Develops technical proficiency and creative movement skills across various styles. Examines choreographic principles alongside the historical and cultural origins of diverse global dance forms.
Groups finalize their original choreography, synthesizing all timing concepts. They present their work and participate in a peer review focused on musicality and timing.
Students explore the absence of movement and sound as a rhythmic tool, practicing 'active stillness' to accentuate the choreography and music.
Students explore moving against the music, such as moving slowly during fast sections, to create dramatic tension and artistic juxtaposition.
Students create a repeated movement phrase (motif) and manipulate its rhythm using half-time, double-time, and syncopation to explore variations.
Students analyze the structural elements of a song to create a visual 'map' that guides choreographic choices, linking musical dynamics to movement timing.
In small groups, students take a known short phrase and alter its timing structure to alter its meaning. They present the variations and discuss how time manipulation changed the audience's interpretation.
Students investigate the power of the 'stop' or 'freeze' in a rhythmic sequence. They practice freezing on unexpected counts to build core control and dramatic tension.
The class splits into two groups performing different movement phrases that intersect at specific moments. Students focus on the spatial timing required to avoid collisions and create interesting visual patterns.
Students take a single movement and perform it over 1 count, 4 counts, and 8 counts. They analyze how the muscular tension and quality of movement change based on the duration allowed.
Students learn the difference between unison, strict canon, and cumulative canon through simple arm movements and formations. They experiment with how 'ripples' of movement travel through a line of dancers at different speeds.
The final assessment where students perform a set phrase three times with distinct variations, followed by peer critique and self-reflection on artistic intent.
A synthesis of all previous elements through guided improvisation, where students respond to rapid-fire cues to shift their spatial, temporal, and energetic qualities.
Students investigate the qualities of movement through Laban concepts of flow and weight, experimenting with how different energy inputs change the tone of a dance.
This lesson focuses on manipulating tempo and rhythm, challenging students to execute movement phrases at varying speeds while maintaining technical precision.
Students explore spatial levels, pathways, and the distinction between personal and general space through a series of technical workshops and a simulation hook.
A high-energy lesson focused on mastering an 8-count hip hop sequence featuring advanced waving, Toyman, and Loose Legs techniques.
Analyze the 20th-century shift toward abstraction led by George Balanchine, focusing on the relationship between pure movement and music.
Examine the Imperial Russian era under Marius Petipa, focusing on the structured Grand Pas de Deux and the rise of technical virtuosity.
Investigate the shift toward the supernatural and the technological innovation of the pointe shoe during the Romantic era.
Analyze Louis XIV's role in establishing the Royal Academy of Dance and how the codification of the five positions served as a tool for political control.
Groups present their final compositions which must include a motif, a spatial change, and a temporal variation. A structured feedback session follows, focusing on the effectiveness of the devices used.
Groups apply temporal variations to their sequences, specifically canon (ripple effects) and unison. They analyze how these choices affect the audience's attention.
Focusing on group dynamics, students experiment with stage formations (windows, V-shape, diagonal) and smooth transitions. They learn how space communicates hierarchy and focus.
Students take their motifs and manipulate them using devices like retrograde (reverse), inversion, and accumulation. This lesson moves the focus from 'what' the move is to 'how' it is structured.
Students brainstorm and select a thematic concept to generate a 'motif'—a core movement phrase. They practice refining this phrase until it is repeatable and technically sound.
Students study Pina Bausch and the German Tanztheater movement, exploring how repetitive gestures and speech are combined with dance to address human relationships. They create a short 'dance-theater' sketch.
Examining the Judson Dance Theater era, students analyze the 'No Manifesto' and the idea that any movement can be dance. They create short studies using only pedestrian actions (walking, sitting, running).
The sequence concludes with Pina Bausch's Tanztheater. Students analyze the blending of speech, elaborate sets, and repetitive movement to address human relationships and psychological reality.
Students study the radical shift of the 1960s where 'anything is dance.' They analyze Yvonne Rainer’s 'No Manifesto' and create sequences that reject spectacle and virtuosity in favor of pedestrian movement.
Students explore the theory of 'Fall and Recovery' developed by Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. They examine how this technique utilized gravity rather than defying it, contrasting it with traditional ballet.
Focusing on Martha Graham, students learn the concepts of 'contraction and release' and how she used dance to explore the human psyche. They analyze how physical tension can represent emotional truth.
Students investigate the work of Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller, who rejected balletic constraints for natural movement and light-play. The lesson explores how breath and the 'solar plexus' became the new centers of dance philosophy.
A culminating project where students analyze UNESCO's heritage list and develop preservation strategies for endangered dance traditions.
Explores West African Yoruba masquerade traditions, focusing on the spiritual connection between dancers, ancestors, and elaborate regalia.
Examines the historical suppression of Native American dance forms and the use of movement as a tool for cultural resistance and political survival.
Connecting the 1970s Bronx breaking scene back to ancestral ring traditions, exploring the 'cypher' as a space for community and competition.
Tracing the cross-cultural fusion of Irish and African dance traditions that birthed Tap, highlighting key innovators and stylistic shifts.
A look at the social and cultural explosion of the Harlem Renaissance, focusing on the Lindy Hop and the democratizing power of the Savoy Ballroom.
An examination of how enslaved people maintained cultural identity through the Ring Shout and Juba, using the body as a percussive instrument when drums were banned.
Introduction to West African dance fundamentals, focusing on groundedness, isolation, and the complex layers of polyrhythm.
Explore the origins of ballet in Italian and French courts, focusing on how restrictive social etiquette and heavy clothing influenced early movement standards.
Exploration of the New Dance Group and the shift toward dance as a tool for social activism, labor unions, and anti-fascist resistance during the Great Depression.
Analysis of Martha Graham's development of contraction and release, her focus on the psychological interior, and the abstraction of emotion in 'Lamentation'.
A critical investigation into the Denishawn School and the use of Orientalism and cultural appropriation in the early American modern dance scene.
Examination of Isadora Duncan's revolutionary approach to dance, her rejection of balletic artifice, and her construction of the 'natural' body inspired by Greek antiquity.
An introduction to the theoretical roots of modern dance through the expressive gestural systems of François Delsarte and the rhythmic training of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze.
Students synthesize their learning by writing a professional-grade critique of a contemporary dance work, balancing objective analysis with subjective interpretation.
A critical look at the 'TikTokification' of dance, focusing on copyright, digital ethics, and how vertical video formats reshape choreographic vocabulary.
Investigating how dance moves from the stage into real-world environments, requiring students to design performances based on architectural and spatial constraints.
