STEPPING STONES ASSIGNMENT #2

Day 2 - Responding Phase  Journal your ideas in spaces provided

1. Review your work from Day 1 to critically examine & determine which aspects or elements of your practice make the most sense for you to adapt, change or expand on today. Where can your practice benefit through the meaningful integration of LMA and LOD?

I appreciated the exploration of the spatial pathways in contrast to the Locomotor.  I have yet to spend as much time on the LMA spatial pathways teaching Middle School dance (placing more emphasis on addressing personal and general space concepts in regards to kinosphere).  I tend to spend more time with the idea of axial movement/locomotor movement categorization and pathways through space.   I also never learned the LMA symbols/motifs for special paths in previous courses and enjoyed making these connections which I might work on integrating more into my classes.  

2. Define short-term goals to handle the specifics of your project presentation.
   

• Re-evaluating prior choreography project/tasks to develop further with some of the LMA/LOD concepts I would like to have students deepen and/or use as a guide to develop a different project/task.
• Create a template for a choreography project/task.
• Decide on possible tie into poetry or genre work.
• Decide on integration of technology (further development)

3. Brainstorm possible social, cultural, economic or political issues that might affect or challenge integration; identify support and resources that could help you mediate potential challenges.
   

• I think LMA and LOD can be integrated into any genre to build an understanding of body, space, dynamics, and relationships.  I have some students who do have Russian ballet background that could possibly be resistant to learning, for example,  a ballet exercises through a different lens, however in general,  I think that the language is a tool to help both the students technique and creative process/composition.  I also think working with the Motif symbols provides students with another way of categorizing movement, documenting their ideas, looking at patterns, and making connections to work they do in other classes, including ELA.  With non elected classes, I would focus on what would resonate the most with their work.  In these classes, units might be inspired by a specific genre but their Choreography projects might move outside of this genre and connect to their own personal movement choices.  My biggest concern is how to integrate and explore multiple concepts within time and space given.  I also would need to find ways to simplify concepts if need be, for example, some of the LMA language might seem a bit “heady” or may be difficult for students to connect to.  Using imagery and video tools have been a wonderful tool to help with these conceptual understandings as well as teaching set movement material to provide structure with additional allowance for student choice and creative decision making.   

4. Identify aspects of your project. An overview that includes the scope (context, creative goals, audience, possible timeline, possible outcomes, etc) of your idea for integration. And a practical application (lesson, choreographic activity, working with a client, etc.) that demonstrates a sample from your larger vision. 
   
   *Note-I think I might go in a different direction now with this project than I was originally planning.  I am looking at working within the Jazz Idiom.

Context:  Public School (Middle School-Grade TBD)

Goals:  

• Utilize LMA & LOD to identify movement concepts, patterns present in professional “genre” based work.
• Collaborate to develop choreography inspired by learning experiences within the genre and analysis of professional “genre” based work.
• Share and critique work (self and peer) utilizing the LMA and LOD vocabulary explored.

Audience:  Students’ Peers and possible guests (admin)

Timeline:  Part of a Unit of Study (Unit would be over one marking period, which is usually 3 months).  The choreography project performance would be the culmination of the unit.

Possible Outcomes:  

• Creation and share of collaborative work
• Self/Peer awareness through reflection and critique of work
• Development of Dance vocabulary (LMA & LOD) through exploration of concepts

Practical Application:  Choreographic project (culmination of unit)

5. Brainstorm overarching questions you have for yourself or for us to be used in your process later on. Remember, you can take risks as you are in a supportive, collaborative environment.

• How can I overlap more of the LMA/LOD work into the work I am already doing with students?
• How can I develop a richer use of language in technical exploration, creative exploration, and within analysis?
• How can I use this material in a different way than I have before with students?
• How will this work affect my own creative process and decision making?
• How will this work help myself and those I teach make connections beyond the “dance” learning?