Unit 2 — History of the Arts and Culture
Description
This unit connects dance to history, culture, and social context. Students examine the cultural origins of dance forms from around the world and identify how history and culture are reflected in movements, costuming, and musical accompaniment. They observe group, circle, and chain dances and explore how these forms reflect societal beliefs and values. Students learn dances from their own heritage and research significant dancers, choreographers, and dance techniques. They watch live performances or videos of ritual and ceremonial dances, learn and perform authentic dances from various cultures, and create their own ritual or ceremonial dances based on specific cultural practices. Throughout the unit, students maintain a dance journal recording responses, vocabulary, and visual documentation of their learning.
Essential Questions
- How can the elements of dance be used to express content, emotions, and personal expression?
- How can improvisation of movement communicate content, emotions, and personal expression?
- How is dance different from other forms of movement?
- What are the origins and meanings of different dances throughout history?
- What are the cultural influences of certain dances?
- What are the similarities and differences among various dances throughout history in relation to the ideas and perspectives of the people from which the dances originate?
Learning Objectives
- Recognize works of dance as reflections of societal values and beliefs
- Describe who dances a dance, where, when, and why it is danced
- Examine cultural origins of various dance forms from around the world
- Identify clues about history and culture in dance movements, costuming, and musical accompaniment
- Identify and research significant contributions of cultural social dances and their impact on today's dances
- Explore themes, values, and beliefs reflected in dances from specific cultures
- Observe commonalities and differences in group, circle, and chain dances in relation to societal beliefs
- Create and share group, circle, or chain dances influenced by social practices of specific cultures
Supplemental Resources
- Lined journals for maintaining dance journals with responses, vocabulary, and drawings
- Printed word lists and glossaries of dance terminology and cultural dance vocabulary
- Graphic organizers for comparing and contrasting dances from different cultures and historical periods
- Construction paper and colored pencils for creating visual representations of dance research and cultural symbols
- Sentence strips and index cards for organizing research information on dancers, choreographers, and dance techniques
Dance - Connecting
Dance - Creating
Dance - Responding
Students determine central ideas and themes in texts, integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media formats, participate in collaborative discussions with peers, and produce clear writing to explain concepts and ideas related to dance history and culture.
Students explore how culture is expressed through and influenced by the behavior of people, examine individuality and cultural diversity through dramatic play and movement, and investigate how nations have their own customs and practices reflected in dance forms.
Formative Assessments
- Evaluation of informal in-class performances and video evidence using observation, discussions, drawings, and student-created rubrics
- Evaluation of written reflections on dance principles including journal responses
- Analysis of primary source documents on the history of dances and cultures of origin
- Personal responses to performances recorded in dance journals
- Peer critique using rubrics, checklists, and protocols with constructive feedback
Summative Assessment
Short research projects on cultural origins of dance to support analysis, reflection, and research. Technology-based presentations on the impact of dance on specific groups of people and historical events. Performance assessment of learned and created dances using rubrics that evaluate technical elements and cultural authenticity.
Benchmark Assessment
A mid-unit task in which students observe a short video or live demonstration of a cultural dance and respond orally or through drawings and labels to identify who dances it, where and when it is performed, and what cultural values or beliefs it reflects. This assesses understanding of dance as cultural expression and progress toward identifying societal connections in dance forms.
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through video-recorded movement responses, guided interviews about cultural dance origins, or visual representations with teacher-provided labels and vocabulary cards instead of written journal entries. Movement demonstrations may be simplified to focus on key cultural elements rather than technical complexity.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students benefit from visual supports such as video clips, picture cards, and movement demonstrations that make cultural context accessible without relying solely on text-based or written materials. When recording responses in the dance journal, allow students to express understanding through drawing, dictation, or verbal responses captured by a teacher or peer scribe rather than requiring extended independent writing. Break multi-step tasks — such as observing a dance, identifying cultural clues, and recording a response — into smaller, sequenced steps with clear check-ins along the way. For performance assessments, rubrics should be simplified and reviewed orally so students understand expectations before they move.
Section 504
Provide preferential positioning during video viewings and live observations to minimize visual and auditory distractions and support full engagement with cultural content. Allow extended time for journal entries and research-based tasks, and offer the option to respond verbally or through drawn illustrations when written output creates a barrier. Ensure that any printed materials used to support research or reflection use clear formatting, and review directions for multi-part tasks orally before students begin.
ELL / MLL
Introduce and reinforce unit-specific vocabulary — such as ritual, ceremonial, culture, tradition, and accompaniment — using visual word walls, labeled images, and short video clips that pair language with movement before students are asked to use the terms independently. Directions for observation tasks and journal prompts should be delivered simply and clearly, with visual cues or sentence frames available to scaffold written and verbal responses. When exploring dances from specific cultures, honor and invite students' home cultural knowledge, as their lived backgrounds may offer direct connections to dances, traditions, or practices studied in the unit.
At Risk (RTI)
Connect new cultural content to students' own backgrounds and prior experiences with dance, music, or celebration, building familiarity before introducing less familiar cultural contexts. Offer structured observation guides with visual prompts to help students identify clues about history and culture in what they are watching, reducing the open-ended nature of the task while still building analytical skills. For performance and creative tasks, provide a clear model or example of a group, circle, or chain dance structure so students have a concrete entry point before being asked to create or replicate one.
Gifted & Talented
Encourage students to pursue deeper inquiry into a specific cultural dance tradition, examining how historical events or social changes over time have shaped the evolution of that form beyond what is covered in class. Students might explore the tension between cultural preservation and artistic innovation — for example, how a traditional ceremonial dance is adapted when it moves into performance contexts — and bring that analysis back to the group. In creating their own ritual or ceremonial dance, challenge these students to make and defend deliberate choices about movement vocabulary, structure, and accompaniment that reflect authentic cultural values, using research from multiple types of sources to support their creative decisions.