Modern and Contemporary Dance Training 8

Subject is not scheduled Not scheduled

Code Completion Credits Range Language Instruction Semester
107EMCD8 credit 2 2 exercise hours (45 min) of instruction per week, 29 to 39 hours of self-study English summer

Subject guarantor

Name of lecturer(s)

Department

Předmět zajišťuje Dance Department

Contents

Learning objective:

The content of the course Modern and Contemporary Dance Training 7 leads to the gradual acquisition of movement principles and methods of contemporary dance techniques, improvisation and touch techniques, which also contributes to the training of movement memory, development of muscular apparatus, strengthening of physical fitness and technical level of movement. Primarily, the class works with imagination. Students are consistently made aware of the methodical continuity of exercises.

A recommended component is active participation in dance-educational seminars and workshops organized by the Dance Department or other professional institutions, monitoring and comparing the teaching methods of various teachers, and constantly updating new information via the internet.

The aim is to acquire the basic movement qualities and principles of contemporary dance, new skills and the ability to improvise. The student's creativity, knowledge and awareness of the maximum movement possibilities of his/her own body is developed, based on practical research of the use of physical laws and kinesiology. Other essential outcomes include student self-support, respect for one's own body, listening to intuition, co-responsibility for the process (teamwork) and the development of the student's artistic personality.

Contemporary Dance Techniques is an open system of training methods that emphasizes natural movement expression and the effective functioning of the body in motion.

Warm up begins with concentration of mind. It focuses on awareness of the basic position of the body and the relationships between its parts in a vertical or horizontal position, their mutual coordination, integration of the limbs and the centre of the body. It slowly and sensitively activates the muscular and joint system in all three planes - spinal, lateral and contralateral. The following movement phrases and games within floor work, changing levels, centre work and work in space (jumps) use different movement qualities in their purity and functionality (sharpness, fluidity etc. ) and develop basic movement principles - swing, body fall in the vertical axis and horizontal plane, finding the moment of rebound and suspension, processing impulses and feeling spirals as motivation for changes in body position, sequencing of movement and its plasticity, awareness of body weight, its transfer and use in movement, use of support points and isolation of different parts of the body, perception of opposition, counterpull - or themes: walking, running, outer and inner space, acceleration-deceleration, time, coordination-isolation. The end of the cool down class is dedicated to stretching or strengthening the most stressed parts of the body and reintegration.

During each class, breath support is repeatedly emphasized to ensure fluidity and interconnection of individual movement sequences, maintaining ease and relaxation even in fast and dynamic movement. The breath is followed by the activation of the deep stabilization system, which contributes to the effective organization of any movement. Attention is also focused on the precise localization of the initiation of the movement and the manner of its subsequent articulation, which give the movement a legible shape.

For each movement sequence, the precise determination of the spatial orientation of the movement is emphasized. Indirectly related to this is the subsequent extension of attention from proprioception to the space in which the student is moving, his/her situatedness in relation to colleagues and his/her ability to respond to various external stimuli and impulses. Emphasis is also placed on working with energy and changing dynamics, on musicality.

Learning outcomes

The movement principles from the first semester are consistently repeated during the second semester in more complex and progressively interconnected ways, which leads to awareness and internalization of their essence and practical application. They appear as part of various and more complex movement links, which implies a certain need for physical and mental concentration on the part of the students.

Prerequisites and other requirements

none

Literature

Required reading:

CALAIS-GERMAIN, Blandine. Anatomy of Movement. Seattle: Eastland Press, 1991, ISBN 0-939616-17-3.

FRANKLIN, Eric N. Dynamic alignment through imagery. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, c2012. ISBN 0736067892.

FRANKLIN, Eric. Conditioning for Dance: Training for peak performance in all dance forms. 2. Human Kinetics Publishers, 2019. ISBN 9781492533634.

FRANKLIN, Eric. Dynamic Alignment through Imagery. 2. Human Kinetics Publishers, 2012. ISBN 0-87322-475-2.

HAAS, Jacqui Greene. Dance anatomy. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, c2010. Anatomy series (Human Kinetics (Organization). ISBN 0736081933.

COHEN, Bonnie Bainbridge. Sensing, Feeling, and Action:: The Experiential Anatomy of Body-Mind Centering. 3. Wesleyan Univ Pr, 2012. ISBN ISBN13 (EAN): 9780937645147.

BERINGER, Elizabeth. Embodied Wisdom. North Atlantic Books,U.S., 2010. ISBN ISBN: 1556439067.

SIMMEL, Liane. Dance Medicine in Practice: Anatomy, Injury Prevention, Training. 1. Taylor & Francis, 2013. ISBN 0415809398.

TUFNELL, Miranda. Body Space Image. 1. Dance Books, 1993. ISBN 1852730412.

E-learning:

http://www.idoportal.com/

https://www.contemporary-dance.org/

http://www.davidzambrano.org/?page_id=279 (Flying-Low Dance Technique)

http://www.axissyllabus.org/ (Axis Syllabus)

https://www.countertechnique.com/ (Countertechnique)

https://www.bodymindcentering.com/ (Body-Mind Centering®)

Evaluation methods and criteria

Credit is awarded on the basis of a practical test of understanding of the content of the course, completion of workshops organized by the department and their written reflection (their methodological-didactic analysis), a review of one contemporary dance performance seen in a given semester.

Other requirements: attendance of 90%, activity in teaching, creation of a portfolio.

Further information

No schedule has been prepared for this course

The subject is a part of the following study plans