Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE DCS1001

 
TITLE Dance Techniques Lab 1

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT Dance Studies

 
DESCRIPTION The study-unit consists of technique classes, practice-led anatomy workshops and discussion sessions which will explore concepts of dance performance in relation to the field of professional contemporary dance practice, focussing on the following:

1. The performer's employment of the body as an expressive instrument through:

- Kinaesthetic awareness;
- Basic skills and practices of dance techniques and their application within the creative process;
- The exploration of movement dynamics, rhythm and musicality;
- The exploration of the dancer in space.

2. The exploration of the body as a technical instrument through:

- Alignment, posture, coordination, flexibility, weight, flow and gravity;
- Anatomical, skeletal and muscular structures;
- Use of breath, stamina;
- Injury prevention.

Study-unit Aims:

This first technical training lab aims:

- To train the body to attain a range of different techniques;
- To execute specific stylistic principles with coherence and clarity;
- To inculcate a range of spatial and dynamic awareness;
- To instil commitment to developing the necessary practical skills for dance and performance;
- To enable students to recognise factors which influence their own personal effectiveness in performance.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

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

- Demonstrate skills developed in at least two different technical styles;
- Execute given specific stylistic principles with coherence and clarity;
- Demonstrate rhythmic, spatial and dynamic awareness in a set study;
- Demonstrate commitment to developing the necessary practical skills for dance and performance;
- Recognise factors which influence personal effectiveness in performance and demonstrate these in written log form.

2. Skills:

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

- Engage in performance and production, based on an acquisition;
- Understanding of appropriate performance and production vocabularies, skills;
- Structures and working methods;
- Describe and define key concepts in dance techniques;
- Perform under direction;
- Prioritise and organise personal schedules;
- Identify and articulate personal skills and abilities.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Anderson, Zoe. 2016. The Ballet Lover's Companion (New Haven: Yale University Press).
- Arnheim, Daniel D. 1986. Dance Injuries: Their Prevention and Care (London: Dance Books Ltd).
- Elsworth Todd, Mabel. 2008. The Thinking Body. A Study of the Balancing Forces of Dynamic Man (USA: The Gestalt Journal Press, Inc.).
- Haas, Jacqui. 2010. Dance Anatomy (USA: Human Kinetics).
- Horosko, Marian. 2002. Martha Graham: The Evolution of Her Dance Theory and Training, Sec.Ed. (Florida: University Press of Florida).
- Howse, Justin. & Shirley Hancock. 2000. Dance Technique and Injury Prevention (London: A. & C. Black).
- Isacowitz, Rael, and Karen Clippinger. 2011. Pilates Anatomy. (USA: Human Kinetics).
- Koutedakis, Yiannis & N. C. Craig Sharp. 1999. The Fit & Healthy Dancer (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons).
- Martin, Peter. 2001. NYC Ballet Workout: Fifty Stretches And Exercises Anyone Can Do For A Strong, Graceful, And Sculpted Body (USA: William Morrow Paperbacks).
- Laws, Kenneth. 2008. Physics and the Art of Dance (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
- Lewis, Daniel. 1999. The Illustrated Dance Technique of Jose Limon (Hightstown, N.J.: Princeton Book Company).
- Preston-Dunlop, Valerie. 1998. Looking at Dances: A Choreological Perspective (Ightham: Verve Publishing).
- Siler, Brooke. 2013. The Women's Health Big Book of Pilates: The Essential Guide to Total Body Fitness (USA: Rodale Books).
- Stodelle, Ernestine. 1990. The Dance Technique of Doris Humphrey, and its Creative Potential (New Jersey: Dance Horizons).
- Sweigard, Lulu E. 2013. Human Movement Potential: Its Ideokinetic Facilitation (USA: Allegro Editions).
- Thomasen, E . 1996. Anatomy and Kinesiology for Ballet Teachers (London: Dance Books).
- Warren, Gretchen W. 1989. Classical Ballet Technique (Florida: University Press of Florida).

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Practical, Independent Study and Group Learning

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Logbook SEM1 Yes 20%
Performance Ballet SEM1 Yes 40%
Performance Contemporary SEM1 Yes 40%

 
LECTURER/S Sara Accettura
Dorian Mallia
Margaret Jean Westby

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
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 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit