AC A4 Dance explore and expand

• CKV
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4

DANCE explore

Dance is the art of movement. If you look around, you will find dance everywhere: on the Internet, on television and in film, in advertising, at the gym, at parties, at festivals, on the street and in the theatre. Dance can have different goals: to celebrate something, to blow off steam, to express feelings or to make a pass at someone. Theatre dance is dance with an artistic intention, when professional dancers perform for an audience. 

First a video in which you see different styles of dance over the years

                                       

1. You know the dance genres and characteristics.
2. You can argue which dance forms appeal to you and which do not.
3. You can apply the characteristics in the in-depth assignment of your choise. 

LEARNING GOALS

Sometimes I dance:

1. in my own room
2. when I go out
3. in a dancecourse
4. at school

How does it feel to dance?

😒🙁😐🙂😃

Have you ever been to a dance performance? And if so, which ones?

Small children usually start moving when they hear music, but at a certain age they stop doing that. Can you explain that change?

Which five words come to mind when you hear the word 'dancing'?

Dance movements

Read the movements and answer the questions on the next slide

Classsical ballet

also called romantic ballet, is a system of dance based on formalized movements and positions of the arms, feet, and body. Especially designed to enable the dancer to move with the greatest possible agility, control, speed, lightness, and grace. The subject may be romantic, realistic, often based on a fairytale or mythological story. Classical ballet, with origins in the 17th-century French court ballet, came to fruition at the Russian Imperial School of Ballet, in the 19th century.

Modern dance

This emerged in the early 20th century. It broke whatever rules had been laid down by its predecessors. The dancers make everyday movements like running, falling and rolling. The choreographers were interested in presenting the inner self and all of its complex emotions on the concert stage, and discarded the costumes and artificiality of classical ballet.

Jazz dance

Jazz dance is an umbrella term encompassing several different styles of dance that became popular in the early 20th century. Though jazz dance has mixed roots in both African and European traditions, it is a uniquely American creation, which developed simultaneously with jazz music in New Orleans. Today jazz dance continues to evolve and blend with other dance styles — for example, street jazz, musical dance and show dance.  

Urban/Hiphop

This dance style started in The Bronx, in New York City, during the Seventies. Urban Dance is an umbrella term for several dance styles, and evolved mostly from Hip hop and Funk styles. It includes breakdance, streetdance, popping&locking. 

Worlddance

is any dance form which can be identified as originating with an ethnic culture and expressing the movement aesthetics of that culture. It covers all ethnic cultures and also includes village folk dance, urban popular dance (swing, tango), classic dance (Kathak, Bharat Nayam), tribal dance, tap/step dance, educational dance and many more types. 

DANCE CHARACTERISTICS

Read the characteristics and answer the questions on the next slides

Expression

In a dance composition the choreographer and the dancer(s) express their emotions, sometimes meticulously shaped by the choreographer, with the help of mime, gestures and facial expresions. Sometimes the emphasis is much more on the expressive power of pure dance movements.

Strength

Two dancers who are moving slowly through the same space may have embraced the elements of time and space in the same way. So how can we make these two compositions look completely different? What if one moved slowly and lazily but with grace, while the other was slow and jerky but powerful? This energy and dynamics of movement are part of the compositional element of strength. Strength can be the difference between a manic, energetic dance and one that seems relaxed and effortless, even if both utilize the same tempo and basic movements. Strength describes the intensity of movements. A composition with flawless technical performance can still fall flat if the audience doesn't feel the right energy. 

Space

Art forms like architecture and sculpture take up physical space in three dimensions, but this concept is a little different in dance because the dancer is in motion. So for us, this compositional element refers to the way the dancer moves through and interacts with space. Within this compositional element, we must consider the actual direction of the movement (sideways, forwards, backwards, diagonally). Because this is a three-dimensional art form, we must also consider levels, or the connection of the body to the floor. Do dancers always stay with two feet on the floor? Can they lie on the floor, or leap high above it? All of these movements define the use of space in dance. 

Time

This compositional element deals with the dancer's interaction with time, and again there are many ways to do this. Dance is generally set to music, which defines the tempo and rhythm of the dance, but the dancers can accentuate or reject this through their own movements. Does the dancer move slowly or quickly? Does he or she move with the beat or against it? How is a sense of rhythm developed and maintained? These questions help define time in dance. 

SPACE

TIME

STRENGTH

Gravity

Arrangement

Repetition

To lift

Slow down

Beat

High/middle/low

Speed

What kind of dance would you like to do or learn?

 DANCE expand

We will look at dance from the dimension Amusement and Engagement.

Often dance is a form of entertainment. You go to a performance to be amused. Or you dance yourself for your own pleasure. Sometimes choreographers want to raise an important social issue, which we call engagement.

Dance can be narrative, but can also be just about movements and shape, without the need to tell a story or share a message with the audience. Sometimes it is a combination of these.

Dance can also have a supporting function, for example in musical, opera or dance in a video clip for a song.

1. In 2005 the program So You Think You Can Dance started in America.
In 2008 the program had its first broadcast in the Netherlands. Young talented
dances try to win. Some people think the dancing in the program is just
for amusement, others argue it could be called art or engagement.

Watch this clip. Do you think this entertainment or engagement? Explain.

In 1983 Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker became well known internationally
with Rosas danst Rosas. This piece consists of repeating abstract
movements. In this dance we find a big contrast between the very plain
gestures inspired by everyday life, and the fierce energy the dancers display
while executing them. Rosas danst Rosas is extremely feminine: four female
dancers dance themselves, and copy each other over and over again.
Watch this clip. Describe three gestures inspired by everyday life

In class assignment

Make a collage with pictures/text/clips/movies that make you think of dance. Add the characteristics, which characteristics do you recognise in your collage?