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Enduring Understanding: As dance is experienced, all personal experiences, knowledge, and contexts are integrated and synthesized to interpret meaning.
Essential Question(s): How does dance deepen our understanding of ourselves, other knowledge, and events around us?
Process Component(s): Synthesize

Performance Standard(s):
a. Relate connections found between different dances and discuss the relevance of the connections to the development of one’s personal perspectives. b. Investigate two contrasting topics using a variety of research methods. Identify and organize ideas to create representative movement phrases. Create a dance study exploring the contrasting ideas. Discuss how the research informed the choreographic process and deepens understanding of the topics.

Enduring Understanding: Criteria for evaluating dance vary across genres, styles, and cultures
Essential Question(s): What criteria are used to evaluate dance?
Process Component(s): Critique

Performance Standard(s):
Use artistic criteria to determine what makes an effective performance. Consider content, context, genre, style, or cultural movement practice to comprehend artistic expression. Use genre-specific dance terminology.

Enduring Understanding: Dance is interpreted by considering intent, meaning, and artistic expression as communicated through the use of the body, elements of dance, dance technique, dance structure, and context.
Essential Question(s): How is dance interpreted?
Process Component(s): Interpret

Performance Standard(s):
Select a dance and explain how artistic expression is achieved through relationships among the elements of dance, use of body, dance technique, dance structure, and context. Cite evidence in the dance to support your interpretation using genre-specific dance terminology.

Enduring Understanding: Dance is perceived and analyzed to comprehend its meaning.
Essential Question(s): How is a dance understood?
Process Component(s): Analyze

Performance Standard(s):
a. Describe, demonstrate and discuss patterns of movement and their relationships in dance in context of artistic intent. b. Explain how the elements of dance are used in a variety of genres, styles, or cultural movement practices to communicate intent. Use genre-specific dance terminology.

Enduring Understanding: Dance performance is an interaction between performer, production elements, and audience that heightens and amplifies artistic expression.
Essential Question(s): How does a dancer heighten artistry in a public performance?
Process Component(s): Present

Performance Standard(s):
a. Demonstrate leadership qualities (e.g. commitment, dependability, responsibility, and cooperation) when preparing for performances. Use performance etiquette and performance practices during class, rehearsal and performance. After the performance, accept notes from choreographer and apply corrections to future performances. Document efforts and create a plan for ongoing improvements. b. Collaborate to design and execute production elements that would intensify and heighten the artistic intent of a dance performed on a stage, in a different venue, or for different audiences. Explain reasons for choices using production terminology.

Enduring Understanding: Dancers use the mind-body connection and develop the body as an instrument for artistry and artistic expression.
Essential Question(s): What must a dancer do to prepare the mind and body for artistic expression?
Process Component(s): Embody

Performance Standard(s):
a. Embody technical dance skills (e.g., functional alignment, coordination, balance, core support, clarity of movement, weight shifts, flexibility/range of motion) to replicate, recall, and execute spatial designs and musical or rhythmical dance phrases. b. Evaluate personal healthful practices in dance activities and everyday life including nutrition and injury prevention. Discuss choices made, the effects experienced, and methods for improvement. c. Collaborate with peers to discover strategies for achieving performance accuracy, clarity, and expressiveness. Articulate personal performance goals and practice to reach goals. Document personal improvement over time (e.g., journaling, portfolio, or timeline).

Enduring Understanding: Space, time, and energy are basic elements of dance.
Essential Question(s): How do dancers work with space, time and energy to communicate artistic expression?
Process Component(s): Express

Performance Standard(s):
a. Sculpt the body in space and design body shapes in relation to other dancers, objects, and environment. Use focus during complex floor and air patterns and/or pathways. b. Analyze and select metric, kinetic, and breath phrasing and apply appropriately to dance phrases. Perform dance phrases of different lengths that use various timings within the same section. Use different tempi in different body parts at the same time. c. Direct energy and dynamics in such a way that movement is textured. Incorporate energy and dynamics to technique exercises and dance performance. Use energy and dynamics to enhance and project movements.

Enduring Understanding: Choreographers analyze, evaluate, refine, and document their work to communicate meaning
Essential Question(s): How do choreographers use self-reflection, feedback from others, and documentation to improve the quality of their work?
Process Component(s): Revise

Performance Standard(s):
a. Revise choreography collaboratively or independently based on artistic criteria, self-reflection, and the feedback of others. Articulate the reasons for choices and revisions and explain how they clarify and enhance the artistic intent. b. Experiment with aspects of a recognized system and use the system to document one or more sections of a dance (e.g., writing, a form of notation symbols, or using media technologies).

Enduring Understanding: The elements of dance, dance structures, and choreographic devices serve as both a foundation and a departure point for choreographers.
Essential Question(s): What influences choice-making in creating choreography?
Process Component(s): Plan

Performance Standard(s):
a. Collaborate to select and apply a variety of choreographic devices and dance structures to choreograph an original dance study or dance with a clear artistic intent. Articulate the group process for making movement and structural choices. b. Define and apply artistic criteria to choreograph a dance that communicates personal or cultural meaning. Discuss how the criteria clarify or intensify the meaning of the dance.

Enduring Understanding: Choreographers use a variety of sources as inspiration and transform concepts and ideas into movement for artistic expression.
Essential Question(s): Where do choreographers get ideas for dances?
Process Component(s): Explore

Performance Standard(s):
a. Implement movement from a variety of stimuli (e.g., music, observed dance, literary forms, notation, natural phenomena, personal experience/recall, current news or social events) to develop dance content for an original dance study or dance. b. Identify and select personal preferences to create an original dance study or dance. Use genre-specific dance terminology to articulate and justify choices made in movement development to communicate intent.