Spring 2008

DCE 111C-01

Beginning Contemporary Dance Technique

Monday and Wednesday, 9:30-10:45am, HHP 152

Instructor: Jennifer Guy

Office: 220 G

Office Hours: By appointment

Email: jnguy@uncg.edu

Phone: 334-4064

Prerequisites/Corequisites: None. May be repeated for credit.

For Whom Planned: Dance majors and non-majors at the beginning level of contemporary dance.

Credits: 1 Credit Hour

Description

Development of technical skills in contemporary dance, including rhythmic perception and spatial awareness, with emphasis on aesthetic and expressive qualities that lead to performance.

Student Learning Goals

To the degree appropriate for the beginning level of modern dance training, students in this course will learn to:

1. Move contra-laterally during locomotion (left/right body halves in opposition).

2. Grasp and retain sequences of simple exercises and combinations.

3. Breathe appropriately and as needed while moving.

4. Anticipate the beat when required.

5. Maintain energy throughout each combination and a full class.

6. Demonstrate commitment/responsibility as appropriate in and out of class.

7. Demonstrate dynamic alignment (as appropriate to exercises/combinations in the class), avoiding fixed/rigid habitual holding in any part.

8. Move on the beat when required.

9. Show appropriate use of the legs as called for in an exercise/combination.

10. Show appropriate use of the feet as called for in an exercise/combination.

11. Show command of skills involving initiation of movement.

12. Show command of skills involving weight shift.

13. Show command of skills involving awareness of center.

14. Avoid extraneous tension in performing simple movements such as walks, skips, runs, etc.

15. Fulfill the time/counts given for each part of the movement.

16. Demonstrate attributes of/qualities in movement as specified.

17. Demonstrate clarity of body line in simple movement combinations.

18. Demonstrate clarity of spatial direction in simple movement combinations.

19. Perform set movement with confidence/full engagement.

20. Respond spontaneously to improvisational prompts, with confidence/full engagement.

Learning goals 1-20 mark distinct areas of skill in dance technique.  Excellence in dance artistry is a matter of developing a high degree of skill in each area and integrating these skills during the performance of movement.

Learning goal 6, 19 and 20 describe efforts/attitudes necessary for progress toward excellence in dance and indicate specific behaviors that demonstrate them.

Teaching Strategies
To enable student achievement of the learning goals, I will:

1. Demonstrate, explain, analyze, and lead explorations of movement exercises and combinations designed specifically to develop the skills required for achievement of learning goals 1-20;

2. Observe your daily work in class and (a) orally assess your achievement of learning goals 1-20, and (b) make recommendations for improvement in

achieving learning goals 1-20;

3. Provide a written assessment on the Dance Technique Feedback sheet of your achievement at mid-term and again near the end of the semester;

4. Provide opportunities for individual appointments in which we may discuss your learning efforts;

5. Provide opportunities for you to assess your own progress toward achievement of the learning goals.

Topical Outline

Warm-up exercises and combinations will remain fairly consistent over the course of the semester. Other exercises and combinations will develop over the course of the semester in length, speed, and in rhythmic and qualitative complexity so as to practice the integration of skills inherent to the achievement of learning goals 1-20.

Evaluation Methods and Guidelines for Assignments

The fundamental and ongoing assignments in this class are to:

1. Attend to movement material presented, as well as to explanations and analyses of its specific components.

2. Listen carefully to and apply all corrections and recommendations for improvement that I provide in class.

3. Learn the movement material with increasing speed and depth throughout the semester through observation, exploration, and practice.

4. Perform the movement material as accurately as possible each time you are called upon to do so.

5. Reflect in writing as assigned on your progress toward and actual achievement of the learning goals.

6. Observe other dancers and maintain an active role in creating a positive learning environment.

I will assess your progress toward and your actual achievement of the learning goals through:

1. Daily oral feedback to you and/or others on work done in class

2. Written mid-term and final evaluations of your achievement using the Dance Technique Feedback sheet

 3. Oral and/or written feedback of the accuracies and inaccuracies I perceive in your written self-assessments

*Not every student will receive individual feedback during each class, but all students will receive individual feedback regularly throughout the course of the semester. 

Your achievement in mastering the learning goals to the degree appropriate for this course, and as documented on the Dance Technique Feedback sheet, will provide the primary basis for calculating your final letter grade. Your attendance record, short movement assignments, overall progress and your written reflections on your progress will also contribute to your grade. 

The Dance Technique Feedback sheet is available at: http://www.uncg.edu/dce/syllabi/dtfs_111.html

In calculating the achievement component of the final grade, your mastery of the learning goals will be assessed to produce a final score that is aligned with grades as follows:

93-100                A

90-92                  A-

87-89                  B+

83-86                  B

80-82                  B-

77-79                  C+

73-76                  C

70-72                  C-

67-69                  D+

63-66                  D

60-62                  D-

below 60             F

Attendance Policy

Grades and Mastery of Material can improve only with regular attendance and active participation. You are allowed TWO ABSENCES during this course. Any extra absence will lower your final grade 1/3 of a letter grade. You are allowed to make up ONE extra absence in another contemporary technique class. Long-term injuries have to be discussed with the instructor and be treated accordingly. The relationship between attendance and your final letter grade is as follows:  1/3 of a letter grade will be deducted for each absence incurred over the two maximum absences allowed for this class. IE: If your grade is a "B" at the end of the semester, but you have a total of 4 absences, your final grade will be a "C+".

Observation, Participation, and Lateness Policy

If you arrive more than ten minutes late, please sit down and watch. If you are less than 10 minutes late, please quietly join the back of the class and begin working immediately, with as little distraction as possible.  If you are tardy (within 10 minutes of the start of class) two times or less, your grade is not affected; however, timely class arrival is strongly encouraged, and is critical to your safe participation, technical development, and professionalism. Arriving more than ten minutes late or leaving more than ten minutes early three times will count as an absence and will take your grade down 1/3 of a letter. When injured or ill (but not contagious), you may still be counted as present only if you attend class and record observations* to hand in at the end of the class period. However, this will NOT be counted as a day of participation in the class. The Dance Department requires an 80% participation rate. Students must dance in 24 out of the 30 meetings in classes that meet twice a week, and in 36 out of the 45 meetings in classes that meet three times a week to get credit for the course.  Sitting and watching a class does not count as participation. Students who do not meet the participation requirement for any reason will need to repeat the course.

*Observations: During observation, take notes and submit them. Notes should go beyond just listing what the combinations were. You must complete the following:

Your role as an observer is both teacher and student. Pick one student in the class to observe for the day. Take notes on what he or she does well, on the relationship between his/her work and the instructor’s corrections, and on what s/he could do differently in order to improve his/her technical and artistic skills. Compile a list of observations and suggestions to present to the student at the end of the class. Also make correlations between what you see, what you hear, and what you personally experience when you are physically participating in the class. How does observing class further enrich your kinesthetic and cognitive understanding of contemporary dance?

Special Cases

Situations such as serious illness, long-term injury, or family emergencies may be dealt with on an individual basis.  In some cases, students will be given an Incomplete to be made up within the next semester.  In other cases, I may recommend withdrawal from the course.

Make Up Class

Students may make up ONLY 1 class in another instructor’s technique class of the same level if permission is received from that instructor.  I must receive a signed paper from the other instructor (you get it signed and bring it to me) indicating your participation in his or her class in order to receive make-up credit.  See me before beginning this process.  Do not wait until the end of the semester to take your make-up class.

Class Conduct

Please be respectful of your fellow classmates, the instructor, and our art by being attentive and following studio etiquette at all times during class (if there are any questions as to the components of studio etiquette, please see me privately). I encourage you to ask relevant questions during class, but will not tolerate excessive chatting, socializing, or other distracting behavior. Class time needs to be reserved for refining and improving our craft and our bodies as artistic instruments.  For your own safety and enjoyment of this class, no eating or gum-chewing is allowed in the studio. Please turn off or silence all cellular phones and other electronic devices. Should there be a reason you need to have your cell phone out during class.

Appropriate Attire

No jeans, skirts, hats, chunky jewelry, short shorts or extra-baggy clothing. You are expected to dance barefoot. Please pull back long hair.

Expectations of you as a Student

In addition to maintaining the above outlined expectations, I also request the following:

1. To actively participate in class, work on corrections, practice and apply concepts and theories in combinations.  Always strive to reach new capacities and discoveries;

2. To ask questions if anything is unclear; 

3. To keep an open mind toward working the body in a new way while draw upon previous knowledge of and experiences in dance.

Expectations of me as your Instructor

1. To also maintain the above guidelines while sharing with you my knowledge and experiences of ballet as clearly as possible

2. To be prepared for class and to provide you with clear and respectful feedback in the form of verbal and manual corrections; 

3. To be available for you to approach me with any questions or concerns you might have regarding any aspects of this course, my teaching, or your progress.

Please look at the UNCG Dance Department Website (www.uncg.edu/dce) under “Syllabi” for Dance Technique Feedback Sheets, definitions of skills, alignment statement, scores in technique classes, etc.)

Important Dates

January 21 – School Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

February 25-Video Day

February 27- Video Observation Day

March 3- Midterm Conferences. Please bring video observation to conference

March 8-16 – Spring Break

April 9- Video Day

April 21- Video Observation Day

April 23- Bring your written observation to class

May 5 – Last Day of Class