10 students studying the dance syllabus.
Read through these to broaden your knowledge of the appropriate level of safe dance practice that should be observed in a department of education setting.
The Safe dance practice presentation (PPTX 10.42MB) is a useful tool to refresh your understanding of safe dance practices.
ausDANCE is Australia's peak body of dance and provides helpful information about safe dance practice.
Select this ausDANCE link or the ausDANCE image below to broaden your knowledge of the appropriate level of safe dance practice for your classroom.
The function and structure of the technique class
The development of dance technique is a means to an end; not an end itself. The end is the facility to perform choreography with safety, accuracy, complexity, consistency, efficiency and control.
Various techniques place emphasis on certain aspects or qualities of movement, such as alignment (of arms, legs. feet, torso), extension, elevation, defiance of or surrender to gravity, contraction, or use of weight and force.
While not wishing to discourage professional reading, dance technique cannot be learned from a book; it cannot be learned in a day, a week, a month or a year. It can, however, be taught beyond one's own ability to execute the movement.
As in composition/choreography, where possibilities abound for the development of movement, the teacher in technique classes must recognise the potential for the development of fundamental skills in increasingly more complex ways and be willing and able to construct exercises that deliver the desired outcome.
Technique classes are compromised of parts, which (in a perfect world) would be included in every session. These are:
warm-up
floor work
barre (support) work
centre work
progression
sequence
cool down
Now, as we know the world is not perfect and teachers will need to know how to prioritise these parts in lessons where restricted time will not allow all to occur.
Warm-up
Warm-up needs to:
increase circulation and raise the core body temperature
load up major muscles gently and in a low impact way
gently stretch major muscle groups statically and dynamically.
View the example of a warm-up from Charli Watts
Floor work
Floor work is sometimes referred to as ‘floor barre’. It is used to correct placement and execute movement in sitting, lying and kneeling positions. On the floor, the base of support changes and strength can be built in the upper body as opposed to the lower body.
Some possibilities are:
cross-legged, frog sit, extended parallel (both legs forward and straight) and second position (small middle split)
spinal roll downs
contract/release
lateral stretch
coordination of arms and legs
supine position
leg swings
leg lifts and lower
rolls
presses/balances.
The following 2 videos explain dance warm-up exercises to be done whilst sitting on the floor as part of the technical training of a primary class or ensemble.
The exercises work particularly well when helping students develop strength in their dance technique and awareness of safe dance practice.
The filming of this series of videos took place at the Sydney Dance Company with students from the NSW Primary Dance Ensemble.
eClip Arts Unit Virtual Primary Dance Warm-Up: Floor (instructions)
Duration: 03:04eClip Arts Unit Virtual Primary Dance Warm-Up: Floor (demonstration)
Duration: 02:40Barre (support) work
This is an exercise that improves posture and body alignment, with the aid of a support. This could be a ballet barre, a chair or the wall.
This allows students to focus on building fine motor skills without the added complexity of having to balance. Attention is given to the articulation of the feet, transfer of weight through the feet and strength and stretch of the thighs and calves. Coordination of arms, legs, torso and head should also feature in the work.
Examples can include:
articulation through the feet (forced arch, point, flex)
standing alignment involving plies, rises, lunge, weight transfer
use of standing contraction/release
balance work - on centre
use of torso, arm, spine and head coordination
adage (slow controlled movement) with weight transfer, balance and alignment
tendus, beats and leg swings
coordination of arms, leg, torso with spatial and temporal variation
small and large hinges.
Centre work
Centre work continues on from barre work.
Much of the same set of skills is explored, increasing in the demands and adding a few extra components:
balance work - on and off centre
non-locomotor jumps
simple turns
fall and recovery.
The following 2 videos explain non-locomotor dance warm-up exercises you can do with your students as part of the technical training of a primary class or ensemble.
The exercises work particularly well when helping students develop strength in their dance technique and awareness of safe dance practice.
eClip Arts Unit Virtual Primary Dance Warm-Up: Non-locomotive (instructions)
Duration: 03:48eClip Arts Unit Virtual Primary Dance Warm-Up: Non-locomotive (demonstration)
Duration: 02:39Progressions
Progressions are exercises which travel from place to place with coordination and alignment of body parts.
Examples include:
walking
running
prancing
triplets
skips and gallops
turning skills
jumps and aerial work.
The following 2 videos explains dance warm-up exercises to be done whilst traveling across the floor as part of the technical training of a primary class or ensemble.
The exercises work particularly well when helping students develop strength in their dance technique and awareness of safe dance practice.
eClip Arts Unit Virtual Primary Dance Warm-Up: Locomotive (instructions)
Duration: 02:30eClip Arts Unit Virtual Primary Dance Warm-Up: Locomotive (demonstration)
Duration: 01:43Sequences
Sequences should include linkage of skills that have been introduces earlier in the class(es). Sequences should challenge students in terms of execution of the movement elements and the manipulation of space, time and dynamics.
Cool down
Cool down is a gradual slowing down of the heart rate, returning to pre-activity state with gentle movement, stretching and relaxation exercises.
In summary
The teacher must learn to understand the fundamental skills and elements of technique and learn to construct exercises, which allow for developmental improvement in students.
In class, work from less active to more active, simple to more complex as the class progresses; there should initially be exercises which all students can reproduce accurately; as the class proceeds, exercises should be more challenging. Sometimes this can be achieved through relatively simple variations in space and time.
Balance the movement patterns that are known and established with those that are new and challenging.
Third-party content attributions
Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus, © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2006, copied under s113P, accessed 9 October 2021.