Online Viewings

Dance 1: DANCE APPRECIATION IN CLASS VIEWING SHEET/CLOSE VIEWING QUESTIONS Description, Analysis, Interpretation, Evaluation Name/Title of dance: Date performed: Choreographer: Date choreographed: Dance form or style: The Dancing Body: Who is dancing?

• What kinds of training do they have? • How has that training shaped their bodies?

Do they look like “dancers?” • If not, why not?

Are they women or men or is it unclear? • How many women? • How many men?

What is the age range of the dancers? • Children? • Adults?

Do the dancers all look the same? • If not, how are they different from each other? • Size? Shorter, taller, thick, slight…?

Do the dancers appear to be culturally diverse? • Who is represented? • Who is absent?

The Dance Movement What adjectives or action words would you use to describe this dance? How do the dancers move through space?

• Do they dance in one place, or throughout the space? • What patterns do they make? • What pathways do they use? • Do they dance in solos or groups?

How does the dance use time? • Are the movements quick or slow? • Are the movements rhythmic or arrhythmic

Do the dancers move in unison, canon, call and response? What qualities of effort do the dancers move with?

• continuous or broken up? • percussive or sustained? • bound flow or free flow? • Smooth or sharp • Light or heavy • Muscular or skeletal

What similes and metaphors are evoked by the movement? • Like water flowing? • Dreamlike fog drifting?

The Extra Dance Where are they dancing?

• What kind of event is it? Describe what the dancers are wearing.

• How does the clothing contribute to the meaning of the dance? Describe the music.

• What is the relationship between the dance and the music? Describe the set/setting.

• What is the relationship between the set/setting and the dance? The Context What dance forms, or other artistic disciplines, does the choreographer/dance draw from or refer to? For example:

• Painting/visual arts • Pop culture • Advertising imagery • Religious imagery • Theater or Opera

Analysis & Interpretation What idea, argument, or worldview does the dance express? What is the structure of the dance?

• Story line (fairy tale, musical theater, operatic, mythical) • Abstract narrative (layering of events that build meaning) • Musical forms (theme and variation, fugue…)

What style of dance is it? What is the relationship between the form and the content?

• How does the way the dancers move affect the meaning? • How does choice of dancers affect the meaning? • How does the extra dance affect your impressions?

What is the dance about? • What makes you say that?

How does the dance make you feel? • What emotions does it connect to? • What in the dance makes you feel that way?

What associations are evoked? • Memories • Places • Events

Evaluation What do you like about this dance?

• What excites you about this dance? • What is new to you?

What does not work for you in this dance? What questions does the dance raise for you?