Welcome to Jazz It Up! Lesson 1

Hello and welcome to Mr Kap's year 9 PD/H/PE class. As you have just found out, for the next few weeks you will be learning about jazz dancing, and the features and elements of composition and performance.

Before we start the lesson, have a look at this youtube clip. This is a clip of a performance in New York for the Hall of Fame Dance Challenge. As you complete your activities this lesson you may like to think about what you have seen, or even watch it again.



Activity 1: Read pages 85 and 125-127 in your text book.

Activity 1b: Work in pairs. Create an Inspiration mind map of "features of composition". Come up with your own definition of each feature. (hint: look at the image on page 127)

Activity 2: Read pages 144, 157 and 140 in your text book.

Activity 2b: Think. Pair. Share.

Consider the following questions on your own. You may like to jot down some answers in your laptop.

q1: What sort of relationships exist in jazz dance? (hint: you can draw your answer from your text and from the youtube clip.)
q2: How important/relevant are these relationships when it comes to composing and performing a dance routine?
q3: Why is it important to use the available space when composing and performing a dance routine?
q4: How do you make the best use of space in a dance routine? (hint: you can draw your answers from the text and from the youtube clip.)

After a few minutes, Miss Cleary will ask you to pair up again. Share your answers with each other. You might like to write down some of the good points your partner has. Answer the following question:

q4: What different things you you come up with in your answers? What similar things did you come up with?

Once you have compared answers and answered question 4, Miss Cleary will ask each group to share what they came up with with the rest of the class.


Next lesson, get ready to dance! We will have a practical lesson where we will begin to explore the nature of jazz dance. You will need to get into groups of 4 or 5 BEFORE the lesson begins. In preparation for next lesson, have a look at this brief blurb about jazz dance:

Jazz dance originated from the African American vernacular dances of late 1800s to the mid-1900s. An early popular "jazz dancer" was vaudeville star Joe Frisco in the 1910s. He danced in a loose-limbed style close to the ground, with eccentric steps, and juggled his derby and cigar.
Until the middle of 1950s, the term "jazz dance" often referred to tap dance, because tap dancing (set to jazz music) was the main performance dance of the era. During the later jazz era, popular forms of jazz dance were the Cakewalk, Black Bottom, Charleston, Jitterbug, Boogie Woogie, swing dancing and the related Lindy Hop.
After the 1950s, pioneers such as Katherine Dunham took the essence of Caribbean traditional dance and made it into a performing art. With the growing domination of other forms of entertainment music, jazz dance evolved on Broadway into a new, smooth, style taught today and known as Modern Jazz, while tap dance continued to evolve on its own. The performance style was popularized by Bob Fosse’s work, such as Chicago, Cabaret, Damn Yankees, and The Pajama Game.
Today, jazz dance is present in many different venues and different forms. Jazz dance thrives in dance schools, where it is the most popular dance for amateur dancers.[citation needed] Jazz dance remains an essential part of musical theater choreography; it is sometimes interwoven with other dance styles as appropriate for the particular show. Jazz dancing can be seen in some music videos, and even Las Vegas showgirls are jazz dancers.

(adapted from wikipedia.org)