Dance Lesson Plan

Grades
6-12 EXPLORING DANCE STYLES
Materials Length Concept/Objectives Activities Toolkit Resources
2-3 class sessions Students will learn Students compare DanceSense
Responding to Dance the development of a and contrast two Programs 7, 8, 9,
student worksheets specific style of dance performances or 10
dance and recognize and then create short Length of Segment:
the form’s distinctive movement 00:15:00 each
characteristics. sequences or char-
acter dances. Appropriate
Technology
Students will recog- performances
TV/DVD player nize and analyze the from the Dance
use of the elements Performances or
of dance in a per- Dance Onstage
formance. DVDs
(See Instructional
Vocabulary Students will Strategies)
describe, using
accent
appropriate terminol- Responding to
ballet
ogy, how two exam- Dance guide
beat
ples of dance are
choreography
similar and/or differ-
direction
ent.
duration
focus
force
elements of dance
jazz dance
level
locomotor
modern dance
Instructional Strategies and Activities
nonlocomotor
This lesson—which helps students understand the history, development, and charac-
pathways
teristics of a form of artistic dance and then apply what they know—can be adapted
percussive dance
for any dance style. Possible toolkit resource combinations include:
rhythmic pattern
shape
size • Ballet focus: DanceSense Program 7: Ballet and Arabian and Chinese Dances
space from The Nutcracker on the Dance Performances DVD and/or dances
tap from Liebestraume on the Dance Onstage DVD
tempo
time • Modern dance focus: DanceSense Program 8: Modern Dance and Lucky Day,
The Graveyard, and/or Hot on the Dance Performances DVD and/or
dances from Killer of Enemies: The Divine Hero on the Dance Onstage
DVD.

• Jazz dance focus: DanceSense Program 9: Jazz Dance and Heat and Ode to
Sabrina on the Dance Performances DVD

• Tap and/or percussive dance focus: DanceSense Program 10: Tap and
Percussive Dance and Jamaica Funk, Bluegrass Clogging, and/or Flamenco
on the Dance Performances DVD and/or Tap Jam on the Dance
Onstage DVD

Arts Toolkit Dance • Lesson Plans • 1

This lesson will use the ballet focus; adapt it to any of the other styles. It assumes stu- Kentucky
dents understand the basic elements and principles of dance.
Academic
Content
Introduce the Dance Style Big Idea: Structure in
Ask students if they have attended a ballet or watched one on television. Have them the Arts
share what they know about ballet. What descriptive words or phrases come to mind
as they picture a ballet performance or dance? List these on the board. Academic Expectations
1.15
Show DanceSense Program 7: Ballet, asking students to check what they “know”
about ballet to what they learn in the program. Program of Studies
Understandings
AH-6/7/8/HS-SA-U-1
AH-6/7/8/HS-SA-U-2
Guided Viewing
Skills and Concepts
The program is divided into four sections: Ballet Style, Ballet Training, Ballet AH-6/7/8/HS-SA-S-Da1
Innovators, and Watching Ballet. You may want to stop and start the program, dis- AH-6/7/8/HS-SA-S-Da2
cussing each section as you go along. AH-6/7/8/HS-SA-S-Da3
AH-6/7/8-SA-S-Da4
A place to begin is with the style itself, using the Ballet Style and Ballet Training seg-
ments. Have students compare what they learn from the program to the attributes of
Core Content
AH-(06)(07)(08)(HS)-1.2.1
ballet you’ve listed on the board. Discuss: AH-(06)(07)(08)(HS)-1.2.2

• Are these words/phrases still accurate?

• What new knowledge have students gained?
Big Idea: Purposes for
Create a new or revised list of the attributes of ballet.
Creating the Arts
Tell students that in the first segment they learned that the ballet style developed over
a long period of time and that development continues today. Post the Dancing Academic Expectations
Through Time timeline on the wall and have students locate events associated with 1.15
2.22
the development of ballet.
Program of Studies
Watch the third segment, Ballet Innovators. Have students trace the history and devel- Understandings
opment of ballet, emphasizing how the form has changed over time. (See the Ballet AH-6/7/8/HS-PCA-U-1
section of the History and Styles section of the binder for possible research ideas.)
Skills and Concepts
The final DanceSense segment provides suggestions on how to watch ballet. Use this AH-6/7/8/HS-PCA-S-Da1
segment in conjunction with the Responding to Dance guide in the binder to begin AH-6/7/8/HS-PCA-S-Da2
the process of looking at, analyzing, and evaluating ballet.
Core Content
AH-(06)(07)(08)(HS)-3.2.1
Comparing and Contrasting
One great way to help students analyze dance is to have them compare and contrast
two dance performances. Tell students they will begin to apply what they’ve learned
by looking at two dances from The Nutcracker. The Ballet section of the History and
Styles section has background information that you may use to introduce the two
dances.

Show the Arabian and Chinese Dances with host David Thurmond’s introduction.
Thurmond gives students suggestions about what to look for in the two dances.

Explain to students that there are hundreds of productions of The Nutcracker and
these two dances, and in each the choreography may be different, according to the
style of the choreographer and abilities of the dancers.

2 • Arts Toolkit Dance • Lesson Plans

Big Idea: Processes in Discuss the version on the video. Ask students:
the Arts
Academic Expectations
1.15
2.22
Program of Studies
Understandings
AH-6/7/8/HS-PA-U-1
AH-6/7/8/HS-PA-U-2
Skills and Concepts
AH-6/7/8/HS-PA-S-Da1
AH-6/7/8/HS-PA-S-Da3
AH-6/7/8/HS-PA-S-Da4
Core Content
AH-(06)(07)(08)(HS)-4.2.1
AH-HS-4.2.3
• What ideas, thoughts, or feelings was the choreographer of this particular
production trying to express in the choreography? Was it clear?
• How were locomotor/nonlocomotor movements and the elements of dance
(space, time, and force) used in the choreography to define and develop the
characters of the Arabian dancer and the Chinese dancer?
• What skills of body alignment, balance, isolation of body parts, elevation,
and landing did each dancer use to portray the character?
• Did you observe movements initiated by different body parts or instances
when the dancer’s weight shifted? What did these principles of movement
contribute to the dance?
• Did the choreography have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
• What was the relationship between the movement and the music, lighting,
costumes, props, scenery, etc.? Would the dance still be clear and effective
without these production elements?

• How did each dancer maintain the feeling of the character throughout the
dance?

Consider discussing the difference between the “act” of movement (may or may not
be done without conscious forethought or awareness of how it will appear to an
observer) and the “art” of movement (requires conscious forethought and a distinct
awareness of how it will appear to an observer).

Analyzing both dances individually helps prepare students to compare and contrast
the two dances. The Responding to Dance guide in the binder includes a compar-
ing/contrasting student worksheet, as well as other tips on responding to dance.

Movement Activity
Ask students why the Arabian and Chinese Dances might be called “character
dances.” To get a better understanding of how choreographers create dances, tell stu-
dents they will create their own character dances.

Ask each student to choose a character from a familiar source (e.g., a movie, TV
series, cartoon, book, etc.). Have students create a short movement sequence for
their characters, using the elements of dance to create and develop the theme, mood,
or style of the characters. Discuss the characteristics of the movement and how the
elements of dance are used to define the character.

Ask students to manipulate the movement (make changes) by using one or more of
the elements of dance (make it bigger or faster or smoother, etc.) to create a new
character and dance. Expand and develop the new movement sequence or dance.
Have students share their character dances with the class.

Discuss:

• What dance elements did you observe and use?

• Were the theme, mood, and style of the character clear?
• What basic compositional forms did you observe and use? (e.g., ABA, narra-
tive)

Arts Toolkit Dance • Lesson Plans • 3

Ask students to compare and contrast two of the character dances performed by their Using This Lesson
classmates. Further manipulations could include combining individual movement
sequences into duets or small group dances. Continue to work with the elements of
as a Template
dance. Share the dances with the class. You can follow this same
approach with other
dance styles (see
Support/Connections/
Support/Connections/Resources Resources for sugges-
tions). Adapt by determin-
Toolkit Resources: ing the specific elements,
For more insights into how choreographers create dances: compositional forms, style
• DanceSense 6: Making Dance characteristics, and other
distinctive attributes that
For insight into how dancers train: you want to emphasize.
• DanceSense 5: The Moving Body For example, you could
• Helen Starr on the DanceSense Enhanced DVD (Part 4: Dance Styles) compare “character
• Kentuckians in Dance feature of the Arts Toolkit web site dances” with the modern
dance examples, but for
www.ket.org/artstoolkit/dance/careers
jazz or tap you may want
to emphasize the improvi-
To learn basic ballet (as well as modern and jazz) technique:
sational nature of these
• Dance Vocabulary/Basic Positions on the DanceSense Enhanced DVD
two styles or their relation-
(Part 4: Dance Styles) ship to jazz music.

For more about the history and development of dance styles:

• Dancing Through Time on the DanceSense Enhanced DVD (Part 2)
• Dancing Through Time timeline and guide in the History and Styles section
of the binder
• DanceSense Teacher’s Guide on the World of Dance and Music CD-ROM

For examples of other dance (in addition to those listed at the beginning of the lesson
plan):
• For modern: Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company on the DanceSense
Enhanced DVD (Part 4: Dance Styles)
• The What Is Modern Dance segment of Erick Hawkins’ Killer of Enemies on
the Dance Onstage DVD
• For jazz and tap: JazzArts at Western Kentucky University on the
DanceSense Enhanced DVD (Part 4: Dance Styles)

Books:
Jones, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Harry
N. Abrams, Inc., 1998.

Kraus, Richard, Sarah Chapman Hilsendager, and Brenda Dixon. History of the
Dance in Art and Education, 3rd edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Applications Across the Curriculum

Language Arts
Write a review of a dance for the student newspaper.

Social Studies
Create a timeline that lists important dates in the development of ballet on one side
and other important historical dates on the other. Discuss how dance reflects what’s
happening in government, politics, science, music, drama, and the visual arts.

4 • Arts Toolkit Dance • Lesson Plans

Vocational Studies
Invite a dancer or choreographer into the classroom. Discuss the skills and training
needed for a career in dance.

Visual Arts
Illustrate your ballet/world history timeline.

Open Response Assessment

Prompt:
Choreographers use and manipulate movement and the elements of dance (time,
space, and force) to create a dance and to create a specific theme, mood, or charac-
ter in that dance.

Directions:
Watch the video of the Arabian and Chinese Dances from The Nutcracker.
Compare and contrast the two dances and how the choreographer used the elements
of dance to present different themes, moods, and characters.

OPEN RESPONSE SCORING GUIDE

4 3 2 1 0

• Student demon- • Student demon- • Student demon- • Student demon- • No answer or

strates extensive strates broad strates basic strates minimal irrelevant
understanding of understanding of understanding of understanding of response.
the elements of the elements of the elements of the elements of
dance and how dance and how dance and how dance.
they are specifi- they are specifi- they are specifi- • Student makes
cally used in cally used in cally used in bal- little or no attempt
ballet. ballet. let. to describe the
• Student clearly • Student com- • Student use of elements in
and effectively pares and con- attempts to com- the choreography
compares and trasts the two pare and contrast and his/her
contrasts the two dances and how the two dances response contains
dances and how the choreogra- and how the cho- major errors, mis-
the choreogra- pher used the ele- reographer used conceptions,
pher used the ele- ments of dance to the elements of and/or omissions.
ments of dance to present different dance to present • Student commu-
present different themes, moods, different themes, nicates ineffective-
themes, moods, and characters. moods, and char- ly with little or no
and characters. • Student commu- acters but may use of details and
• Student commu- nicates effectively include errors or supporting
nicates effectively using details and misconceptions in information.
using insightful supporting infor- his/her response.
details and sup- mation. • Student commu-
porting informa- nicates on a basic
tion. level with limited
use of details and
supporting
information.

Arts Toolkit Dance • Lesson Plans • 5

Multiple Choice Questions Answer Key for
Multiple Choice
1. The underlying rhythmic pulse in a dance is called Questions
A. tone.
B. beat. 1. B
C. duration. 2. D
D. accent. 3. D
4. B
2. Two contrasting words that describe force in a dance are 5. C
A. soft and loud. 6. A
B. tempo and beat.
C. space and time.
D. sharp and smooth.

3. Directions, size, pathways, and levels are all part of the element of
A. time.
B. beat.
C. accent.
D. space.

4. In a modern dance, the dancers were very close to the floor. The dance
A. was performed at a high level.
B. was performed at a low level.
C. had no direction or pathway.
D. did not use space or time.

5. Ballet, tap, and jazz dance are examples of various dance

A. rhythms.
B. elements.
C. styles.
D. themes.

6. The twisting motion of the dancer is an example of

A. nonlocomotor movement.
B. locomotor movement.
C. tap.
D. tempo. Adapted from a
lesson by Mel
Claridge

Copyright 2004,
2008 KET

Reviewed by the
Kentucky Department
of Education

This lesson plan is part

of the Dance Arts
Toolkit. To order the
entire toolkit or for more
information
about the Arts Toolkit
project, visit
www.ket.org/artstoolkit
or call (859) 258-7294.

6 • Arts Toolkit Dance • Lesson Plans