"STEPPING STONES" ASSIGNMENT-#1

Monday
LMA/LOD in Practice: Connecting Phase

Stepping Stones: DAY 1 - Connecting Phase—journal your ideas in the space provided.

1.  Identify questions about your dance practice that you have been wondering about for a while. They could be about your beliefs and values embedded in your dance practice or 
the underlying assumptions built into the practice itself, areas for professional growth, etc. 




Questions:

•  How can I simplify units of study/planning as a dance educator? 
-How can I revise units that already exist to embed language/resources from LMA and LOD into these existing units?
• How can I continue to develop my own creative choices by using LMA and LOD as choreographic tools and additional language?  How will I also model this work for students?
• How can I diversify my students dance vocabulary and use of language when providing critique and/or feedback.
• How will dance as art form be seen as an academic and core subject?



2.  Reflect on and analyze ways in which you might integrate LMA and LOD to help you examine ways to examine your questions (in ways that are relevant and meaningful). 



•  I am hoping to find a way to embed Motif Notation into an existing unit that I use with my incoming 6th graders (Body Action/Space Themed Unit).  I used to have a separate unit that focused on Rudolf Laban, Ann Hutchinson Guest and Notation, however now my schedule is not the same.  I am wondering how to find a simple way of integrating this work into the work we are already doing, across genres and units, so as to not overcomplicate. 
• I use a lot of technology and have shared video and presentations as well to help students continue to explore outside of class, but I do think more connection to the concepts in class needs to happen.  

• I would like to continue to examine the use of LMA in critiquing work with students, and push for more academic and rich language as they move throughout their study across grade levels.



3 .  Use your reflections from #1 and #2 to develop a long-term goal for integrating LMA and LOD into your practice. You will use this goal to help you create a project overview. 



• My long-term goal is to incorporate more LMA and LOD concepts, language and notation work to help build the students' movement vocabulary and understanding of dance as a diverse art form.  I hope that by sharing more of this work with them, they will deepen their understanding of dance, building upon the technical skill and creative process through a study filled with dedication, exploration, and research of self, community, and the world.

4.  Use your reflections from #1 and #2 and your long-term goal to select an aspect of your work (a lesson, choreographic project, client issue, community concern, etc) and develop a short -term goal for integrating LMA and LOD to share on the final day of this course. 




I am interested in revising part of a unit/lessons that I have previously done which focuses on Body Actions and Space to incorporate the Motif Symbols and Notation (vs a separate unit that I used to teach).  I would like to work on keeping things simple however add an additional layer of the LMA/LOD work within the unit.  The unit ends in a choreographic project using Levels, Direction Facings, Pathways, Stage Formations, Locomotor/Non Locomotor Movement, as well as movement vocabulary from movement I have taught the students.  I would like to add the use of symbols and a score to this project and build upon this in future work.  




Additional Thoughts:

·      
I am also interested in looking at referencing more Body Connectivity Patterns into my warm-up and making connections into genres/techniques that are taught.

·      
In addition-I would like my students’ vocabulary to advance in critique, so building this vocabulary up into 8th grade, whether this be student critiques or analyzing professional work.  I do not spend a lot of time on Body Part initiation, so this might be area of expansion.  I also would like to explore more of this work within the genres we study and any thematic choreography we create collaboratively.  



5.  Use your long and short-term goals and your reflections about your practice to mind map possibilities that you might want to explore and share. To help you connect your discoveries to sharing an overview and application at the end of the week, devise a project outline or pull ideas together in some way that makes sense to you. Think of your development of your project as an iterative process (design, examine, test, evaluate; redesign, examine, retest, evaluate, etc). 




Ideas:

 1.   Choreography Project-Focusing on Body Actions and Space Element w/ Motif Notation

2.  Technical Warm-up Exercise & Class Exploration:  Integrating technique (ex. Limon, Horton…) w/ Body Connectivity and LOD Motif Symbols

3.  Choreography Project-Focusing on Body Part Initiation/Accents in Jazz Dance
*How this leads into characterization . . . musical theatre . . . 



List possible research and resources you may need for your project. 


• I would need LMA chart/graphic organizers.
• I would utilize a checklist/rubric for a choreography project.
• I might need Motif Symbols and Score paper.
• I might use a powerpoint or an additional visual presentation.