Grade 4 - Dance

Dance

Foundational Elements and Principles: Dance literacy is developed through knowledge and application of foundational elements and principles

Creating and presenting: Ideas can be represented through movement and dance that draw upon foundational knowledge

Appreciation: Recognizing beauty, goodness, and truth in dance can be developed by understanding the complexity and richness of great works of dance, the artists who create and perform them, and the historical and cultural contexts from which they originate.

Students analyze time and force in relation to the elements of dance

Students use narrative as a structure for organizing movements in dance

Students relate how culture is reflected in dance across various times and places

Knowledge

Understanding

Skills & Procedures

Knowledge

Understanding

Skills & Procedures

Knowledge

Understanding

Skills & Procedures

Time can determine when a movement begins or ends

Duration of a movement can change when force or speed is applied

Duration of a movement, phrase, pattern, or dance, can be short, long, or medium and include pauses and stillness.

The speed of a movement can be performed quickly for a short time slowly for a long time to gradually get faster to gradually get slower

Duration of a movement can create meaning in dance.

The duration of a dance usually has a relationship to the duration of auditory stimuli that accompany it.

Auditory stimuli can influence how a dancer moves, including music spoken text instrument sounds vocal sounds

Timing refers to moving to the beat of the music and moving in relation to other dancers, including before or after one another in unison

Dance steps may have specific movements and timing, as seen in the basic triple step, including waltz  has a slow-quick-quick step pattern polka  has a quick-quick-slow step pattern schottische  three steps and a hop

Movement and timing can vary across styles of dance, including jazz ballet hip hop social dance folk dance

Force influences the quality of a movement when energy, weight, and flow of movement are applied

Energy of movements, including smooth, swingy, shaky, and sharp qualities, can be executed with weight and speed.

Weight can be described as passive or heavy, when the body gives into gravity active and energetic movement against gravity

Varying the weight and speed of movements creates various movement energies, including sharp smooth swingy, involving a drop into gravity, including swing, sway, or rock shaky, which creates force through vibratory movements, including wiggle, vibrate, or bounce

Force requires muscle strength to execute certain movements or to support the weight of another dancer

Force, as an element of dance, can create flow movements described as bound-flow movements, which are rigid and can be stopped easily free-flow movements, which are fluid and not easily stopped

Force is felt in the muscles and is engaged by contracting the muscles.

The contraction of muscles is required to execute movement and maintain balance in dance

Warm-ups and cool-downs assist in preparing the body for dance

When applied to movement, force can highlight or reinforce parts of a movement, pattern, or phrase

Force is used in movement through sustained and percussive flow

Percussive flow is seen in movements that have sharp, sudden, and short bursts of energy

Sustained flow is seen in movements that are slow, smooth, continuous, and even

Time is the duration of a movement or dance

Time can determine how a dancer moves in relation to a tempo, a metre, an accent, or a rhythm

Force is the push-pull relationship between a dancer and gravity

Force is not visible, but its effects can be observed through movement

Demonstrate how to begin and end a movement pattern or phrase within an allotted time

Combine movement phrases or patterns of varying durations to form a movement sequence

Discuss how the duration of a movement can create meaning

Identify how the duration of a movement can be influenced by force or speed

Apply movements to the rhythm of music or spoken texts

Explore various stimuli as a means to direct movement

Observe a variety of styles and genres of dance to experience how a dancer moves in relation to tempo, metre, accent, or rhythm

Experience how changes in tempo, metre, or accent may influence the duration of a movement

Identify how accents can be illustrated using movement

Recognize the timing required to successfully execute movements in unison or sequentially.

Sustain a steady beat when executing movement patterns

Observe how force can be used to support the weight of others.

Combine weight, energy, and speed in the exploration of movement possibilities

Explore movements that require passive or active weight

Use dance vocabulary to describe the quality of a movement when force is applied.

Identify the amount of force the body requires for certain movements.

Experiment with bound-flow and free-flow movements.

Explore how to isolate force to specific body parts.

Describe how force can be used to highlight a movement

Experience various dance styles that use sustained and percussive flows of energy

Recognize the role of muscle contraction in executing certain movements

Participate in regular warm-ups and cool-downs in dance

A narrative in dance may or may not represent a sequence of events in the order in which they happened.

The elements of dance can be used to structure a narrative through movement patterns or phrases an entire dance stillness, including tableau, where bodies create shapes to create an image

A narrative can be structured using various dance styles, which can include ballet creative dance folk and social dance

Choreographic forms can give structure to a narrative, including AB (binary form) ABA (ternary form) ABC (suite), which has three contrasting sections narrative that follows a storyline

Inspiration for a narrative may come from a variety of sources.

Points of view or perspectives can reflect ideas or knowledge feelings experiences culture beliefs

Force can intensify, elaborate, or highlight the way that movements communicate perspectives, ideas, or feelings

Facial expressions, body posture, and movement can contribute to how a narrative is expressed in dance

A dancer and ensemble can shape a narrative through their movements, reactions, thoughts, and ideas

Narrative in dance can be enhanced by demonstrating the relationship between a dancer and the movement of others, including meeting and parting a dancer and the music a dancer and an object

Auditory, physical, or visual cues can direct when movements for a narrative begin or end.

Auditory cues can be given by the teacher or choreographer and can include movement directions feedback in the moment counting beats aloud directing when to start or stop a movement or dance

Visual cues can include the use of formations, pathways, and directions

Physical cues can be given in dance through focus, facial expressions, and contact with other dancers

Expression of a narrative in dance can be refined by applying creative processes

A narrative in dance can be illustrated as a partial or whole representation

A narrative can be factual or fictitious.

A narrative can communicate points of view or perspectives of an individual or group

The way in which the elements of dance are applied to movement can convey ideas, feelings, and perspectives.

A narrative in dance can be shaped by the dancer or ensemble.

Experiment with various ways to structure a narrative in dance

Construct a narrative based on an inspiration

Create movement patterns or phrases that can illustrate a part of a narrative

Create movement patterns that reflect a point of view or perspective.

Share and replicate movement ideas with others.

Collaborate with others when generating and representing a narrative through dance

Make artistic choices when exploring how to represent narrative in dance

Present narratives as an ensemble

Discuss solutions to movement problems encountered when representing a narrative in dance

Respond to various auditory, visual, or physical cues when dancing

Culture can be enhanced when members of a dance community participate, communicate, engage, and share responsibilities.

Vocabulary related to dance can be used to objectively describe movement

The culture of an artistic community can support the caring and respectful inclusion of all participants

Perspectives can be developed by experiencing the dances of other individuals, including folk dance and social dance

First Nations, Metis, and Inuit dance can represent cultural stories and traditions show gratitude and reverence demonstrate reciprocity mimic elements of the natural world, including animals and water reflect spirituality contribute to healing

First Nations, Metis, and Inuit dance is holistic in nature and can have individual and collective benefits, including social well-being physical health spiritual connection emotional and mental well-being intellectual development

First Nations, Metis, and Inuit dances can reflect the history and traditions of communities that are indigenous to Alberta, and can include Metis jigging  square dance First Nations  round dance  powwow dances

Dances in Alberta can reflect the history and traditions of communities and other areas of the world and can include French-Canadian dances Ukrainian dance Irish dance

Pagan dances were performed in relation to rituals or ceremonies that celebrated gods

Common dances performed in medieval Europe can include Midsummer Night's Eve dance the roundel, a slow dance performed in a circle the carole, a circle dance performed in mid-summer festivals the farandole, a lively dance where dancers form a chain by linking hands the cushion dance, where a dancer drops a cushion in front of a dance partner as an invitation to dance

The Catholic Church in medieval Europe disapproved of certain kinds of dance, including pagan dances

Religious (sacred) dances in medieval Europe were performed as part of rituals and ceremonies and can include liturgical dance as a form of movement used to pray and worship May dances performed on May 1 or during mid-summer celebrations Dance of Death, known as the Dance Macabre dance epidemics, such as the Tarantella, were performed with the belief that it could cure diseases

Non-religious (secular) dance was a part of court life in many medieval kingdoms and could include dances that were a form of entertainment at gatherings dances that were a source of fun and relaxation for participants dances of the noble courts, which included Basse/Saltarello

Attitudes toward dance varied among different places within medieval Muslim communities

During medieval times, Muslim men and women were divided into two groups for dancing one for men and one for women

Muslim dances included the Whirling Dervish, which is characterized by fast movements and spinning

The Silk Road provided a means for the spread of Islam to Spain and western Europe

Flamenco dance originated in India and was inspired to some extent by Arabic music and culture

When communities unite through the arts, culture can be learned

The culture of an artistic community is about shared ways of being together and reaching common goals.

Dance in Alberta can reflect the culture of those who came before us and those who live here now

Culture was revealed through dances of the middle ages.

Dances in the middle ages may have reflected religious beliefs.

Participate as a performer and an audience member in an artistic community.

Demonstrate how artistic roles and responsibilities contribute to a sense of community

Discuss examples of knowledge that First Nations, Metis, and Inuit can share through dance.

Observe a variety of dances found in Alberta.

Participate in various medieval dances

Discuss the purpose of various dances in medieval times.