Poland Liceum ogólnokształcące, klasa IV History of dance (extended level)
Chapters: 6
1. Dance and dance spectacle through history
20th and 21st centuries · Dances, companies and festivals
- Contemporary Dance: Technique, History and Interpretation – Contemporary dance is a free, expressive style that grew in the 20th century when dancers broke away from the strict rules of ballet. Instead of fighting gravity, contemporary dancers use it: they fall, roll on the floor and recover. Key techniques are fall and recovery, contraction and release (curving and opening the spine with the breath), spiral (twisting the torso), swing and suspension, floor work, and contact improvisation (sharing weight with a partner). Dancers train alignment, core strength, breath and safe landings. Interpretation means using these tools to show a personal idea or feeling, not just copying steps.
- History of Dance: How Dance Changed Through the Ages – People have always danced. In ancient times, dance was part of ritual and community life, often in a circle. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, courts used slow dances in lines and couples to show good manners. In the Baroque age, Louis XIV started a dance academy and ballet moved onto the stage with turned-out feet. The 1800s brought Romantic and classical ballet: pointe shoes, tutus and story ballets like Giselle and Swan Lake. In the 1900s modern dancers broke the rules with bare feet and natural movement, and today contemporary, street and fusion styles mix ideas from the whole world. Ethnochoreology studies folk dances inside their culture.
2. Great figures of dance culture
Foreign choreographers and dancers · Theorists, teachers and Polish artists
- History of Dance: How Dance Changed Through the Ages – People have always danced. In ancient times, dance was part of ritual and community life, often in a circle. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, courts used slow dances in lines and couples to show good manners. In the Baroque age, Louis XIV started a dance academy and ballet moved onto the stage with turned-out feet. The 1800s brought Romantic and classical ballet: pointe shoes, tutus and story ballets like Giselle and Swan Lake. In the 1900s modern dancers broke the rules with bare feet and natural movement, and today contemporary, street and fusion styles mix ideas from the whole world. Ethnochoreology studies folk dances inside their culture.
3. Dance terms, theatre and the profession
Theory and practice of dance
- Dance: Elements, Choreography and Forms – Dance is movement of the body, in space and time, with energy, used to express feelings, tell stories or celebrate. Every dance can be described with four elements: Body (what moves), Space (where: levels, directions, pathways), Time (when: tempo, rhythm, pause) and Energy (how: sharp or smooth, strong or light). Choreography is the art of arranging movement using devices such as motif, repetition, canon, unison, contrast and formations. Good performers train technique, safety and expression, and good audiences describe, analyse, interpret and judge what they see. Dance forms, from classical and folk to ballet and hip-hop, grow out of their culture and history.
4. Describing and analysing dance works
Analysis of dance works · Social and historical context of dance
- Art Criticism: How to Look at and Judge Artworks – Art criticism is careful talk about art. A common method has four steps: describe what you see, analyse how the parts are arranged, interpret what it means or makes you feel, and judge its worth with reasons. Critics also look from different viewpoints (form, feeling, context) and use proper art words. The same method works for paintings, sculpture, buildings, dance, drama and film.
- History of Dance: How Dance Changed Through the Ages – People have always danced. In ancient times, dance was part of ritual and community life, often in a circle. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, courts used slow dances in lines and couples to show good manners. In the Baroque age, Louis XIV started a dance academy and ballet moved onto the stage with turned-out feet. The 1800s brought Romantic and classical ballet: pointe shoes, tutus and story ballets like Giselle and Swan Lake. In the 1900s modern dancers broke the rules with bare feet and natural movement, and today contemporary, street and fusion styles mix ideas from the whole world. Ethnochoreology studies folk dances inside their culture.
5. Forming opinions about dance
Comparing and judging · Dance and society; synthesis
- Art Criticism: How to Look at and Judge Artworks – Art criticism is careful talk about art. A common method has four steps: describe what you see, analyse how the parts are arranged, interpret what it means or makes you feel, and judge its worth with reasons. Critics also look from different viewpoints (form, feeling, context) and use proper art words. The same method works for paintings, sculpture, buildings, dance, drama and film.
- History of Dance: How Dance Changed Through the Ages – People have always danced. In ancient times, dance was part of ritual and community life, often in a circle. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, courts used slow dances in lines and couples to show good manners. In the Baroque age, Louis XIV started a dance academy and ballet moved onto the stage with turned-out feet. The 1800s brought Romantic and classical ballet: pointe shoes, tutus and story ballets like Giselle and Swan Lake. In the 1900s modern dancers broke the rules with bare feet and natural movement, and today contemporary, street and fusion styles mix ideas from the whole world. Ethnochoreology studies folk dances inside their culture.
6. Set dance works
20th-century ballet II · Modern and contemporary dance · Polish choreographic works
- History of Dance: How Dance Changed Through the Ages – People have always danced. In ancient times, dance was part of ritual and community life, often in a circle. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, courts used slow dances in lines and couples to show good manners. In the Baroque age, Louis XIV started a dance academy and ballet moved onto the stage with turned-out feet. The 1800s brought Romantic and classical ballet: pointe shoes, tutus and story ballets like Giselle and Swan Lake. In the 1900s modern dancers broke the rules with bare feet and natural movement, and today contemporary, street and fusion styles mix ideas from the whole world. Ethnochoreology studies folk dances inside their culture.