Middle School Lesson Plan

Standards: Students will:

• review the elements of dance, i.e., locomotor and non-locomotor movement, time, space, energy
• review the elements of visual arts, i.e., line/shape, color and texture
• create a project which reveals similarities and differences between dance and the visual arts

Preparation: Bring in paintings by local artists. Discuss one of the paintings with the entire class. Have the students point out the artist's color, line and space, and texture choices. Discuss how these elements might translate to movement, e.g. reds might be dynamic, explosive, big, and bold; blues might be calm, flowing, curved, and smooth.

Activity: Divide the class into groups of four, giving each group a painting. Give them time to discuss the visual art elements: color, line, space, and texture. Number the students 1 through 4. Number 1 in each group creates a movement for the colors in the groups' painting; 2, a movement to recreate the space; 3 works with texture; 4 recreates the lines. Each teaches his/her study to the other group members and they decide collectively how to order the movement phrases to make a dance. Have them perform their dances for the class. Discuss the choices made and the similarities and differences between dance and the visual arts-- time being an obvious difference.

Assessment: Have the students develop rubrics to assess their choreographic choices, their performance, their ability to work with their group. Perhaps videotape the dances for student portfolios. Have students write a critique of their dance, relating their movement choices to the painting they danced.