Improvisation
Introduction
Once students have completed both the warm up and stretch routines, they are to have a game of Pass the Movement (Dance Improvisations, pg 58).
Students stand in a circle, arms width from the people to their left and right to ensure safety. Students copy the movement that is passed to them before passing the movement on. Once the movement has reached the 'end' students discuss how the movement has changed. This activity encourages students to think about size, level, time, action and space.
Added challenges:
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Have students keep their eyes closed until the movement reaches them.
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Pass more than one movement around the circle.
Choreography
In this improvisation activity, students explore bollywood style dancing. Students learn a phrase of choreography to the popular song Jai Ho, then improvise movements for the remainder of the song. Students are encouraged to explore space/shape, locomotion, force and flow within their movements.
Students work in groups to choreograph a dance phrase based on their improvised explorations. Over the coming weeks, groups will work towards completing a dance sequence, building up to a section and whole dance composition.
We can all know what
dancing is, and we all do know
it. …No two of us know quite the same thing, and it is always good
to learn what somebody else knows (Sparshott, 1999).
