Class #4 - Dance and Social Studies

Week 4         

          This week's class focused on the integration of dance and social studies by exploring and analyzing the dance forms from both the Swedish and Aboriginal cultures. Discussing the movements found within Swedish folk dance we highlighted various dance elements found within the element of time. Such elements include tempo, duration, rhythm and phrasing. The speed with which the dance was performed, the amount of time a movement lasts, the patterns made by arranging long and short movements or strong and light movements and the grouping of movements are all integral parts to the elements just mentioned.

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          What I really liked about this lesson was how we were able to create an inclusive learning environment by including the traditions found in two different cultures. Later in the lesson we watched a video displaying the theatrical performance called "A Story Before Time". This performance centered around the Aboriginal dance tradition. Comparing and contrasting the dance elements incorporated into Aboriginal dance and the dance elements found in the North American dance tradition is a good way to introduce students to other cultures. Doing so allowed us to address the Social Studies curricular expectation of A1.4 compare two or more early societies in terms of their relationship with the environment, and describe some key similarities and differences in environmental practices between these societies and present day Canada. 
          Using what we learned from analyzing the dance moves found in the video, we then were encouraged to look at the choreographic dance form of narrative to incorporate similar dance moves into our own created performance. While doing so we were encouraged to focus on Bloom's Taxonomy.

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          Telling a story with our incorporated dance moves, our choreographic form of narrative was employed while using the information that we just learned and applying it new situations. This process highlights Bloom's Taxonomy under the apply section of the theory. Going through various steps of evaluating and creating our narrative stories through dance, each group used the element of phrase to group together a sequence of movements into one solidifying idea.