Page 51 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: The Arts, 2010

OVERVIEW
Dance at the Grade 9 and 10 level introduces students to the notions that movement is
a medium of expression and that the human body is an instrument. Dance transforms images, ideas, and feelings into movement sequences. Learning in dance requires a balance of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and embraces movement, creation, and performance. Appreciation of dance expands students’ awareness of the richness of various cultures around the world. The study and practice of composition provide students with the essential building blocks that support lifelong interest in, appreciation of, and curiosity about dance.
Students develop their kinesthetic awareness and use the elements of dance (body, space, time, energy, and relationship) to compose dance creations. Students also develop dance technique, which emphasizes physiological and safety factors while allowing them to enhance their ability to use the body and all its parts for creative expression.
The art of dance should be shared. Through informal presentations and more formal performances, students use dance to communicate their aesthetic and personal values. By experiencing, analysing, and commenting on the performances of others, students enhance their understanding of the values of other dance artists and cultures.
Students learn about the dynamic relationship between process and product through creating their own choreography and interpreting existing dance works. They also develop their understanding of the role of dance in various cultures, societies, and historical periods.
The expectations for courses in dance are organized into three distinct but related strands:
1. Creating and Presenting: Students use the creative process (see pages 14–16) to create, re-create, and present dance composition in a variety of contexts. The effective use
of this process requires a nurturing environment that encourages students to explore their ideas freely and without inhibition. Creative work in dance involves the realiza- tion of exercises, explorations, experiments, dance works, and productions through the development of students’ abilities, skills, and competencies.
2. Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing: The critical analysis process (see pages 16–20) at this level promotes rational and logical thinking for learning in, about, and through dance. Students respond to, analyse, reflect on, and evaluate dance performances; explore and research the forms and functions of dance; and begin to understand dance as a universal language.
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DANCE