Intermediate Dance: Stefani Berger

Course Overview:

The overall goal of Intermediate Dance Class is to teach through dance technique the skills that students need in order to communicate physically and artistically in a way that is different from the spoken or written word. As a class, we seek to develop a dance aesthetic that includes an appreciation of the different dance disciplines.

During this yearlong course we will be studying 20th century Modern Dance. Our emphasis will be on the techniques of Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Katherine Dunham, and Lester Horton. Although this is a yearlong course, the semesters have two very different and distinct focuses that are designed to complement one another. Each is essential to the development of the whole dance student. During the first semester students will work on their dance technique to develop the strength, flexibility and coordination necessary to work at a more advanced level in dance. The students will learn how to remember extended movement sequences and to articulate knowledgeably the vocabulary inherent in those movements. Students will also learn to formulate and answer questions that lead to a deeper understanding of the more abstract concepts of dance. The second semester will focus strongly on defining dance discipline within an historical framework as students work with guest choreographers. The annual spring CPS Dance Showcase will enable students to develop their performing skills as they define a personal set of aesthetic criteria and apply it to their own work.

Students will further refine and develop all of the skills taught in Beginning Dance by:
    1) Learning to identify dance movement and choreography through a prescribed dance vocabulary.
    2) Understanding skeletal alignment principles. Developing muscular strength, flexibility, and coordination by daily executing a series of repetitive dance movements and sequences.
    3) Successfully demonstrating musicality by working with a variety of rhythmic possibilities while dancing in class.
    4) Learning how to perform with artistic expression, energy and dramatic projection by rehearsing and performing choreography and set warm-ups that emphasize these skills.
    5) Acquiring an artistic aesthetic for dance that has a multicultural and historical perspective by studying the techniques and choreography of the great 20th century dance artists, in the classroom, on video, and in live performances.
    6) Developing higher order thinking skills, which require students to analyze, goal set and evaluate their progress.
    7) Making connections between disciplines by understanding the fundamental concepts of materials, elements, and communications relative to those art forms. Learning what is unique about different art forms and finding ways to distinguish between them using video, demonstrations and performances of famous works of art.

Additionally, guest choreographers and master teachers are brought in for in-depth instruction in various dance techniques, such as a contact-improvisational teacher to teach students how to express movements in new ways, or a teacher from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre School giving a master class in Graham technique.

Written, visual and video materials on dance are available in the dance studio and school library. Field trips are taken to professional dance concerts in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

The primary method of learning will be through an experiential, visceral format. In other words students learn how to dance through the process of dancing itself. Students will work in a large group format, and critiques are individually directed. Reflection, goal setting and introspective thought are stressed throughout. Dance videos are used to promote group analysis and discussions and to enhance historical and multicultural perspectives. In addition, students work individually with their teacher to evaluate their own progress, setting goals to work on throughout the year.

Whenever possible students will work for connection to, relationships for and applications of, their work in the real world. For example, students would learn a warm up to the music from Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations” while studying a video/documentary about Alvin Ailey and the historic making of that dance, and then go to Cal Peformances to see a live performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre performing “Revelations”.

Assessment of student’s abilities will be on the following:
1) 75% of the student’s grade will be based on motivation and attitude in the classroom. This can be shown through engagement in the dance process, willingness to take risks by learning new movement ideas, the ability to work with classmates, openness to absorbing and learning from crucial feedback and contribution of ideas and energy in the classroom.
2) The remaining 25% of the grade is based on individual creativity, progress and ability.
3) Students are expected to wear their hair pulled back off of their face.  Students will need to wear appropriate dance attire such as leotards, tights and/or jazz pants, jazz shoes and sandersoles. (Financial assistance is available when appropriate; students should speak to the teacher.)

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Class Resources

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Student Work

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