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OH THE PLACES WE'LL GO!

Unit Topic: Developing Movement Motifs

Grade/Level: Grades 9-10, Dance II

 

Unit Overview and Central Focus: Movement motifs are a tool to communicate the purpose, theme, or concept of a piece of choreography to the audience.  As students explore movement motifs, they will diversify their choreographic skills by using new choreographic devices to develop material.  In order to support students in meaning making and to connect to their year-long theme of travel, students will draw inspiration from the traditional movement practices of a chosen destination.  The central focus was determined as a result of analyzing assessment evidence from the previous unit: it was clear that students were proficient in using the Elements of Dance to focus choreography, however, students were still learning to abstract stimuli and create choreography that is specific to an artistic intent.  As a result, I identified movement motifs as a tool to support students in developing their gap in knowledge: abstractly conveying an artistic intent through choreography.

 

Essential Questions:

  1. How can movement motifs support the artistic intent within a piece of choreography?

  2. How can you show appreciation for traditional movement practices through choreographic choices and artistic intent?

UNIT HIGHLIGHTS

Lesson Videos, Assessment Criteria, Student Work Samples, and Next Steps

Video Segment:

Lesson 1

In this video you will see students constructing an understanding of movement motifs by observing, touching, and manipulating an object to inspire movement choices.  

Developing Student Centered Assessment Criteria:

Lesson 3

(RIGHT) In Lesson 3, students analyzed the choreographic choices of two blended movement style professional masterworks to determine elements of the choreography that effectively or ineffectively communicated the artistic intent.

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(LEFT) Students then reflected on their observations and personal experiences to generate criteria for evaluation on post it notes.  Students worked together to sort, categorize, and refine criteria that ultimately became the rubric criteria for their final solo performance.

Student Work Sample: Lesson 5

In the final lesson, students justified their work in an artistic statement and then presented their solo choreography to the class.

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The student pictured here chose to research the Jarabe Tapatío from Mexico.  In the video, you will see her movement motif, a swirling motion that represents the movement of the skirt in the traditional movement practice. 

Beyond Lesson 5: Next Steps for Instruction

Based on assessment evidence, it was clear that students demonstrated a range of understanding of movement motif development.  As a result, I chose to extend their choreographic exploration by pairing them with a partner who demonstrated similar needs.  Partnerships worked to develop duet choreography and received individualized instruction based off their specific needs as demonstrated in the assessment evidence.  The duets were so thoughtfully crafted, I decided to include them in their final performance piece!

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