High School Lesson Plan

Standard: Students will understand choreographic principles, processes, and structures

Indicator of Achievement: Students will use improvisation to generate movement for choreography

Materials: music

Activity: Begin with three axial movements -- bend, stretch and twist. Have the dancers improvise with these ideas until each person has several patterns. Encourage them to try movements that feel "new" to them.

Play music. Lesson Plans for the students might be to "move to a new location using at least two locomotor movements. Gobble up the space, be stingy with the space, use a curvilinear path -- low level and high elements." Give many options with each new ingredient. "Play with the time, the energy, the direction; add a surprise. Move to the music; go against the music."

Share the improvisations in small groups. Have the individual student choose selected movements, memorize and practice them and then share his or her dance with the class.

Assessment: Discuss the variety of movements that were generated through the improvisational process.

Adapted from a draft of Delaware's "Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum Framework"