DANCE YEAR 34 Mind Map DANCE Engage young

DANCE YEAR 3/4

Mind Map DANCE

Engage young learners in dance by exposing them to different types of dance and dancers. For example Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’.

Aboriginal Dance

Characteristics of Aboriginal dance in Australia • Aboriginal Dance is used for storytelling and passing on lessons through the generations. Many dances include the portrayal of native animals. Aboriginal dance is associated with music and instruments such as the didgeridoo. • Introduce the students to traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance. Allow the students to watch the videos: • Dance of the Kangaroo and Emu (Total 1. 36 sec. ) • Kangaroo dance (Total 1. 43 sec. )

Importance of Animals

Kangaroo Movements Wombat Movements Create a word bank of different ‘moving’ words • Hopping • Digging • Jumping • Crawling • Bouncing • Burrowing • Whipping • Scratching • Twitching

Time to Perform! • Students will form a circle and listen to a 2 min section from Lioness Eye. While the students are listening ask them to think of a Kangaroo, think of how a kangaroo would move in the bush. Ask the students to mimic the animal by jumping, hopping, scratching etc. The first student will move into the circle and perform their dance move. The rest of the students will copy their move exactly. Continue around the circle until each student has had a turn of creating a new move.

Choosing a text… • The students will be given the task to create a dance from the Dreamtime story Mirram The Kangaroo and Warreen The Wombat. Allow the students to watch the Dreamtime story.

• The story incorporates a Kangaroo, a wombat and 2 Aboriginal men. This story is easy to adapt for dance as it can be differentiated for all abilities. • Students will be allocated a role: Mirram, Warreen, Cockatoo Group, Emu Group, Instrument Players. • Students will brainstorm how they would like to represent their characters through dance. Thinking about what types of movements there animal might use e. g. hopping, crawling, digging, jumping etc. • Setting the scene: Students will take there position, Mirram and Warreen are the leads and will be portraying two men that are having a great time. • The cockatoo, emu and instrumental groups will take up their position around the men. • The students are able to select 1 of the 2 Xavier Rudd songs to perform their dance too, which one is more suitable? Remind the students that the dance doesn’t have to follow the storyline perfectly. They can think of new ways to interpret the story. • For their final performance the students may use body paint.

Warreen Mirram Emus Cockatoos Instrument Players

Choreography 1. Music begins - Xavier Rudd – 3 Roads 2. Students are separated into their groups. The cockatoo group is placed near a tree, the emu group is placed near another tree, the instrumental group is placed at the front of the stage. 3. Mirram and Warreen are walking/dancing, they might be representing hunting, eating. These 2 students need to have fun with these dance moves. 4. Narration begins. The narrator begins telling the story of Mirram and Warreen. 5. As the music intensifies, 5 students will use clapstick to count 10 beats. This will represent the fight that is beginning to emerge between the 2 men.

6. The student representing Mirram will change their dancing to appear more aggressive, using their hands to clap and make sounds, stomping their feet aggressively on the ground. 7. As Warreen throws the spear the student representing Mirram will begin hopping and jumping. They will look confused and frightened. 8. The instrumental group will use their clapsticks to count 5 fast beats. While this is happening the cockatoo and emu groups will change their dancing to suit the atmosphere i. e. happy, angry, sad. 9. Create a 5 sequence move for the student representing Mirram to follow, using the movements thought of during the brainstorm (1. Hop on left foot, 2. Hop on right foot, 3. Circle the head, 4. Scratch the chest. 5. Stand up straight) Repeat this sequence.

10. Mirramm crawls back to his hut where he digs a burrow (students can use digging movements, using both their front and back legs). 11. As the two animals find their own space, they begin stomping/jumping to the beat of the music. 12. All students will begin to form a semi-circle and bow in canon. 13. Lights dim and music ends.