Today was the final dance lecture/workshop for the
semester. Within the lecture, we revisited various ideas and concepts that had
been explored previously (e.g. defining ‘dance’), then progressed to examining
the variety of available resources for teaching dance in our schools. Below is
a list of where some of these can be attained.
- AUSDANCE - http://ausdance.org.au/
- Bangarra Dance Theatre - http://www.bangarra.com.au/
- Dance Educators Professional Association (DEPA) – 02
9886 7594- National
- Aboriginal and Islander Skill Development
Association (NAISDA) - http://www.naisda.com.au/
- Sydney Dance Company, Walsh Bay - http://www.sydneydancecompany.com/
- Scootle
(Provides 8,000 digital curriculum resources from The Le@rning
Federation. Teachers can find interactive learning objects, images, audio files
and movie clips) - http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?topic=%22Arts%22
- Quantum Leaps, NSW Department of Education and
Training
- Cool Cates Resources, Bushfire Press
As emphasised in our dance lectures, it is crucial
that, as teachers, we strive to effectively teach dance to the best of our
ability. The following link explicitly lists a range of methods and practices
that will assist teachers in their goal of creating lessons that embrace this
art strand to its full potential.
Today’s
workshop examined how the use of stimuli can be utilized in dance as the starting point
or incentive for creative movement. Stimuli can be categorised into 5
groups: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, ideational. Various ideas or concepts
that are brought to the surface by the stimuli could be translated to dynamic
qualities, timing, spatial floor patterns, body shapes, relationships and other
aspects of dance composition.
The group I was
in for today’s workshop received a photograph of the beautiful Australian
outback. We were instructed to create a commercial that incorporated dance,
which reflected a message the photograph was attempting to convey. Within the limited time
frame, we did our very best to create an engaging advertisement, but it proved
to be a very difficult task! Nonetheless, it was a fun task indeed, and
students, who would have several lessons to actually complete the task, would
find this fun and appealing without a doubt.
The
other groups had different forms of stimuli, such as a shell (tactile) or
sculpture (visual), to prompt ideas for a dance composition. They presented
very advanced and inspiring pieces!
What
a wonderful learning experience this unit of study has been, I have genuinely
enjoyed every workshop and believe that I have gained a lot of valuable
pedagogical knowledge and skills toward my future profession. Over the course
of this semester, I have grown to appreciate the arts on an even deeper level
and feel more encouraged than ever to ensure that this will be passed on to my
future students. Whilst I have always believed strongly in regards to the
importance of the arts within and across our schools (esp with working for the
Regional Arts Coordinator at DET), this unit of study has allowed an even
greater insight as to how the arts
can be delivered and appreciated within the mode of lessons.
To conclude with a quote that opens the introduction to Gibson & Ewing’s ‘Transforming the Curriculum through the Arts’:
The arts are
the window to the soul.
- George Bernard Shaw
And
to officially complete this entry, below is a video from America’s ‘So you Think
You Can Dance’ (season seven) - Allison & Robert’s incredibly moving
contemporary piece, “Fix You”.
No comments:
Post a Comment