Exploring Dance Forms and Styles: A Guide to Concert, World, Social, and Historical Dance helps all teachers introduce students to a variety of dance forms and styles—without having to leave the classroom!
This book–DVD package is an all-in-one resource that will help your students appreciate various dance forms and begin to recognize the characteristics that make each dance form or style distinct. And because of the way the information is packaged, you can be a dance novice yourself and still expertly guide your students in being both an effective audience member and an astute observer.
Exploring Dance Forms and Styles: A Guide to Concert, World, Social, and Historical Dance presents a systematic approach for building four critical thinking skills in dance:
- Viewing: What did you see?
- Connecting: What do you know?
- Responding: What do you think? What do you wonder?
- Performing: What can you do?
Part I of the book outlines these four critical thinking skills and why they are important for viewing dance performances. In part II, the four critical thinking skills are incorporated on student-tested worksheets located in the book and available as printable PDFs from the bound-in DVD. Each worksheet template facilitates an understanding of the elements of dance, builds movement vocabulary, and guides students’ recognition of cultural, historical, and artistic diversity.
As students build their skills, they are introduced to selected dances in each of the four broad categories of dance: concert, world, social, and historical. These categories are constantly evolving, and many dances can be cross-linked across these four categories. For those students new to dance, the four broad categories provide a starting point from which to see the evolution of the forms.
In part III, the authors provide specific suggestions for comparing and contrasting either within a category or across dance categories and for identifying selected dance forms and styles that present universal themes. These tasks require application of higher-level thinking skills, and they develop aesthetic values. Part III also offers lesson plan and unit ideas, using the dance forms and styles introduced earlier in the book.
With Exploring Dance Forms and Styles, you can select individual dances as you like, or develop complete dance units; you can use the materials to meet state standards and national dance standards; and you can introduce various forms of dance to students in geographic areas where they would otherwise not be able to view live dance performances. But best of all, you can deepen students’ understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of dance.
Dance Finder
Preface
Acknowledgments
How to Use This Book and DVD Package
Part I: Building Critical Thinking Skills in Dance
Chapter 1. Viewing: What Did You See?
Chapter 2. Connecting: What Do You Know?
Chapter 3. Responding: What Do You Think? What Do You Wonder?
Chapter 4. Performing: What Can You Do?
Part II: Sorting Dances Into Categories and Subcategories
Chapter 5. Concert or Theatrical Dance
Chapter 6. World Dance
Chapter 7. Social Dance
Chapter 8. Historical Dance
Part III: Using Dance Forms: Looking at Dance Through Different Lenses
Chapter 9. Helping Students Develop Aesthetic Values
Chapter 10. Comparing Dance Forms and Dances
Chapter 11. Focusing on Universal Themes and Sociopolitical Issues
Chapter 12. Reflecting on Diversity and Blending of Cultural Aspects
Appendix: Levels of Thinking
Glossary
References
About the Authors
DVD User Instructions
Reference for dance, physical education, music, and classroom
teachers K-12. Reference and supplemental text for university and
college instructors of history of dance, dance appreciation, folk dance,
world and cultural dance, and introduction to dance.
Helene Scheff, RDE, is a conference planner for the National
Dance Education Organization. She has taught all forms and styles of
dance for about 50 years in all sectors and venues, including K-12,
higher education, and the private sector. She has coauthored several
other dance books and conducted presentations at local, regional,
national, and international conferences and seminars.
Ms. Scheff is a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance. In her leisure time she enjoys viewing
dance and theater and spending time with her family, including her 10
grandchildren.
Susan McGreevy-Nichols, BS, is a national consultant in arts
education programming and curriculum. She was the founder and director
of a nationally known middle school dance program in Providence, Rhode
Island, and taught in public schools for 28 years before moving on to
higher education. She is also a guest teaching artist at the elementary
level in the Los AngelesUnifiedSchool District.
Ms. McGreevy-Nichols, who was the National Dance Teacher of the Year in
1995, serves as president of the National Dance Education Organization.
She is a past president of the National Dance Association and a senior
partner at the GriffinCenter for Inspired Instruction. Ms.
McGreevy-Nichols is also the coauthor of many books, including Building
Dances, Building More Dances, Experiencing Dance, and Dance
About Anything. In her spare time, she likes to travel, read, and
spend time with friends.
Marty Sprague, MA, teaches at the Providence Academy of
International Studies in Providence, Rhode Island. She has taught and
performed dance (concert, world, social, and historical) for more than
50 years, including various dance forms and styles at the elementary,
middle, secondary, and university levels. A coauthor of several dance
books, she has presented and consulted at the local, regional, national,
and international levels.
Ms. Sprague has been a member of numerous dance companies and was
artistic director of her own dance company. She codesigned
graduate-level coursework in dance certification and has been a
choreographer. In 2005, the National Dance Education Organization
honored her with the K-12 Dance Educator of the Year award. In her
leisure time, she enjoys taking dance classes, spending time with God
and her family, and reading.
Exploring Dance Forms and Styles is excellent. The book should be
part of every curriculum. It contains a wealth of information that can
be used by educators at all levels and in many disciplines.
Estelle Aden, Gainesville, Florida-Retired professor at Hofstra
University (theatre arts) and Professional Actor.
Exploring Dance Forms and Styles, is working very well with my 9th
grade students in the South Bronx of NYC!!! I have adapted many of the
lessons and worksheets to develop a small curriculum on the different
forms and styles of dance.
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