Unit Overview

Resource cover image
Image created with ChatGPT. On a soft beige background, a silhouette of a dancer in turquoise and orange is surrounded by flowing lines and shapes. The silhouette has designs hinting at the anatomy of the dancer's body.

Dance is a unique art form because artist, instrument and creation are all housed within the body. For this reason, it is critical that students of dance become physically and emotionally conscious on both an objective/anatomical level and subject/creative level. Through greater body awareness, the dancer is able to more intelligently create processes that will lead to healthy, authentic work. This unit is best placed toward the end of a course so that students can draw on the techniques of the various dance forms studied and the alternative practices that benefit the dancing body.

Unit Guiding Questions
  • What are points of intersection between the physical body and the expressive body?  
  • How does intuitive creativity mesh with theme or stimuli to create choreography?
  • Why do you dance?  What has this art brought into your life?
  • How can you continue to develop as a dancer?

Assessment and Evaluation: How will students demonstrate their learning?

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Checkpoint#1/Lesson #1

Observation
Completion of PDF #1
Peer feedback

Checkpoint #2/Lesson #2

Side-coaching
Observation
Self-assessment

Checkpoint #3/Lesson #3

Observation
Side-coaching
Student/Teacher conferencing

Checkpoint #4/Lesson #4

Peer-assessment
Observation
Side-coaching 

Assessment of Learning (AoL)

The culminating assessment for this unit uses the elements of dance to create and perform a dance work inspired by a theme of personal significance (e.g., a theme suggested by an environmental, personal, or social issue or of a life experience). This will be evaluated using a rubric that is co-constructed with the students.
Two assessments of lesser weighting will also be assigned.

  • Students will design a Body Map that identifies various areas of strength and need within their physical bodies.
  • The Body Map will be used to develop a personalized conditioning sequence that combines techniques and addresses the specific needs of the dancer.

Unit Lessons: How will assessment and instruction be organized for learning?

Lesson

Focus

Duration

Lesson 1

Mapping the Body

Students individually document  their current physical condition by coding and colouring an anatomical picture of a human body representing themselves.

1 class (~70 minutes)

Lesson 2

The Healing Art of Dance

Students develop a twenty minute conditioning sequence that targets their areas of need, as identified from their Body Maps in Lesson 1.  This sequence will be used as a daily warm-up for the duration of this unit.

2 classes

Lesson 3

Dancing Ourselves

Students are guided through the creative process and develop material for a dance work.

*Differentiation: Based on the strengths, needs, comfort/experience of students, an option may be provided for partner, small group, or solo work.

3 classes

Lesson 4

The Art of Critiquing with Kindness

Students work in small groups and use the critical process to provide feedback for one another's creations. Emphasis is placed on ways to nourish and inspire a fellow artist in their pursuits while maintaining honesty.

2 classes

Lesson 5

Performance - The Art of Giving

Students negotiate with the teacher on what they wish to be evaluated on, based on their experience of the process. The following class will be the culminating task of this unit: The Dance Creation Performances.

2 classes