12 April 2017
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Training
How to be your own choreographer
AND's third INSET of the year was led by Studio Wayne McGregor. Learn some techniques to use with your students below
This was A New Direction’s third INSET of the year and was led by the fantastic Jasmine Wilson of Studio Wayne McGregor. A full and practical day of dance, the focus was on equipping teachers with greater awareness and control of natural movement skills, access deeper levels of creative potential, and developing their own choreographic voice – regardless of the dance experience of expertise in the room.
Below are step-by-step guidelines of some of the exercises teachers took part in and could be used with children and young people to inspire them to think differently about dance.
5 POINTS CHOREOGRAPHY
1) Ask the children/students to create 5 points in the space around them.
TOP TIPS:
- Be specific
- Think about range e.g. levels and space, some close some far
- Remember behind you and the floor
- Ask the children to go back to the start of their sequence every time a new movement is added. This will help them remember the movements
2) Ask the children/students to connect Point 1 and Point 2 with a body part and a shape e.g. draw a straight line with your elbow between point 1 and point 2
3) Ask the children/students to connect Point 2 and Point 3 with another body part and another shape e.g. draw a curve with your belly button between point number 2 and number 3
4) Continue this until there is a body part creating a shape between all of the parts
5) Practice a few times
6) Split the room into groups, add music and go!
USING IMAGES AS A “MAP” FOR CHEOGRPAHY
Share images with children and ask them to interpret them via six moves (or less depending on the children's' age). This can be done solo, in pairs or, for young children, in a whole group.
Ask them to think about:
- Floor space
- Creating a 3D Object
- Using different body parts
- Behind Space
Practice, add music, and share.
TOP TIP:
- Colour, shapes, textures of the pictures can all be used as inspiration
MAIN TAKE AWAY FROM THE DAY
These tasks can be applied to a range of visual images either imagined/created in the ‘minds eye’ or tangible. Images can come from a huge range of sources and can be related to curriculum topics e.g. Roman architecture, the work of a specific artist etc.
