Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE DCS1003

 
TITLE Foundations of Choreography 1

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT Dance Studies

 
DESCRIPTION Exploration of the craft of choreography through:

- Employment of a range of starting points derived from analysis of dance movement vocabulary and ideas for choreography in the following contexts:-
- Studying expressive features in everyday movement and in fictional characters;
- Constructing character in dance;
- Abstracting from literal movement to make dance symbols;
- Study of the processes involved in forming or structuring dance material;
- Consideration of the relationship of accompaniment to the dance piece.

Exploration of the dancer in performance through:

- Performance of the selected dance vocabulary to communicate the dance idea;
- Practise of dance pieces to achieve expressive qualities in performance.

Study of methods of analysis of choreography and its performance to enable students to critically evaluate their own and others’ performances.

Study-unit Aims:

This study-unit introduces the fundamentals of dance-making through a study of:

- Dance movement vocabulary;
- Dance ideas through practical explorations, reading and viewing video resources;
- The narrative in dance and characterisation.

Students undertake choreographic research, particularly in terms of:

- Developing the ability to define a dance character (narrative, plot);
- Develop the ability to abstract from literal movement;
- Develop the skills of developing, structuring and presenting movement;
- Understand how to portray dramatic feelings in performance;
- Make appropriate sound accompaniment choices;
- Articulate improvised and choreographic choices, and critically evaluate dances through the medium of writing a reflective log.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Demonstrate the ability to undertake simple improvisational and choreographic research;
- Demonstrate the ability to define a dance character (narrative, plot);
- Demonstrate the ability to abstract from literal movement;
- Demonstrate selected skills of developing, structuring and presenting movement;
- Demonstrate their understanding of how to portray dramatic feelings in improvisation and performance;
- Make appropriate sound accompaniment choices;
- Articulate choreographic choices and critically evaluate dances through the medium of writing a reflective log.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Engage in improvisation, choreography, performance and production;
- Understand appropriate performance and production vocabularies, skills, structures and working methods;
- Create and perform own choreography;
- Articulate practical experience through portfolio.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Adshead, Janet, ed. 1988. Dance Analysis: Theory And Practice (London: Dance Books).
- Blom, Lynne Anne and L. Tarin Chaplin (1982) The Intimate Act of Choreography (USA: University of Pittsburgh Press).
- Blom, Lynne Anne and L. Tarin Chaplin. 1992. The Moment of Movement: Dance Improvisation (Dance Books).
- Cohen, Selma Jean. 1969. The Modern Dance: Seven Statements of Belief (Wesleyan University Press).
- Hodgson, John and Valerie Preston-Dunlop. 1990. Rudolf Laban: An Introduction To His Work And Influence (Plymouth: Northcote House).
- Humphrey, Doris. 1959. The Art of Making Dances (NY: Random).
- Minton, Sandra Cerny. 1997. Choreography: A Basic Approach Using Improvisation (Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics).
- Preston-Dunlop, Valerie. 1998. Looking at Dances: a choreological perspective on choreography. (London: Verve).
- Smith-Autard, Jacqueline. 2004. Dance Composition, fifth ed. (London: A + C Black).
- Tharp, Twyla. 2006. The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use It For Life. (Simon and Schuster).
- Butterworth, Jo and Wildschut, Liesbeth. 2009. Contemporary Choreography: A Critical Reader (London: Routledge).
- Burrows, Jonathan. 2010. A Choreographer’s Handbook (London: Routledge).
- McGreevy-Nichols, Susan, Helene Scheff, and Marty Sprague. 2004. Building Dances: A guide to putting movements together, sec. ed. (Human Kinetics).

A selection of video/DVD materials for analysis.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Practical, Independent Study and Group Learning

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Logbook SEM1 Yes 40%
Practical SEM1 Yes 60%

 
LECTURER/S Francesca Tranter

 

 
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The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

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