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E. Music and Dance as Meaning
1. Listen to some music
* Bring in a selection of tapes or music videos with women as
the performers and women as the subjects. Choose a wide range from rock,
country, folk, opera, etc.
* Listen and watch together and give students time to reflect on
the meaning conveyed by the words, the setting, the music and the video
images.
2. Share some music
* Ask students to bring in a tape of favorite music and share it
in groups of three.
* Some questions to consider:
- Did any of you like the same kind of music?
- Did all the tapes have words?
- Did some people prefer instruments alone?
- What do you like? the rhythm? the sound? the words? the
mood?
- Does music tell stories for you?
- How is music different from books?
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Flamenco at
5:75 is an NFB film that shows a group of professional ballet dancers taking a
class in flamenco dancing. A colleague of mine has used it often with students
who enjoy this glimpse into the process of creating dance, as well as the
irresistible rhythms.
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Knowing the
cultural context of your students is important; for example, in First Nations
tradition, dance is a form of worship, a way of communing with natural forces.
Western culture has tended to remove dance to a theatrical spectacle.
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Classroom
exercises around dance and music are often a way into a world of meaning where
the students have more authority. They are wonderful sources of group
discussion about ways of making meaning other than through language. They can
lead to writing, drawing, and music-making opportunities.
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3. Dance
* Bring in assorted drawings of dance, for example, Degas and
Matisse paintings, Miriam Shapiro postcards of "Dancers," George Segal's
sculpture, "The Dancers."
* Invite students to choose a drawing to comment on. Use the
directions from the postcard assignment, in Section B-2, above.
* Ask students to collect pictures of people dancing, either
alone or together. These can be photographs, art reproductions, newspaper
clippings or whatever they can find. Some questions to consider:
- Do you like to dance?
- Is dance important in your family? your community?
- How does dancing create meaning?
- Compare dancing and the written word. Which is more
powerful? Which gives a clearer message?
4. Performance
* There are almost always students in the class who sing, either
solo or in a choir, or who play an instrument. There may be some who know
particular kinds of dancing they would be willing to demonstrate or teach. Give
them time to perform if they are comfortable. |