Reflection 3 Dance

My third reflection is on the dance workshop that we learnt in week 5 which focused on Character Education and Mental Health, in connection with the Arts Critical Analysis Process.

Arts Curriculum

            I would definitely like to use the creative analysis process in my future classroom when I engage in dance related activities with the students. I like how through the analysis process students can deepen their understanding and critically reflect on the theme of the lesson. Students will be able to describe their first impressions; examine the work closely; interpret and analysis the theme and view; reflect back to their first impression and see how it has changed or not after further understanding the work; and lastly see a connection of how our views about the world around us inform our understanding of works in the arts.

            In the workshop that we participated in, the character education theme was respect. Respect connects with be tolerant of differences, using good manners, being considerate of others feelings and how to deal with anger, insults and disagreements in peaceful ways. The book that we used as an inspiration with the theme was by David Shannon, titled A Bad Case of Stripes.

Spiers. A. (2017).  Week 5 Dance (PowerPoint Slides) Retrieved from

https://lms.brocku.ca/portal/site/EDBE8P48D13FW2016LEC002/page/c0f18f76-1b58-4871-bbc7-ae56e3556964

I really appreciated how our instructor Amy Spiers, read part of the book to us and not the whole book at once. I like how the suspense was built and how we got to engage in the critical analysis process to further understand the theme and our emotions in relation to the literature.

First Step of activity:

After we read part of the book, we engaged in creating tableaux’s relating to how we would feel as the target character Camilla and how we would feel and present ourselves as the various different bully characters from the story. This would connect with the initial reaction of the story in the critical analysis process.

Arts Curriculum

Second Step of the activity:

            We then went into slow motion transition from the tableaux position of Camilla to the tableaux position of the bullies. We did a 5 second transition from one tableaux position to the other. Then we added a word to represent our tableaux positions as the victim and as the bully. 

Third Step of the activity:

                We then worked in groups of 5-6 members and worked on the strategy Role on the Wall. 

Arts Curriculum

While working with this strategy, we drew a star/body outline onto chart paper to represent Camilla. Inside the outline we wrote down words to describe the emotions of Camilla and on the outside of the outline we wrote positive and negative words that she would hear around her.

Role On The Wall

Fourth Step of the Activity:

Then as a group we were given a set of cards that we needed to sort into 3 columns. The first column was words that would connect with the bully, the second column was words that connect with the target Camilla and lastly the middle column was words that we were unsure of or that connect with both the bully and the target.

 Fifth Step of the Activity:

            Then we engaged in the Cat and Mouse Strategy in which you work in pairs and one person from the partnership creatively moves like the bully and freezes into a position. Then the next partner moves like the target and freezes and then this type of dance movement exchange continues between the two individuals. We could use the cards that we sorted in step four as an inspiration to help us create movements related to both the target and bully.

                        Cat and Mouse Strategy 

Sixth Step of the Activity:

            We then were asked to create an opening pose as a group. One member was Camilla in the middle of the circle and the rest of us were the bullies standing around her. We said words that were from the bullies’ perspectives and the target person said words from Camilla’s perspective.

Seventh Step in the Activity:

            We then engaged in the theme and variation dance form. We put everything together through using the opening pose as a group, then performed theme and variation individually then did the cat and mouse part with our partner, then did the theme and variation individually again and lastly ended with a closing pose as a group. 

Arts Curriculum

Eighth Step in the Activity:

            This was the closing activity and it really resonated with me and left a huge impact in terms of my understanding of the theme and perspective of the character Camilla from the book. This step connected with step 2 in which we performed our tableaux positions as the target and as the bully. This time as we performed our tableaux positions and transitioned from target to bully, the instructor came around to tap us. When we were individually tapped then we were to say the word based on the tableaux position we were in. So if we were tapped when we were in the bully tableaux position then we would say a word that the bullies would say to the target or if we were in the target tableaux position then we would say words from the perspective of Camilla. This was a great activity and left a big impact on me once I heard all the words that connected either with the bully or the target. It really helped me put the story into perspective and made me feel connected with the character.

            
          As a future Arts teacher, I will definitely use this workshop to teach my students to respect one another and celebrate individual differences. Rather than just reading the book, I felt that this workshop really helped me be apart of the story and understand the importance of the character education theme. I feel that students would be able to actively engage in the critical analysis process through participating in this activity and further understand the roles of the characters in the book.    

        

Special Education Focus:

            This activity can be adapted and differentiated for Students with Cerebral Palsy by using more upper body, gross motor movements to present the dance sequence. Furthermore, scarves could be used to represent the movements of the target and the bully. Also,sand could be incorporated into the dance sequence so that the students can make movements using their fingers and hands to represent their views as the target and as the bully.