Composition (choreography) and improvisation are important skills for dancers to have. You can teach this as a separate class or as part of any other dance style. I often incorporate it into my contemporary and lyrical classes as I find these students are the most enthusiastic. It is something that all age groups can do with guidance and is a fantastic way to help students find their movement style, voice and connect with themselves as an artist. It helps build a sense of accomplishment and confidence. If you are not familiar with teaching these skills, it can be an overwhelming task. Below you will find a 1 hour lesson plan designed for students age 8 - 10 years (but could be used and adapted for other age groups and class lengths).
You will need:
A variety of music (try to stick to instrumental in various styles)
Body part cards (see attached file)
Quality of Movement cards (see attached file)
Direction/Speed/Level cards (see attached file)
Poster paper and marker
A safe dance space
Warm Up - Improvisation: 10 minutes
Ask each student for suggestions within a given topic (eg. body parts, feelings, locations). Let's use feelings for this example.
Write their suggestions in large size somewhere where they can see them. I use whiteboard marker on the mirrors but you can use poster paper and marker. If you have a very large number of students, maybe just pick different people each week to offer suggestions. Some examples of feelings could be: excited, nervous, angry, shy, expectant.
Tell the students that you are going to do an improvisation. Explain that you cannot get it wrong and however you want to express each word is OK. Encourage students to not just 'act out' each word (although this is a great place to start if they are new to improvisation). I ask open ended questions such as "what happens to our body when we feel angry?", "what qualities of movement do you think could show excited?", "can you tell me about a time you felt shy?". This helps the students to explore each emotion on a deeper, more meaningful level. Encourage them to not just use 'dance moves' that they learn in class, but that any movement is great.
Pick an instrumental piece of music. I like to use things that the students are not likely familiar with and are a bit 'weird'.
Tell the students that they need to move using their own ideas, don't talk, try not to copy others. I start them spread out in the room and not facing the mirrors.
Start with the first word. Say it out loud. Encourage them to move. When they are new to improvisation, this can feel very uncomfortable. I tell them that as long as they are moving, it is ok. They can start just walking around the room or on the floor if that helps. I ALWAYS improvise with my students. It helps them to get ideas, see that weird movements are good and makes them not feel 'watched'.
You can give them various instructions to help such as "try and move around the room"or "dance on a different level".
After 1 minute, call out the next word.
Continue until all the words have been explored.
At the conclusion of the improvisation, re-group and ask students to share about their experience. Eg. "What was your favourite word and why?", "which word did you find the most difficult?", "can you show us 2 movements you did during your improvisation?".
COMPOSITION - PART A - 5 Minutes
give each student 1 - 3 body part cards (depending on how many students are in the class). You could let them choose or hand them out randomly.
Ask them to come up with at least 3 different movements for their body part/s and practice them so they can remember.
Play instrumental background music.
Re-group and ask students to show their movements
COMPOSITION - PART B - 5 Minutes
Give each student the same amount of quality of movement cards as body part ones
Ask them to match each quality card with each body part. Eg. Head might be matched with shake.
Get them to pick their favourite movement from Part A for each body part and then apply the quality to it.
Repeat for all their body part cards.
Re-group and show each student's movements
COMPOSITION - PART C - 10 Minutes
Group students into small groups (3 - 5 students works well)
Ask each student to teach the others their body part/quality movement.
Get the group to decide which order to perform them in. It is easiest if they lay the cards out in a row in order so they can reference them.
Practice their group dance a few times then re-group and show each groups 'dance'.
COMPOSITION - PART D - 5 Minutes
Give each group direction/speed/level cards (now on referred to as DSL). They need the same amount as their group's body part cards. Get them to match one card to each set. They should now have 3 instructions for each movement (eg. Head, Shake, In a Circle OR Hips, swing, low level)
Ask the students to add these instructions to their movements to create another version of their dance.
Re-group and show.
COMPOSITION - PART E - 10 minutes
Ask students what else makes movement look more like a dance. This can involve places, different students doing different things, travel, use of cannon etc.
Ask the students to add some of these elements to their dance.
Get them to rehearse several times so that it is done from memory.
PERFORMANCE - 10 minutes
Ask each group to perform their dance to the other students.
After each routine, ask the audience for some feedback. Make sure this stays positive. You can ask questions such as "what do you think some of their body parts were?", "what was your favourite part and why?"
After each group has performed once, I like to get them to perform again and film it. Sometimes I do a Facebook live video, other times it is just for us.
DEBRIEF - 5 minutes
You can let each group watch their video back or can just talk from memory.
Ask students questions about their experience such as:
Did you enjoy the process?
What was your favourite step?
Did you prefer to work in a group or by yourself?
What do you think you did well?
What would you do differently next time?
Were you happy with the final product? Why/Why not?
Is there anything else you would like to tell me about today's class?
COOL DOWN - 5 minutes
Complete your regular cool down (gentle stretches, breathing exercises, meditation etc.)
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