1. Chapter 24 Rhythmic Movement and Dance
Boni B. Boswell
Chapter 24 Rhythmic Movement and Dance

2. Three Types of Dance Rhythmic movement Creative educational dance
Structured (pattern) dance

3. Defining Rhythmic Movements
Balance of contracting and expanding movements that are connected and repeated, such as inhaling and exhaling.
When movements such as inhaling and exhaling are connected and repeatedly performed, a rhythm is created.

4. Defining Creative Educational Dance (CED)
CED is a movement program that
focuses on exploration of space, time, and force;
focuses on creative problem solving; and
uses the process of solving movement problems to create simple dances.

5. Defining Structured Dances
Patterned (or recreational) dance
Composed of specific steps
Common formations
Common figures

6. Rhythmic Movements: Where to Begin?
Begin with students’ internal rhythms such as breathing patterns.
Then, ask students to match breathing patterns with external rhythms such as drumbeats or musical accompaniments.

7. Rhythmic Movement Content
Four essential elements:
Pulse—underlying beat
Tempo—speed
Accent—emphasis
Rhythmic patterns—combinations of rhythms

8. Suggested Teaching Style: Guided Discovery
Guide students by asking questions and presenting tasks that require students to discover possible answers.
Two components of teaching rhythmic movement:
Problem-solving activities
Speaking rhythmically

9. Guidelines: Developmental Progression of Activities
Focus on internal before external rhythms.
Provide opportunities for listening to the pulse before moving to the pulse.
Begin with nonlocomotor movements and then locomotor movements.
Begin with clapping or other simple hand movements before using other body parts.
(continued)

10. Guidelines: Developmental Progression of Activities (continued)
Gradually increase the number of concepts explored simultaneously.
Present moving forward with a rounded shape, then moving forward with a rounded shape and at a low level.
Begin individually, then with partners, and then with a small group.

11. Suggestions for Students With Severe Disabilities
Match students with disabilities with peers or cross-age tutors.
Use a progression of steps to actively engage and foster responses:
Provide passive assistance.
Focus attention (if possible, secure eye contact).
Provide opportunities for mirroring active movements.
Encourage original movements.

12. Rhythmic Movement Objectives for Beginning Students
Increase awareness of internal rhythmic patterns.
Enhance the ability to mirror simple rhythmic patterns.
Foster the capacity to initiate rhythmic patterns for others to follow.

13. Creative Educational Dance (CED): Where to Begin?
The heart of CED is exploration of the elements of movement.
Students begin by actively learning about the basic elements of movement:
Space
Time
Force
Body

14. Key Definitions for CED
Exploration is “a systematic investigation, examination, search for making specific discoveries and learning about something” (Smith-Autard, 2000, p. 80).
Improvisation is spontaneously responding to a stimuli, or “invention without preparation” (Smith- Autard, 2000). During exploration of the elements, teachers present questions that guide students in using improv as a strategy for exploring.

15. CED Content
The concepts of space, time, and force as they relate to movement
The body and its movement potential
Creation of dances through solving movement problems

16. CED Content: Space
The medium in which our bodies move and create designs
Includes
self-space, general space, level, and focus; and
shape, size, direction, and pathway.

17. CED Content: Force Describes the energy level of movements.
Quality refers to how the energy moves the body; often described as swinging, smooth (sustained), sharp (sudden), and shaking.
Flow describes whether the energy is bound (controlled, tensed) or free.

18. CED Content: Time As rhythmic movement, time includes the following:
Beat refers to the underlying pulse of the rhythm.
Tempo describes whether the beat is fast or slow.
Accents are stressed beats (or emphasized movement).
Patterns refer to the combinations of rhythms.

19. CED Lesson Format: Four Phases
Student exploration:
Students explore space, time, force, body.
Teacher presents movement problem:
Problem describes the boundaries for creating dances.
Students create dances:
Students create dances by following boundaries.
Students perform and respond:
Dances are performed and group responds.

20. Using Images in CED
Many authors warn against using images for CED. Why?
Stereotypic images often hinder exploration of the essence of the movements.
For example, animal images such as bunnies and dogs lead to stereotypic movements and therefore hinder exploration of the movement concepts.

21. Extending CED Content
Students delve deeper into the content and examine the qualitative aspects of movement by exploring the eight basic effort actions (see next slide).

22. Qualitative Focus on Movement
Eight basic effort actions
These actions are the bases from which more subtle movement qualities are drawn (Preston- Dunlop, 1990).
Actions are clarified by examining three of the movement elements:
Space, time, and force.
Elements exists on a continuum, ranging between the extremes of the element.

23. Continuum of Movement Elements
Indirect___________Space______________Direct
Slow______________Time______________Sudden
Light_____________Force_____________Strong

24. Process of Re-envisioning Dance
Recognizing the value of movements previously considered unacceptable
Identifying a motif (a single movement, spatial design, or brief movement phrase) for creating a dance
Guiding students to explore movements associated with motifs

25. Structured Dances Specific steps performed in a variety of formations
International folk dances
Line dances (e.g., Electric Slide, the Freeze)
Social dances (e.g., swing, waltz, salsa)

26. Structured Dance Content
Nonlocomotor movements
Locomotor patterns
Combinations of locomotor patterns
Variations or combinations of these patterns to perform: two-step, schottische, polka, grapevine, and waltz

27. Presentation and Teaching Styles
Weikart—Say and Do method—verbalize cues with the steps.
Kassing and Jay describe the inclusive teaching style:
Students work on variations of the content.
Teaching can be extended to include problem solving.

28. Teaching Process Method varies with dance and student needs.
Suggested progression:
Students listen and clap.
Basic step is introduced. (Demonstrate facing the same direction as the students and explore modifications as needed.)
(continued)

29. Teaching Process (continued)
Difficult step is taught.
Modifications are developed to match the students’ developmental level.
Practice step with music.
Remaining steps added and performed with music.
Provide cues and demonstrations as needed.

30. Questions for Modifying Dances
Can a section of a dance be shortened?
Can steps that require balance be modified?
Can the tempo be slowed or movements performed using twice as many counts?
Can the turns be modified?

31. Summary
Rhythmic movement and dance are powerful and joyful content areas for developing the following:
Problem solving
Creative expression
Motor skills of students with and without disabilities