Dances for an Expanding Universe

Dances for an Expanding Universe
© S. Harlan Brownlee, Dances for an Expanding Universe, All Rights Reserved 2013 www.ArtsInEducation.net
This workshop was developed in association with the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
with Harlan Brownlee

© S. Harlan Brownlee 2013
Introduction
www.ArtsInEducation.net

Arts Integration is…
an APPROACH
to TEACHING in which
students construct and demonstrate
UNDERSTANDING
through an
ART FORM.
Students engage in a
CREATIVE PROCESS
which CONNECTS
an art form and another subject area
and meets
EVOLVING OBJECTIVES in both.
--The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Workshop Leader’s Experience
Grounded in 30 years of experience
www.ArtsInEducation.net © S. Harlan Brownlee 2013

Enduring Understanding
Dance is a language

Essential Questions
• What are the elements of dance?
• How do I integrate them into my classroom?
• How will integrating dance help my students?
• How do I develop my students’ movement literacy?

Our Workshop
• Introduction & Overview
• Activity I - The Gravity Dance Improvisation
• Newton’s Laws of Motion
• Break
• Activity II - Our Solar System / Theme and
Variation
• Reflection & Closure
© S. Harlan Brownlee 2013www.ArtsInEducation.net

Preparation
• Materials
• Preface the lesson
• Check for prior knowledge
• Review background information
• Newton’s Law of Inertia
• The Law of Universal Gravitation
F = G
m1m2
r2

Warm-up
Moving Through Space
Awareness of:
The Other Dancers
The Space between Dancers
The Kinespheres around each Dancer
(including your own Kinesphere)

Warm-ups
• The Moving Wall
Increase the students’ awareness of space
• Straight and Parallel Lines
Introduce the concept of pathways
• Circles and Arcs
Prepare students for circle and arcing

Demonstration

Student Reflection
How can the group improve upon
moving through space?
What is most challenging about
moving through space?

Gravity Dance Improvisation
• Teacher Demonstration of
Gravitational Attraction
• Student Pairs
• Teacher Demonstration of Four
Outcomes between Inertia &
Gravity

Inertia Wins
1
1 2
2 3
3

Inertia & Gravity in Balance
1
1 2
2 3
3

Gravity Wins
1
1 2
2 3
3

Gravity Disrupts Inertia & Gravity
in Balance
1
1 2
2 3
3

• Student Pairs & Trios
1. Demonstrate and elaborate
2. Clarify misunderstandings
3. Show the students they can complete
successfully
• Choreography - Trios
1. Students decide on the sequence
2. Students show work

Student Reflection
• What patterns did you notice?
• What was similar or different in the
patterns?
• What order of outcomes did you
see used?

• Teacher Demonstration
• Outcomes can be sequenced
together in a structured improvisation
• Student Trios
• Students create their own structured
gravity dance improvisation
• Whole Group Improvisation
• Variations

Student Reflection
• Dance questions
• How did you transition from one outcome to the
next? See the decision tree.
• What patterns did you notice about the dance
improvisation? (What did you think or see?)
• How did the music change the dance
improvisation?

Student Reflection
• Astronomy questions
• Where do you see examples of inertia and
gravity?
• What are the results of these forces acting
on masses?

Teacher Reflection
• How did the activities guide the creative
process?
• What structures were used to:
• Manage the movement?
• Give them the needed skill set?
• How did the students demonstrate they
understood the concepts?
• How was differentiated learning incorporated?

Preparation
• Materials
• Preface the lesson
• Check for prior knowledge
• Review background information
• Use the photographs & astronomy glossary
as a prompt

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Warm-up
• Name Game
1. Establish movement motifs
2. Create astronomical movement motifs
• Model the Name Game
1. Demonstrate creating a motif based on
an astronomical idea

Warm-up
• Small Groups: Name Game
1. Each individual creates a motif for
an astronomical vocabulary term
2. Small groups show work

Student Reflection
• Choices demonstrate
•Critical Thinking
•Making Connections – Meaning
Making
•Explain why you made the choices
you did?

Solar System Theme & Variations
• Demonstrate the creation of a motif
• Based on planets’ characteristics or
qualities
• Student teams create a motif
• Based on characteristic or fact about
the planet

Small Groups
• The motif choreographed should have
• at least two main ideas
• be 20 to 50 seconds in length
• communicate accurate science and/or
literary information
• student teams show work

Fact Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
diameter
(Earth=1)
0.382 0.949 1 0.532 11.209 9.44 4.007 3.883
diameter (km) 4,878 12,104 12,756 6,787 142,800 120,000 51,118 49,528
mass (Earth=1) 0.055 0.815 1 0.107 318 95 15 17
orbital period
(Earth years)
0.24 0.62 1 1.88 11.86 29.46 84.01 164.8
rotation period (in
Earth days)
58.65 -243^ 1 1.03 0.41 0.44 -0.72^ 0.72
mean temperature
at surface (C)
-180 to
430
465
-89 to
58
-82 to
0
-150 -170 -200 -210
gravity at equator
(Earth=1)
0.38 0.9 1 0.38 2.64 0.93 0.89 1.12
mean density
(water=1)
5.43 5.25 5.52 3.93 1.33 0.71 1.24 1.67
atmospheric
composition
none CO2
N2 +
O2
CO2 H2+He H2+He H2+He H2+He
number of moons 0 0 1 2 63 60 27 13
rings? no no no no yes yes yes yes

Student Reflection
• What did you notice about the
motifs presented?
• Explain why you made the
choices you did
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© S. Harlan Brownlee 2013

The Elements of Dance
• Teacher Demonstration
• Variation on a motif using the
elements of dance (BEST)
• Small Groups
• The student teams work on creating
variations using the elements of
dance

Body Energy
Body Parts
head, trunk, arms, hands, etc.
Body Action
flexion, extension, rotation, adduction,
abduction
Shift of Weight
in place (axial)
moving through space (non-axial)
Basic
sustained, shaking, percussive, swinging
Advanced
Force
strong, medium, light
Flow of energy
free, bound
Direction of energy
expansive, contracting
Space Time
Level
high, medium, low, ground, air
Direction
forward, backward, sideways, diagonals
Locomotor Skills
walk, skip, gallop, hop, jump, leap, run
Pathway
curved, zigzag, straight indirect, combination
Focus
inward, outward, broad, specific
Spatial Planes
vertical, horizontal, lateral
small, medium, large
Tempo (speed)
slow, medium, fast, accelerate, decelerate
Rhythm
pulse, accent, meter, syncopation

Student Reflection
• Dance questions
• Why did you make the choreographic
choices?
• What elements did you change from the
original motif?
• How did your variation enhance our
understanding of the science concept?

Student Reflection
• Astronomy questions
• What were the most interesting or
intriguing characteristics of the planet?
• Why?

Teacher Reflection
• Did constructing my understanding of
the science concepts through dance
deepen my comprehension?
• What are the benefits of integrating
movement and dance?
• What other concepts can be taught
with theme and variation?
• What other skills or competencies
are students learning?

Closure
• Summary of Workshop
• Summary Sheets
• The Gravity Dance
Improvisation
• Our Solar System / Theme
and Variation
• Evaluations

Dances for an Expanding Universe

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