Search the California Content Standards

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. Explore movement inspired by a variety of stimuli (e.g., music/sound, text, objects, images, symbols, observed dance, experiences) and identify the source. b. Explore a variety of locomotor and non-locomotor movements by experimenting with and changing the elements of dance.

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. Improvise a series of movements that have a beginning, middle, and end, and describe movement choices. b. Choose movements that express an idea or emotion, or follow a musical phrase.

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):
Explore suggestions to change movement from guided improvisation and/or short remembered sequences.

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. Demonstrate locomotor and non-locomotor movements that change body shapes, levels, and facings. Move in straight, curved, and zigzagged pathways individually and with others. Find and return to place in space. b. Relate quick, moderate and slow movements to duration in time. Recognize steady beat and move to varying tempi of steady beat. c. Demonstrate movement characteristics along with descriptive vocabulary (e.g., use adverbs and adjectives that apply to movement).

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. Demonstrate a range of locomotor and non-locomotor movements, body patterning, body shapes, and directionality. b. Move safely in general space through a range of activities and group formations while maintaining and changing personal space. c. Modify movements and spatial arrangements upon request.

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. Dance for others in a space where audience and performers occupy different areas. b. Explore the use of props to enhance performance.

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. Find a movement that repeats in a dance to make a pattern. b. Demonstrate and describe observed or performed dance movements from a specific genre or culture.

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 movements from a dance that suggest ideas and explain how the movement captures the idea using simple dance terminology.

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):
Identify and demonstrate several movements in a dance that attracted attention. Describe the characteristics that make the movements interesting and talk about why they were chosen.

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. Find an experience expressed or portrayed in a dance that relates to a familiar experience. Identify the movements that communicate this experience. b. Discuss observations from a story. Identify ideas for dance movement and demonstrate the big ideas of the story.