DANCE
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Mission Statement | Dance The Middle School Dance Program at Dalton approaches dance as an intellectual and creative art form concerned with expressing and communicating ideas in an academic environment. With the physical body as the means to experiential learning, our program utilizes various classical, post-modern, traditional and contemporary dance forms to support individual learning styles, interests, and abilities. Our dance faculty encourages developing a unique creative voice, expressive power, perception, collaboration, and physical sophistication in a supportive environment. Class assignments and projects are oriented around the Dalton tradition of community building by inviting, and often incorporating, the entire student body to witness or participate in the joyous powers of dance.
Dance 4
4th Grade Dance Emphasis is placed on the following dance skills: Dancing in my Kinesphere, Trace Forms, Personal/General Space Levels, Spoking, Arcing & Carving, Identifying Preferences, Movement Observation, Improvisation, Shape Forms, Active Stillness, Locomotor Movement, Pathways, Relationship, Awareness of Self/Other, Sharing my Kinesphere, Negative/ Positive Space, Unity and Contrast, Non-verbal Communication, Physical Listening, Creative Collaboration, Kinesthetic Empathy, and Meaning Making
4th Grade Dance (One Trimester) Fourth grade students discover new aspects of themselves, build strong bodies, and work collaboratively as members of a creative and physically expressive community. As a result, they acquire increased body awareness and a stronger sense of self in space, improved gross motor skill and coordination, greater impulse control, and more balanced expressive/receptive ability. Emphasis is on full-bodied physicality, cultivating kinesthetic empathy, and discovering the joy of movement. Journey Dance:
5th Grade Dance Emphasis is placed on the following dance skills: Reviewing 4th grade skills, Spatial Awareness, Strength Development, Coordination, Partnering, Counter Weight, Timing & Rhythm, Dance Composition, Sharing Dances, Speaking about Dances, and Stage Directions
This course culminates in Journey Dance, an Assignment that integrates with the grade-wide study of immigration. Students infuse intention and meaning into class concepts by creating original movement phrases, gestures, and vignettes. These elements are woven together into a living expression of learning.
The Dalton School Middle School Curriculum Guide
