Dance Styles

 Thank you to everyone tuning in for another exciting addition to my dance multimodal portfolio. This week, we will be taking a closer look at different dance styles and how we could incorporate them into the classroom.



What are Dance Styles?

Looking for a crash course on different dancing styles? There is no better place to start than with a YouTube search using the keywords "evolution" and "dance". There is a multitude of different versions of this video, but I have selected the one that is just under three and a half minutes in order to save more time for an in-class activity. I encourage anyone looking for a longer video to browse YouTube since there are so many great examples of this video. Without further ado, here is a crash course on different dance styles using the history of dance:



This video can act as a great introduction to different dance styles. My only suggestion for improvement would be to find a video that includes more diversity. One example in particular that I thought of was the missed opportunity to show both fashions commonly associated with males and females from each period. 

The Ontario Curriculum defines Dance Styles as "A way of performing dance that is characteristic of a certain period, setting, choreographer, performer, group, culture, or other category" (161). It is important to note that the video does an excellent job of representing dances from different time periods. After watching the video, teachers could stimulate discussion in the classroom by asking some of the following questions:

Do you think the dances in the video are universal to all cultures? 

Do you think different cultures would have different evolutions of dance?

What perspectives might be missing from the video?

What part of the video appealed to you specifically? Why?

How Dance Styles Might Look in a Classroom

I think it is important to point out that I have no experience teaching dance formally. As a result, most of the ideas I have revolve around introductory lessons to begin engaging students in dance. That being said, I see Dance Styles as a great introductory topic to engage students that may have limited understanding or background knowledge of what dance is. Even showing the video above as a Minds On activity would be a great way to stimulate interest and a great class discussion. The video is a great opportunity for teachers who like Inquiry-Based Learning to introduce their class to a number of different dances and then allow them to explore one of their choosing in greater detail. On the other hand, this video provides a pretty good structure to learn about dance in a more historical context for teachers that prefer more control in the classroom. 



Resources to Support Dance Styles in the Classroom

The Jade Harrison School of Dance provides a quick long-term overview that would be good for older students for finding quick and accessible facts on a wide array of dance styles from different time periods. I would recommend this activity as an inquiry-based activity.

Another good example comes from The World of Dance Magazine which provides more images for those who benefit from visual learning. It is somewhat similar to the resource above but it has quite a few more images to accompany the information.


Accommodations and Modifications

I think it is worth mentioning that there are two ways to describe understanding in dance. Firstly, there is expressing a physical understanding through body movements, gestures, etc. Secondly, there is an intellectual understanding of dance which could look something like the ability to identify dances from different eras and develop an understanding of how they were related to the specific time period or culture they were a result of. (A similar analogy: A painter expresses a physical understanding of art whereas an Art History major may lack a physical understanding and instead have an intellectual one). I believe Dance Styles is a great opportunity to let students express their intellectual understanding of dance if they are struggling with physically expressing themselves. I believe this is worth keeping in mind for teachers who are looking for opportunities for differentiated assessment. 

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