Dance

 

The art of dance uses movement to communicate meaning about the human experience. It is far more than exercise or entertainment. It is a powerful medium to express one’s values, thoughts and aspirations about the lives we live and the world in which we live.

Education in the art of dance develops the knowledge and skills required to create, perform, and understand movement as a means of artistic communication. A comprehensive education includes improvisation, technique, choreography, performance, observation and analysis. Exposure to dance history and cultures, kinesiology and anatomy, and movement theories further enriches the dance educational experience.

Source: Advancing Dance Education in the Arts

 

Curriculum


Elementary

  • Children are natural movers and are inherently creative.
  • The program is designed to develop the student’s understanding of fine arts dance as well as the student’s understanding of how dance connects to other subject areas.
  • As evident in current brain research, activating both the brain and the body during instruction has numerous benefits for cognitive development and deeper learning.

 

Secondary

  • The secondary dance program provides quality performance-based instruction with experiences that include perception and response activities with movement, historical, social, and cultural dance forms, creative expression and production, aesthetics, and personal development for a successful lifetime.
  • Students develop and acquire movement, observation, communication, behavioral, and thinking skills to meet the increasing challenges of life in the 21st century.

 

Resources

National Dance Standards (pdf opens in a new window)

ArtsEdge – The Kennedy Centre in Washington has a bank of lesson plans and full learning situations with accompanying resource materials which could be adapted to fit the QEP. Many are transdisciplinary. The bank is searchable by arts subject, other subjects and grade level.

Dancing on the Edge details the rise of the Louis Lester Band, a black jazz band in 1930s London led by Louis Lester. Managed by the compassionate yet short-tempered Wesley Holt, the band lands a gig at the Imperial Hotel thanks to the cunning journalist Stanley Mitchell. They prove to be a hit, and their star begins to rise. From acclaimed writer and director Stephen Poliakoff (“The Lost Prince”), all episodes of this ensemble mystery are available for viewing at the PBS link.

National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) is a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to advancing dance education centered in the arts.

 

CONTACTS

Tracy Avicolli Director of the Arts & Wellness  860-695-8818 Tracy.Avicolli@hartfordschools.org
Kara Arnold Curriculum Specialist 860-695-8792 GAGLK001@hartfordschools.org