This lesson plan relates to the Gestures Dance in Fin Amour. Expand your movement vocabulary by abstracting literal "pedestrian" actions.
Learning Objectives/Goals
Students will learn to abstract movement by using pedestrian movements and manipulating them to create something new.
Materials Needed
An open space and music or a drum.
Introduction
Class goals and expectations, space boundaries
Warm-Up
What is a gesture? What is pantomime? Have students show you a gesture, like waving or shrugging their shoulders. Then have them pantomime doing an activity like opening a door or brushing their teeth. Have them come up with some too. These movements are very literal.
Investigate
Not to explore abstraction. Take the same gestures and pantomimes from the warm-up and ask the students to change things a bit. For example, instead of waving with your hand, could you wave with your elbow? Could you wave with your foot? Could you open the door with your shoulder? Could you write you name in the air with your nose? Lots of different ways to make the movement different or abstract it. Could you brush your teeth as big as you possibly can, taking up all the space from the floor to as high as you can reach?
Create
In partners, have students choose a task to abstract. Have them show the task first as a literal movement, then have them create a way to abstract the task.
Reflect
As students show their abstractions, have the students who are watching guess what the tasks were.
Extension to the Lesson
Add Levels, Directions and different speeds to the abstraction to make them even more creative and unique.
Follow Up Resources
Dance to Learn Video Lessons
