Dance Research Essay

Suggested Grades

4+

Objective

Students will learn about and appreciate the history, characteristics, and significance of a specific dance style.

Materials

• a variety of research material for dance, books, magazines, pamphlets, websites (see links below), etc.

Method

• Ask students to pick a dance style that they are interested in and would like to learn more about.
• Here are a few dance styles:
  • Square
  • Line
  • Jive
  • Tap
  • First Nations
  • Jive
  • Hip Hop
  • Funk
  • Waltz
  • Foxtrot
  • Tango
  • Latin
  • Ballet
  • Polka
  • Dragon
  • Quandrille
  • Contra
  • Round
  • Scicillian Circles
  • Mescolanzas
• Ask students to do a research essay on the dance style that they chose. Collect information and photos focussing on the dance style's history, characteristics, and significance to society.
• Display the essays, or have students present them to the class so that the class can get some exposure to information on a variety of forms of dance.
• Encourage students to teach their dance styles to the rest of the class.

Additional Resources

• WWW Library: Dance
  "Our goal is to create a comprehensive collection of pointers to dance-related information available on the World Wide Web."
• Dance and Movement Page
• Dancing for Busy People
  25 dance movements (basics) are used to describe most of the dances featured on this website. Each dance movement is defined along with timing styling and tips for teaching.
• Sapphire Swan Dance Directory
  A guide to dance resources available on the web.
• PolkaNet
  All things Polka are here- information, sound files, and links to various Polka pages.
• Tap Steps
  Includes: Who's Who in Tap, Tap Films, Tap Videos, Sounds of Tap, Glossary/Notation, History/Books, Tap Steps, Trivia and Activism, and Internet Tap Sites.