Dance Elements

Learning outcomes for this project:

• Understanding dance elements and processes (Evidence for Collaborative, Compassionate, Contributor, Fa’aaloalo, Rangatiritanga, Resilient, NCEA Dance)

What styles of dance do you enjoy?

• Start looking at different dance performances. Explore a range of styles and examples. If you need some ideas, have a look at the resources page.
• Familiarise yourself with the poster about the Elements of Dance and the Choreographic Devices you can use. These are on the Resources page. Watch this clip on the elements.
• As you explore the ideas, you can use a range of ways to show your understanding:

· a practical demonstration

· discussion

· annotated photographs and diagrams

· tables, posters, and images

· bullet-point notes

· descriptive paragraphs

Use this template to help you with your work.

Learn about the Elements of Dance:

Create a photoboard or a poster that illustrates the five dance elements:

· body

· space

· time

· energy

· relationships

Take photographs or draw diagrams that depict an aspect of body, space, and relationships.

Add notes (annotations) that explain the photos or diagrams, and identify what aspect of the dance element is being demonstrated. The annotations may be included on your photoboard or poster, or presented separately with clear references to each photo or diagram.

Watch a recorded performance of a recognised dance, such as:

· Poi/Canopy by Mary Jane O’Reilly

· This Way Up by Catherine Chappell

· Kura by Moss Patterson

· Queen Camel by Anne Dewey

Select a 10–20 second section of the dance. How was each of the following elements used in that section to add interest and to communicate ideas in dance.

body, locomotor movement, body parts, body bases, space, range, air and floor pathways, time, rhythm, energy, quality, relationships, use of props, formations

Select one aspect that is important to the dance, and explain why the choreographer might have used this aspect.

Complete your Learning Narrative 1

Develop your own piece by selecting one of the following dance actions: fold, arch, expand, flex or rotate

Explore ways to perform the action using either your whole body or a part of it. Then develop further using the dance elements (space, time, energy, relationships, body awareness).

For example, you could:

· perform your action using a different level

· take a longer time to perform your action

· perform your action very quickly

· make your action smaller in space

· make your action much bigger in space

· use different body parts to make your action

· find three ways that you can travel as you perform your action

· add an extra move into your action, such as a roll, a turn, or a moment of stillness.

Select three of the ways you developed your action, and use these to compose a short (no more than 16 counts) and flowing movement phrase that begins with your original action.

Perform your phrase to a partner. Consider how the original action was developed using the dance elements. Video your phrase.

Write notes to explain the three ways you chose to perform your action word. Include a description of how dance elements can be used to develop dance choreography.

Compose a short phrase for a solo, a duet, or a group (or use a phrase developed in another activity). Rehearse the phrase using changes in tempo. For example, slow – increasing – fast – decreasing – stop.

Perform and video the phrase in front of others, repeating it four times and using a change in tempo each time. Discuss what happened.

1. In what ways can changes in tempo change the clarity of the dancer’s movements?

2. In what ways can changes in tempo add interest to a dance performance?

3. Why might a choreographer use changes in tempo in a dance composition?

Choose one of the following titles, and compose a one-minute dance to suit.

· Pacific Dreaming

· Shapes and Shadows

· Conflict

Draw stick figures or diagrams for each dance element to show how aspects could be used for your chosen dance. Add notes to explain the purpose and appropriateness of your choices.

Complete your Learning Narrative 2

View a recorded performance of a dance that includes a variety of formations. Freeze the video on three different formations and sketch the positions of the dancers.

Write notes (at least three bullet points) for each formation that describe the effect of the formation and explain why you think the choreographer used it.

Watch a live dance performance and select one section of the dance that you found exciting or interesting. Make annotated diagrams and drawings and/or notes to describe the dance elements, including:

· how the dancers used their bodies

· the tempo and quality of the movements

· the dancers’ use of range, levels, and facings

· the dancers’ relationships to each other

· the use of any props in the dance

Include an explanation of how each of the dance elements contributed to the excitement or interest of the section.

Look through your completed work. What can you add? What can you change? Do you have all your videos and written work together in one place? Hand these in to Sue.

Complete your Learning Narrative 3