Week 11 ~ Music ~ Elements of Dance

 Elements of Dance

- Space

- Time

- Dynamics

- Relationships

This week's focus was on the dance element of space. This allowed us to explore the full breadth of how space can be explored within dance. Similar to the other weeks this involved completing a range of activities such as follow the leader, group work and a group composition task around a stimulus. For our stimulus we had a fascinating ball covered in pointy shells. This made us think of the beach and focused on the shape of the sun and waves. We also included levels and explored our personal space. I found space to be an easier concept to grasp however there are many aspects within it as demonstrated in the mind-map below. 

Mind-map of space in dance using text2mindmap (2013), an interactive mind-mapping tool and classroom resource 

Source: Beltran, J. (2014)

The pointy shell ball we used as a stimulus for a beach themed exploration of shape

Although activities can encourage students to choose from the wide range of aspects within an element, they can also focus specifically on a particular aspect of an element in great detail. Of course there are benefits in each approach and a teacher would typically include a balance of both. Shape is an aspect of space that is detailed by the NSW Board of Studies (2011) on their website. It provides a wide range of elements to consider when exploring shape, an aspect of space. These could contribute to ideas for dance such as exploring contrast, opposites for literacy, symmetry and shape for mathematics. They could complete similar tasks such as follow the leader and composition tasks with these terms as a stimulus.

• shapes with straight lines and angles
• curving or organic shapes
• open and closed shapes
• symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes
• harmonious and contrasting shapes
• centred and off-centre shapes.

References:

NSW Board of Studies. (2011). Elements of dance: Space. Retrieved from http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/primary/creativearts/dance/elements/  

Text2MindMap. (2013). Interactive mind map creator. Retrieved from https://www.text2mindmap.com/