My LMA/LOD Teaching Application & Sample Participant Analysis

LMA/LOD IN PRACTICE-TRANSFER AND APPLICATION

Dance Educator:  Denise N. Brown (M.A. Dance Education, K-12 Cert.)

Context:  Dance Education-NYC Public School (6-8 grade)

Grade/Population:  8^th Grade Dance Elective, Diverse Cultural Backgrounds

Prior Experience:  Previous 7^th grade students with some study of Beginner Ballet and Modern dance techniques, Exploration and Development of Choreography (LMA-Primarily Body/Space, Some choreographic Device/Structures-Canon, Theme, Motif).  For the purpose of this activity, students would have also explored LOD concepts and Body Action Motif Symbols as well as the LMA effort qualities &effort phrasing.

Previous Assessment Reflections:  Based on prior experience with my students, I would like to help guide them into making stronger choices when performing expressively.  I feel that more work with effort qualities and phrasing will strengthen their performance quality and help them make stronger connections with why they are making certain choices!

Title:   West Side Story/“Cool”- Analysis of Body Action Motifs and Effort to inspire choreography

Activity Goals:  Students will . . .

·      Analyze Effort Qualities & Body Motifs evident in “Cool” from West Side Story.

·      Create collaborative phrases inspired by their analysis & prior knowledge/class experiences.

·      Perform their choreography task.

·      Self assess their work & experience.

Timeline:  The video and choreography task might take place over 2 class periods.   The class might meet 2x’s a week for 45 minutes or 1x a week for a double period.  Students would develop this choreography project further to integrate other inspirations from the Jazz/Musical Theatre genre as well as other possible connections to West Side Story. 

Desired Outcomes for this Component of the Choreography Project: 

Students will . . .

·      Develop their critical eye when looking at professional work.

·      Develop and perform work that clearly represents body motifs and an effort quality analyzed in “Cool”.

·      Create original work that builds off of their prior knowledge of techniques and choreographic concepts and expands into effort phrasing (accents).

Assessments:

·      Analysis of professional work using graphic organizers (could be done collaboratively)

·      Observation

·      Choreography

·      Self Critique/Reflection

LMA/LOD Concept Focus/Integration:  Analysis of Body Action Motifs and Effort Identification (in professional work-Jazz/Musical Theatre) and Integration of analysis into collaborative choreography. 

Activity Purpose:  The purpose of this activity is to view professional work within the Jazz/Musical Theatre Genre and use the analysis of the work as inspiration for a collaborative choreography task.  “Cool” is utilized for the connection to Effort Quality, which choreographically places strong attention to both physical and verbal use of effort and accent.  The choreography task will expand into a larger choreography project with other connections to West Side Story and the Jazz Dance/Musical Theatre Genre as it relates to the students decision-making and creative process.

Activity Description/Outline:  See, Say, Do, Write, Connect (15 minutes w/ reflection)

1.     1 minute:  Introduction (for workshop model)

2.     1 minute:  Instruct Video Analysis for Group w/ Graphic Organizer (Tally for Body Actions first and Effort second)

3.     2 minute:  Video Analysis (Watch 2x)-Body Action/Effort Qualities

4.     1 minute:  Choreographic Task Prompt (see graphic organizer/worksheet)-Participants will decide on which 3 body actions that stood out the most from their analysis and place them in an order on their score starting and ending in stillness.  Participants will then decide on which effort quality stood out the most and then decided on an effort phrasing with their chosen effort for each of their body actions.  They will document this on the right column. 

5.     5 minute:  Create collaborative choreography using score decision-making (see worksheet)

6.     2 minute:  Share choreography

7.     3 minute:  Self critique/assess experience

Resources: 

·      Video Clip-“Cool” 2:26-3:05 https://youtu.be/wugWGhItaQA

·      Motif Symbols/Notation Model:  Stillness, Rotation, Flexion, Extension, Spring, Effort Phrasing (Impulse, Impact, Swing, Even).  *All Symbols for Efforts were on worksheet

·      Analysis/Choreographic Task Prompt Worksheet-See additional document

·      Music Selections:  For purpose of today’s music playlist, music for group shares will be chosen by groups at random (pick a number) but their will be select choices that range in connection with the topic (jazz inspired music, instrumental version of “Cool”, instrumental music that connects well with varying accents, pop music associated with similar WSS themes, ex. MJ’s Bad or Beat it, etc.)

Additional Development: 

·      Teaching Repertoire prior to investigating through video analysis.

·      Making additional connections to West Side Story Themes (Social/Cultural) to integrate into choreography.

·      Developing narrative within choreography.

·      Peer Critiques/Revision

·      Trading and interpreting other group’s scores

Questions for Feedback:

·      What did you find “Cool” about the experience/activity?

·      What could be improved, revised or further developed in this experience/activity?

·      What connections might you make to this material if you were a middle school student in the 8^th grade?

Participant Reflection

https://goo.gl/forms/z1LkC4tq0pBCP44r2

1.     What did you enjoy about the experience/activity?

2.     What could be improved, revised or further developed in this experience/activity?

3.     What connections might you make to this material if you were a middle school student in the 8^th grade?

Sample 1:  The Group analyzed "Cool" from West Side Story in regards to Body Action Motifs and 2 Effort Qualities.  This group chose and used the following to create their choreographic interpretation:   Flexion, Rotation, Extension & Impulse, Even, Impact Effort Phrasing with Strong Effort Quality.  Both groups were asked to start and end in Stillness!

Sample 2:  The Group analyzed "Cool" from West Side Story in regards to Body Action Motifs and 2 Effort Qualities.  This group chose and used the following to create their choreographic interpretation:   Extension, Spring, Rotation & Impulse, Even, Impact Effort Phrasing with Quick Effort Quality.  Both groups were asked to start and end in Stillness!