Suggested Instructional Strategies Have students work in groups to create stories with a beginning, middle, and end. Ask each group to create a dance for its story, incorporating music, props, and costumes as appropriate. Compile their stories in a binder for future reference, incorporating the notations of the sequences. As a class, view a dance that portrays a theme.
Students use shadow puppets to provide their own interpretations of the same theme.
Ask each student to select a hat, think of a character who would wear it, and then create movements appropriate for that character. Have students expand this activity to character portraits, including information such as where they live and what they do. Guide them in critically examining gender or cultural stereotypes related to these characters. Ask students to report on their experiences. Discuss with the class how movements altered for one environment could be transformed to create a unique dance.