DANCE SAMPLE COURSE DESCRIPTION

GS- East

The Dance program at Governor's School East serves as a laboratory and a venue for exploring new perspectives in contemporary dance techniques. The resulting investigations and experiences offer a broad yet critical lens through which dance can be viewed and interpreted. Through deep exploration in the philosophies, techniques, and technologies that shape modern dance, students are encouraged to observe, analyze, and challenge these concepts, both mentally and physically. Our goal is to foster creative expression and critical thinking when approaching dance as an artistic medium.

During the course of the six-week GSE session, the dancers participate in a variety of classes, workshops, and fieldtrips, in addition to attending performances at the American Dance Festival (ADF). The ADF is conveniently located 30 miles from the GSE campus and provides a unique opportunity for the students to see professional modern dance companies. The students typically attend two concerts each summer.

GS- West

Course Objectives

The focus of the Dance program at the North Carolina Governor's School West is the study, creation, experimentation, performance, and discussion of modern dance. Modern dance is the chosen style of movement for the Governor's School West because it best embraces and expresses theories of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, which is the corner stone of study for GSW. In addition to providing students with information to understand recent cultural history, this curriculum also includes current theories of improvisation and composition. The goal is to stimulate dancers to integrate their ideas and personal histories in creative development and to encourage in each student a better understanding of how their ideas and histories impact and influence them and their role in society.

Course Organization

The dance students meet twice per day. The morning class focuses on the study of modern dance technique for the purpose of strengthening and increasing the range of motion of the individual and learning various styles of modern dance techniques. It is also a process of viewing and critiquing oneself and others from a technical perspective. The afternoon class shifts the focus to individual & group creative processes. A supportive, challenging environment is continually explored as an important element in any setting focused on creation. Some processes begin with improvisations, which often give birth to fully choreographed pieces. However, the focus is not the final product, but the experimentation and education involved in the journey. GSW offers the opportunity for the dancers to perform their original works-in-progress every year. Under the direction of the faculty, students create their work completely with student generated material and then perform it before the entire student body. Throughout the processes discussions are held on the concepts and issues that arise during the various stages of improvisation, composition, and performance. Communication is a critical element in every classroom and rehearsal experience. Because the class focus on modern dance challenges the prior dance experiences of most of the students, questions naturally arise which can only be answered by a discussion of twentieth century theory.

A recent outline of the GSW dance program's course content and examples of choreographic process follow.

Course Content

1. Overview of Technique and Composition
1. “What is modern dance?”
1. Historical study
2. Answer questions from a theoretical perspective (examples)
1. Does movement have to be aesthetic to be considered “dance”?
2. Is stillness considered “dance”?
3. Can anyone be a dancer?
   
   
2. Technique class
1. Basic elements of movement
1. Space
2. Time
3. Weight
4. Energy
2. Set warm-up
3. Address issues of alignment and anatomical safety
4. Exploring movement traveling across the floor
5. Learn and memorize short phrase/combination
   
   
3. Improvisation and composition class work
1. Exploration of improvisational exercises
1. Name Game
2. Trust building/blind leadings
3. Flocking
4. Body part study
5. Site-specific experimentation through play
   
2. Exploration of choreographic approaches
1. Weight sharing with partners and groups
2. Manipulating, expanding, and abstracting basic movement phrases
3. Group composition assignments
4. Using images found in stream-of–consciousness-writing
5. Developing improvisational ideas
6. Random chance process
7. Minimalism
8. Exercise in discovering individual habitual/non-habitual ways of moving
9. Using oral text as a means of extracting detail, then expanding physically
10. Collaborative contribution to group work
    
    
4. Outside of class activities
1. Research of a prominent figure in modern dance leading to a class presentation
2. Choreographic collaborations with students in other disciplines
3. Writing assignments
4. Site-specific location and exploration/ideas for use of the given space
5. Things to bring into class
6. Group composition assignments
7. Individual distribution of responsibilities to contribute to the dance/campus community
   
   
5. Journals
   Students are encouraged to keep working dance journals of ideas, terminology, comments and critiques offered in class, as well as, written assignments
   
   
6. Class Discussions
1. Learning self and peer criticism
1. Technically
2. Compositionally
2. Conversations exploring the responsibilities involved in building a community in the classroom and the dance world
   
   
2. Guest Artists & Collaborators
1. Professional dance guest artists are invited to teach different techniques and styles of movement, choreography, and various methods of viewing and critiquing dance
   
   
2. Non-movement oriented guests
1. Musicians
1. Accompanied class and/or performance
2. Lecture/discussion of 20th century principles of music and sampling of composers
2. GSW Faculty/Students lectures
   
   
3. Dance Performances
1. Formal
1. 2 Evening-Length Concerts
2. Site-Specific Concert
   
   
2. Informal
1. Spontaneous Site Specific Improvisation Showing
2. Collaboration with Guest Artists and Students
   
   
4. Outside Enrichment
1. Dance history lectures and video showings of the well known masters in the field, as well as “promising” avant-garde artists of today
2. American Dance Festival performances
3. Seminars exploring movement and its relationship to other GSW disciplines
1. Exploring Choreography via a Mathematical Model
2. Exploring the Physics of Movement
3. Introduction to Hatha Yoga
4. Movement for Non-Dance Majors

Choreographic Process Examples

1. Instructions
   Challenge concepts of language, translation, and how we believe we have a universal understanding of the meaning and physical interpretation of words
1. Individually create a brief movement phrase (Dance teachers give detailed instructions about the method of creation.)
2. In your own language, write the phrase down, using as much or little detail as you think is needed
3. The “instructions” are handed in and then randomly passed out to someone other than the creator (person #2)
4. Person #2 then follows the instructions as closely and literally as possible to re-set the phrase on themselves
5. Both phrases are performed for the class
6. Class discussion follows on the differences and similarities in the phrases
   
   
2. Music
   Challenges the idea that dances should be in complete coordination with the music, rhythmically and conceptually
1. The entire class listens to several pieces of 20th/21st century music
2. During the listening each individual is writing in a continual stream-of-consciousness
3. The class is divided into small groups
4. One selection is chosen for each group and each group:
1. Shares their writings from that particular selection
2. Works to create a group phrase using only the text and images conjured up by the music as compositional stimuli (There are no limitations and no music during the creation process
3. Performs each group's work for the class in silence.)
4. Performs again (or several times) with a different/unrelated piece of music playing
5. Class discussion follows on the impact music has on our experience of dance.