Discovering Dance is the ideal introductory text for students
with little to no dance experience. Teachers can adapt this course
to meet students where they are, whether they are new to dance or
already have some dance experience.
The material helps students consider where movement comes from
and why humans are compelled to move, grasp the foundational
concepts of dance, and explore movement activities from the
perspectives of a dancer, a choreographer, and an observer. The
result is a well-rounded educational experience for students to
build on, whether they want to further explore dance or
choreography or otherwise factor dance into college or career
goals.
"Discovering Dance" will help students in these ways:
- Meet national and state standards in dance education and learn
from a pedagogically sound scope and sequence that allow them to
address 21st-century learning goals.
- Discover dance through creating, performing, analyzing,
understanding, responding to, connecting to, and evaluating dance
and dance forms.
- Step into a flexible dance curriculum that is appropriate for
one or more years of instruction.
- Build on their dance experience, whether they want to further
explore dance or choreography or otherwise factor dance into
college or career goals.
- Use student web resources to enhance their learning.
The book is divided into four parts and 16 chapters. Part I
focuses on the foundational concepts of dance and art processes,
wellness, safety, dance elements, and composition. Part II delves
into societal facets of dance, including historical, social, folk,
and cultural dance. In part III, students explore dance on stage,
including ballet, modern dance, jazz dance, and tap dance, and also
examine aspects of performance and production. Part IV rounds out
the course by preparing students for dance in college or as a
career and throughout life.
Each chapter helps students
- discover new dance genres;
- explore dance genres through its history, artists, vocabulary,
and significant works;
- apply dance concepts through movement, written, oral, visual,
technology, and multimedia assignments, thus deepening their
knowledge and abilities;
- enhance learning by completing in each chapter a portfolio
assignment; and
- use the Did You Know and Spotlight elements to expand on the
chapter content and gain more insight into dance artists,
companies, and events.
Learning objectives, vocabulary terms, and an essential question
at the beginning of each chapter prepare students for their
learning experience. Students then move through the chapter,
engaging in a variety of movement discovery, exploration, response,
and research activities. The activities and assignments meet the
needs of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners and help
students explore dance through vocabulary, history, culture,
creation, performance, and choreography.
This personal discovery is greatly aided by
technology--including learning experiences that require taking
photos; watching or creating short videos of dancers' performances;
creating timelines, graphs, drawings, and diagrams; and creating
soundscapes.
Chapters conclude with a portfolio assignment or project and a
chapter review quiz. A comprehensive glossary further facilitates
learning.
In addition, some chapters contain Explore More elements, which
trigger students to investigate selected dance styles on the web
resource. These sections offer students insight into various dance
genres and styles; for example, in the chapter on cultural dance,
students can explore more about street dances, Mexican folkloric
dance, African dance, Indian dance, and Japanese dance.
The online components further strengthen the book and enrich the
students' learning experience. These resources also help teachers
to prepare for and manage their classes. Here is an overview of the
resources:
Teacher Web Resource
- Learning objectives
- Extended learning activities
- Handouts and assignments that students can complete, save, and
print to turn in
- Explore More sections of selected chapters to introduce
students to additional social, folk, cultural, and contemporary
dance styles
- Chapter glossary terms both with and without the
definitions
- Chapter PowerPoint presentations
- Information on assessment tools
- Interactive chapter review quizzes
- Answer keys for handouts, assignment sheets, and quizzes
- Unit exams and answer sheets
- Video and audio clips for selected dance genres
- Web links and web search terms for resources to enhance the
learning
- Additional teacher resources to support and extend the
teaching and learning process (these resources include chapter
learning objectives, enduring understanding and essential
questions, chapter quotes, teacher-directed information to support
teaching specific activities, and web links)
Student Web Resource
- Handouts and assignments that students can complete, save, and
print to turn in
- Explore More sections of selected chapters to introduce
students to additional social, folk, cultural, and contemporary
dance styles
- Chapter glossary terms both with and without the definitions
so students can test their knowledge
- Information on assessment tools
- Interactive chapter review quizzes
- Video and audio clips for selected dance genres
- Web links and web search terms for resources to enhance the
learning
The availability of "Discovering Dance" as not only a print
book but also an e-book and an interactive iBook enhances its
ability to introduce students to the elements of dance and help
them discover new talents, desires, and delights as they explore
movement and dance.