Integrating the arts into your curriculum is a way to engage students and expand their understanding of life’s interconnectedness. The follow resources are inspired by WGBY’s July 26 / 9 p.m.premiere of Great Performances’ Dancing at Jacob’s Pillow: Never Stand Still — winner of Best Documentary at both the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and the Dance Camera West Festival. Watch a preview:
Great Performances’ website offers classroom lessons. Among the most recent, you’ll find:
- “Company” – Examining Social Attitudes and Stereotypes
- Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago – Chicago Blues
- Nureyev: The Russian Years – Back in the U.S.S.R.
- Peter & The Wolf – Exploring Melody
- Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story – The Birth of Soul
You’ll also find 9 pages ! of classroom resources on “dance” at PBS LearningMedia with tools like discussion questions, teacher tips & more. Here are just a few examples:
African/African-American Culture: Plantation Dance/Ring Shout The Plantation Dance/Ring Shout represents a style of dance and music found in African slave communities on plantations in the southern United States, Caribbean Islands, and other locations. (Video, Grade Levels: 5-12)
Dance: Floor Paths In dance, a floor path – or pathway – is the “trail” left as dancer travels through the space. In this interactive, students follow a virtual dancer as she creates a floor path. (Interactive, .Grade Levels: 3-12)
Renaissance Arts in the Rennaissance: Upon a Summer’s Day Instructor Jennifer Rose teaches students a Renaissance dance, Upon a Summer’s Day, from John Playford’s book The English Dancing Master. They perform the dance’s three figures and chorus. (Video, Grade Levels: 9-12)