Inspired by Animals? Of Course!

Animals have inspired many composers and choreographers.  By exploring animals through creative dance concepts, students improvised dances.

Concepts we explored were:
ENERGY
FORCE:  powerful or delicate
TIME/ TEMPO:  unhurried (adagio)  or quick (allegro)
FLOW:  staccato/ detached  or legato/smooth/ flowing

SPACE
LEVELS: low, middle, high
PATHWAYS: straight, curved, zigzag

Students danced to "Olympic Fanfare" using unhurried and quick movements.  They became giants and fairies in "Cross Dance."

Students explored the various movements of mini-beasts.  They analyzed the movements of six different mini-beasts, and organized them to give variety to their dance piece.

Photos and videos will follow.

Students have been listening to pieces from Camille Saint-Saens "Carnival of the Animals." Saint-Saens wrote humorous compositions about various animals. Your daughter can listen to the entire piece here.

 Using the dance language above, they were able to describe how they could move to each of the varied movements.