Detailed example 1

Structured improvisation

Teacher calls out three to five action words, for example: arching, ambling, bouncing, bounding, cavorting, clumping, creeping, darting, dipping, diving, exploding, flopping, gliding, galloping, hobbling, jiggling, lurching, opening, perching.

Students respond with appropriate movements. These can be improvised individually, in pairs or in small groups. A single movement can be improvised and then paired with another; for example, arching with ambling.

Teacher calls out more action words: plodding, pouncing, preening, retreating, sashaying, scarpering, shuffling, sliding, skipping, slamming, spinning, swerving, twisting, tipping, trembling, whirling, wiggling, yanking.

Students respond with movements and take turns to lead the improvisation; for example, calling out combinations of words or changing words.

Using a range of strategies to explore ways of creating and sequencing movement ideas

Each student is allocated a flashcard or a line of a poem and asked to develop a movement phrase that communicates an aspect of the story or poem. Students then work collaboratively to combine the movement phrases and create transition sections.

Students create an improvisation that reinforces an aspect of the VCE Dance study content, such as GEFTTS. For example, students:

• develop a phrase in GEFTTS order
• re-create the phrase in a different order; for example, TFESGT 
• isolate movements from the phrase that represent specific movement categories; for example, T and F
• use these movements to join movement phrases in order to structure sections of a dance; for example, GEFTTS, T, TFESGT, F, GTEFTS
• change the music and apply a theme; for example, searching for somebody.

Improvisation based on a movement category, body action: gesture

Improvise gesturing with different body parts, and then select four different gestures.

Practise each gesture, and recall and explore through time and space by:

• extending the duration of the gesture
• varying the speed of the gesture
• repeating the gesture at different levels and in different directions
• travelling a gesture with a series of elevations
• including the gesture in a series of turns.

Detailed example 2

The choreographic process (ISARE)

Students complete the following activities.

Improvisation

• Make an action for each word called out (flick, dab, glide, wring, punch, press, float, slash)
• Experiment with moving to different soundscapes (using the internet, search the terms ‘soundscape’ + ‘dance’ to find a range of examples).

Selection

• Select movements from those created during the improvisation
• Link the actions together in any order, stressing smooth transitions between actions
• Add a starting and finishing position to the phrase.

Arrangement

• Order the phrases
• Add new phrases to link movements
• Repeat one of the actions in the phrase.

Refinement

• Develop the movement phrases created by, for example:
• changing the order of the actions by adding one or more of the movement categories (GEFTTS) into the phrase
• changing the direction of one or more actions
• changing the speed of one or more actions
• refining the transitions between movements
• refining arm lines
• taking one of the actions out of the phrase.

Performance of the movement phrase

• Perform the group of phrases and record on video.

Evaluation

• View the recorded performance and complete a written evaluation
• Reflect on the initial response to the task
• Note the general movement qualities used
• Note the body shapes that could be drawn.

Detailed example 3

Dance making: solo, duo or group

Task

Over approximately 12 weeks, using improvisation as a starting point, students select a range of movements to develop into a solo or group unified composition of approximately 3 minutes’ duration.

The dance should be performed with attention to safe dance practice.

The focus is on movement categories, physical skills and use of the performance space.

Weeks 1–2: Planning and research
Weeks 3–7: Choreographic process

Students are given the following directions:

Record and monitor the progress of your dance so that you do not forget your improvisation or choreography. Do this by either keeping a dance-maker’s journal to note ideas/movement or recording them electronically.

Perform your ‘work in progress’ three times:

• after week 4 (approximately 1 minute)
• after week 8 (1.5 to 2 minutes)
  
• after week 10 (almost complete).

Record the dance at each of these presentations.

Weeks 11 and 12: Rehearsal, preparing for performance and performance.

Following the performance, evaluate the dance work as follows:

• describe the form of the dance work
• outline the intention
• describe the use of physical skills and movement categories, and explain choices made
• identify challenges faced and achievements accomplished
• evaluate the dance performance.