Dearborn Educational Curriculum

Demonstrate appropriate audience behavior in watching dance performances; discuss their opinions about the dances with their peers in a supportive and constructive way.

Compare and contrast two dance compositions in terms of space, as in shape and pathways; time, such as rhythm and tempo; and force and energy, or movement qualities.

Identify possible aesthetic criteria for evaluating dance such as skills of performers, visual and/or emotional impact, variety, and contrast.

Observe the same dance both live and recorded on video; compare and contrast the aesthetic impact of the two observations.

Reflect on and describe how movement choices communicate abstract ideas in dance. (21st Century Skills: I.3, I.4, I.6)

Create a dance and revise it over time, articulating the reasons for artistic decisions, and what was lost and gained by those decisions. (21st Century Skills: I.1, I.2, II.4, II.5, II.6, II.7)

Establish a set of aesthetic criteria and apply it in evaluating their own work and that of others. (21st Century Skills: I.3, I.4, I.6, II.7, III.3, III.5)

Formulate and answer their own aesthetic questions; e.g., what is it that makes a particular dance that dance? How much can one change that dance before it becomes a different dance? (21st Century Skills: I.1, I.3, I.4, I.6, II.4, II.5, II.6, II.7)

Identify basic locomotor movements by name.

Explore tossing and catching an object on different levels.