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African Dance African Dance Programme Resource Kit prepared by Harbourfront Centre School Visits Educators School Visits Programme Grades 4-8, 9-12 Welcome to Harbourfront Centre! African Dance Thank you for choosing to visit Harbourfront During this visit, your students will learn the Centre! We offer programmes that are routes and rhythms of African Dance. interactive and fun, and that appeal to a variety of learning styles. African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa , and more appropriately Harbourfront Centre is an innovative, non-profit African dances because of the many cultural cultural organization which provides differences in musical and movement styles. internationally renowned programming in the These dances must be viewed in close arts, culture, education and recreation, all connection with African music , as many within a collection of distinctive venues in the African languages have no word to define heart of Toronto's downtown waterfront. music. These dances teach social patterns and We trust that you will enjoy your stay with us, values and help people work, mature, praise or and that we will see you again in the future, criticize members of the community while whether for another school visit, or for one of celebrating festivals and funerals, competing, our many other exciting events. reciting history, proverbs and poetry; and to encounter gods. The Structure of Your Visit The lesson at Harbourfront Centre will focus When you arrive at Harbourfront Centre, you primarily on African rhythm and Gumboot will be greeted by one of our representatives. Dance from South Africa. Gumboot (or At this time, payment will be taken care of. isicathulo) is a contemporary dance form that is You will then be introduced to your instructors performed by dancers wearing Wellington for the day, and taken to your “classroom.” boots. In South Africa these are more Your class will then receive a brief introduction commonly called gumboots . to Harbourfront Centre and then your program will begin. The boots may be embellished with bells, so How to use this Kit that they ring as the dancers stamp on the ground. This sound would be a code or a This kit has been created to compliment our different calling to say something to another program and give you an opportunity to extend person a few distances away. It was used as your c lasses’ learning across the curriculum. their language in the mining grounds since This kit includes: miners were not permitted to talk. The dance is very popular and performed all over the world. Pre-Visit Activities: The pre-visit activities are Some believe it to be the root of the popular useful for activating your students’ prior contemporary dance called Step or Stomp. knowledge of the topic of your visit. They will introduce your class to some of the topics that will be covered in order to make some of the discussions even richer. On-Site Assessment Tools: During your visit you will have the opportunity to stand back and observe your students. We have provided some tools here to help you assess their learning. Post-Visit Activities: These activities will give you the opportunity to capitalize on the excitement that your students will feel towards the topics explored during their visit to Harbourfront Centre. The activities will make a number of cross-curricular connections, and will provide further opportunity for assessment. Links to Learning: This section will provide you with a variety of resources that will be helpful to you should you decide to continue exploring the topics covered in your visit. Pre-visit Activities The following lessons are for use before your visit to Harbourfront Centre. The intention of these lessons is to activate the prior knowledge of your students and to briefly introduce some of the ideas that will be covered during your session. These activities, of course, are not mandatory, but will enrich the discussions that your students will engage in with our instructors, and the overall Harbourfront Centre School Visits experience. Activity #1 Overview Students will use “think/pair/share” to activate prior knowledge. Curriculum Links • Arts – Drama and Dance – Knowledge of Elements • History • Language - Media Literacy – Understanding Media forms, Conventions, and Techniques. Materials needed • Individual KWL chart • Larger KWL chart prepared on chart paper • Post-it notes Activation 1. Explain to students that during your field trip to Harbourfront Centre, they will be exploring various rhythms through African Dance. 2. Ask students where they might have seen African or African influenced dance before or if they can name any of the popular styles or regions of origin. 3. Distribute KWL Chart. Ask students to think individually about what they think they know about African Dance. See if, with in this thought process, they can figure out what and where the dances are from. They can write a few ideas in the K (or Know) section of their chart. They may also write some questions they have in the W (or What I am wondering) section of their chart at this time. Group Work 4. After students have had some time to get their own ideas down, have them pair up with another student to share what they know, and what they are wondering. They may wish to add to their ideas after a discussion. 5. Ask the pairs to write down one or two of their most important ideas on post-it notes, as well as one or two of their questions. 6. As a whole class, have pairs present their ideas and questions and add them to the larger class KWL chart. Closing 7. Explain to the class that during their visit to Harbourfront Centre they will learn how to make rhythms with their hands and with their feet and that African dance cultures are heavily based on rhythm. 8. Explain that there are many sub categories of African dance because they evolved throughout communities and events over a long period of time. Sometimes, like in the case of Gumboot, the dances developed because of a social political issue. 9. With the help of the students, arrange the post-it notes into categories. When organized in this fashion, students will see which areas they have the most knowledge about, and which elements they know less about. At this time, more specific questions can be added to the “W” section. Extension • After your visit to Harbourfront Centre, students can reflect on their learning by completing the L” (or what I learned) section of their KWL chart. Assessment • KWL chart will indicate what the students already know, and when completed, can be used to assess if they have grasped the topics discussed during your visit. Activity #2 Overview Students will research the history and community of a sub dance style (example: Gumboot). Encourage them to find dance groups on the internet. They can create a context for their visit to Harbourfront Centre. Curriculum Links • Arts – Drama and Dance – Critical Thinking • History • Language – Reading – Reading for Meaning - Variety of Texts, Etc. • Langauge – Writing – Developing and Organizing Content – Research Materials Needed • Research organizer sheet • Computer lab or ability to display online materials for all students to see. Activation 1. Explain that African dance has a place or country of origin, in some cases families or tribes. 2. Ask students if they know any current dance groups that perform an African dance styles. Encourage students to share even if they are not sure, as there will be an opportunity to examine any misconceptions they may have. Record their answers on chart paper. Research 3. Present students with the research organizer sheet. Allow them time to add the artists they suggested to the list provided. 4. Go over the various portions of the sheet. Explain that students will use the internet to find information about African artists and/or groups. See the Links to Learning section for useful links that can be posted for students to use. 5. Allow time for students to explore and search for information about the various artists. Closing 6. Explain to students that they will now reflect on the information that they have found, using the sections at the bottom of the page. Allow them some time to think about what they have learned and write some notes. 7. Have the students share some of the information that they have found about the artists and the feelings/opinions they had about them. Assessment • Written work can be collected and assessed to ensure students are able to: search for and find relevant information, summarize information, think critically about the information that they find on the internet. Modifications • If computers are not available for each student, they may work in pairs or the teacher can present the information and have student take notes while this happens. African Dance Name: ______________________________ Date: ____________ K W L What do you know already? What are you wondering ? What did you learn ? Dance Research Name: _____________________________ Date:_______________ Canadian Artists: • Coba- Contemparay African Dance • Ballet Creole – African Dance • Black Ice – Stomp Group Artist: Artist: Artist: Art form: Art form: Art form: Interesting Facts: Interesting Facts: Interesting Facts: Observations/Opinions - What did you learn about African culture? - What are your opinions about African Dance? - Did you have any misconceptions? On Site Assessment Tools The following rubric and recording device provide you with an opportunity to observe and assess the participation level of your students during your visit to Harbourfront Centre. This
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