(a) General requirements. Students in Grades 6, 7,
or 8 enrolled in the first year of dance may select Dance, Middle
School 1.
(b) Introduction.
(1) The fine arts incorporate the study of dance, music,
theatre, and the visual arts to offer unique experiences and empower
students to explore realities, relationships, and ideas. These disciplines
engage and motivate all students through active learning, critical
thinking, and innovative problem solving. The fine arts develop cognitive
functioning and increase student academic achievement, higher-order
thinking, communication, and collaboration skills, making the fine
arts applicable to college readiness, career opportunities, workplace
environments, social skills, and everyday life. Students develop
aesthetic and cultural awareness through exploration, leading to creative
expression. Creativity, encouraged through the study of the fine arts,
is essential to nurture and develop the whole child.
(2) Four basic strands--foundations: perception; creative
expression; historical and cultural relevance; and critical evaluation
and response--provide broad, unifying structures for organizing the
knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire. Dance students
develop perceptual thinking and movement abilities in daily life,
promoting an understanding of themselves and others. Students develop
movement principles and technical skills and explore choreographic
and performance qualities. Students develop self-discipline and healthy
bodies that move expressively, efficiently, and safely through space
and time with a sensitive kinesthetic awareness. Students recognize
dance as a vehicle for understanding historical and cultural relevance,
increasing an awareness of their heritage and traditions and those
of others, and enabling them to participate in a diverse society.
Evaluating and analyzing dance allows students to strengthen decision-making
skills, develop critical and creative thinking, and develop artistic
creative processes. Students continue to explore technology and its
application to dance and movement, enabling them to make informed
decisions about dance.
(3) Statements that contain the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase
"such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(c) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Foundations: perception. The student develops an
awareness of the body's movement using sensory information while dancing.
The student is expected to:
(A) demonstrate basic kinesthetic and spatial awareness
individually and in groups;
(B) recognize the concepts of wellness for healthy
lifestyles;
(C) define body science applications through dance
genres, styles, and vocabulary; and
(D) identify dance movement elements through space,
energy, and time.
(2) Creative expression: artistic process. The student
develops knowledge and skills of dance elements, choreographic processes,
and forms in a variety of dance genres and styles. The student is
expected to:
(A) recognize basic principles of proper body alignment;
(B) define knowledge of dance composition elements,
improvisation skills, and choreographic processes;
(C) identify movement studies using rhythmical skills
and spatial directions; and
(D) recognize expressions of ideas or emotions individually
and in groups.
(3) Creative expression: performance. The student develops
knowledge and execution of technical dance skills and a variety of
dance genres and styles through performing. The student is expected
to:
(A) identify various dance genres and styles such as
ballet, jazz, tap, modern dance, musical theatre dance, and world
dance forms;
(B) perform in groups with the intent to communicate
to an audience;
(C) define the use of dance elements in practice and
performance incorporating technology; and
(D) identify an effective warm-up and cool-down using
elements of proper conditioning for performing skills.
(4) Historical and cultural relevance. The student
demonstrates an understanding of cultural, historical, and artistic
diversity. The student is expected to:
(A) define the cultural significance as communicated
through dance movement, identifying historical figures and their contributions
to dance history;
(B) identify movement characteristics of historical
and cultural dance forms and the contributions of their artists;
(C) identify a dance representative of one's heritage
or environment; and
(D) understand dances in various media and other content
areas.
(5) Critical evaluation and response. The student makes
informed personal judgments about dance and the meaning and role of
dance in society. The student is expected to:
(A) define the quality and effectiveness of dance performances
while incorporating appropriate etiquette in the classroom and performances;
(B) identify relationships between dance and other
content subjects;
(C) define the content and choreographic structures
used by various American choreographers; and
(D) define artistic decisions of personal dance works.
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