Patterns are everywhere. Students who are incouraged to look for patterns and to express them mathematically begin to understand how mathmatics applies to the world in which they live. identifying and beginning to work with a wide variety of patterns helps students to develop the ability to classify and organize information. This activity will be presented when patterns are discussed in math. The students will observe that patterns exist in the areas of music and dance. Students will be able to follow the repeating patterns of the line dance.

Set to three keyboard works by Bach as richly orchestrated by Stokowski, Promethean Fire examines a kaleidoscope of emotional colors in the human condition. All 16 Taylor dancers, costumed in black, weave in and out of intricate patterns that mirror the way varied emotions weave themselves through life. A central duet depicts conflict and resolution following a cataclysmic event. But if destruction has been at the root of this dance, renewal of the spirit is its overriding message.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of performance technique. The focus will be on dance artistry with an emphasis on performing different choreographic styles for various types of audiences. Critical analysis and creative processes will be used throughout the course as vehicles for creating, learning and performing choreographic works by the teacher, guest artists and the students.

Students will explore the roles of leader and follower and how the concept of power exists in all relationships. Students will experience how power can be used in a positive way as well as negative.

In this lesson students explore and demonstrate understanding of dymanics as they create movement inspired by office supplies.

Students will respond to a global issue by creating a group dance work that depicts their message. Students will experiment with flocking, staging, and manipulating the elements of dance to accomplish their desired outcome. All students will contribute choreography to their group work and reflect and assess work in order to refine their product.

In this video, Robert Battle discusses his inspiration and concept for Strange Humors. This piece is part of the repertory for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

The complex, tightly woven rhythms of Indian Kathak dance are deconstructed and abstracted in this percussive, fast-paced work. Clear shapes and propulsive jumps mimic the vocalized rhythmic syllables of Sheila Chandra's jazzy score.

Artistic Director Robert Battle’s athletic work for six men reveals the predatory side of human nature and the primitive thrill of the hunt. A thundering percussion soundtrack by Les Tambours du Bronx drives the explosive movement that runs the gamut from modern sports to the rituals of the gladiators.

The charming duet We, by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle, depicts a seasoned relationship between a couple. Capturing the spirit of familiarity and vulnerability that is as endearing as reaching for a hand and knowing the other’s will always be there, Battle sets this work to composer Sean Jones’ tender “Love’s Lullaby.”

Students will focus on the process of analyzing and evaluating a dance work. Each group will get the opportunity to perform their dance work in order to get peer feedback. Students will learn that feedback and revision are an essential part of the creative process.

This video contains Stars of the Russian Ballet in its entirety. This performance features some of the biggest names in contemporaty Russian ballet. It contains exerpts from ballet standards like La Fille Mal Gardee, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Giselle, Swam Lake and Don Quixote.

This website offers guidance to students who wish to become more cohesive in their choices as choreographers. Richard Powers from Stanford University provides guidance to dancers so that they may consider every aspect of the choreographic process and how best to achieve success. Teachers may use this source as a precursor to choreography projects and to create a rubric for the product.

Ohad Naharin’s choreography is noted for its movement quality and technical difficulty. Tabula Rasa, meaning “clean slate,” is a striking blend of powerful expression and serenity. In working with Naharin, Hubbard Street dancers developed a bond with the choreographer that allowed for a seemingly effortless rehearsal process. “Tabula has a sense of chaos, mixed with a minimal simplicity and the beauty is in the dichotomy of these two extremes.”

In this lesson students learn how a dancer acts out the story with movement instead of words, through watching a video of the ballet Swan Lake. Students are amazed at how the dancer is able to convey her feeling with her body. Explain that dance can tell a story and that, like Odette, they can tell a story with their bodies as well. They have the opportunity to tell a short story of their own through pantomime and movement.

In this lesson students will explore beats, accents, and rhythm. They will demonstrate different accents and rhythms with both axial and locomotive movements. Students will arrange in groups to create sequences with multiple rhythms.

In this lesson students will perform movements and short movement sequences at different tempos. They wil work in pairs to create a 2 part dance (one in personal, the other in general space) that will be done simultaneously. The dance will be performed at several tempos adn the dancers will discuss how the change in tempo eddects the movements.

This video features a performance group from Hawaii performing the Tinikling dance as part of wedding celebrations.

First performed in 1970 in New York City's downtown Soho neighborhood by Trisha Brown and Carmen Beuchat, 'Floor of the Forest' consists of a sculptural steel frame holding up a web of ropes that have been threaded with colorful used clothing. Climbing onto the apparatus, the dancers weave their way across the structure by putting on and then taking off the clothing, occasionally pausing to allow gravity to pull their bodies toward the floor while the clothing acts as a cocoon or hammock. Dancers from the UCLA performed the piece March 30-April 21, 2013 (Run Time: 3 mins).

This webpage will guide students to learn more about seeing dance, appreciating dance, and where to locate material to read about dance.