Format
For a full 60 minute program:
1. The program begins with a discussion of the Japanese poetry from of Haiku and how it can be seen to characterize much of traditional Japanese culture – spare (economical), precise (focused), and expressive (communicative).
2. Then the class will learn and perform Bon Odori a traditional dance done to celebrate the Bon festival and discuss how dance can encompass a range of events, thoughts and emotions in life.
3. Next, we move to the classical traditions of Japanese performance, learning about the origins of Nihon Buyo from Kabuki and Noh theatre forms, the roles of the Samurai and Geisha, and how to use the fan as a prop or “expressive tool” in this kind of dancing.
4. To help emphasize the concept that dance and movement can be used as a form of communication, we pause to do some calligraphy, writing Japanese characters and discussing how they are self-contained expressive units, much like Japanese dance movements can be.
5. We then explore the Japanese martial Art form known as Aikido, learning how it was created to show compassion (even to the enemy), and how it was subsequently transformed into a dance form outside of Japan called “Contact Improvisation” which continues to be practiced worldwide.
6. Finally, we learn a traditional dance to Soran Bushi, a fisherman’s work song from the Northern part of Japan, and how, through efforts of a school teacher and his class, it was updated by being done to rock music, and, as a result, became a highly popular dance that youth perform in Japan and across the globe today.
Objectives
The participant will:
•Learn and do dances from a variety of origins in Japanese culture
•Gain appreciation of Japanese Culture through dance and other supportive disciplines
•Learn about the concept of tradition and how it actually does change and grow over time
•Identify and understand some of the values held in traditional Japanese culture
•Have an interactive learning experience that makes them want more!
Standards Alignment
National Standards
National Education Technology Standards (NETS):
• Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
• Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
• Understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.
NCSS Curriculum Standards (in revision):
• To help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse democratic society in an
interdependent world. Students should understand:
• Multiple perspectives that derive from different cultural vantage points
• The ways human beings view themselves in and over time
• People, places, and environments.
• Interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions
• How people create and change structures of power, authority, and governance.
• How people organize for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
• Global connections and interdependence
National Arts Education Associations:
• Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures
• Students analyze common characteristics of visual arts evident across time and among cultural/ethnic groups to formulate analyses, evaluations, and interpretations of meaning
• Students correlate responses to works of visual art with various techniques for communicating meanings, ideas, attitudes, views, and intentions
Dance: ArtsEdge The Kennedy Center
• 3. Understanding dance as a way to create and communicate meaning
• 5. Demonstrating and understanding dance in various cultures and historical periods
State Standards
Wisconsin Standards (with benchmarks):
Information and Technology Literacy: D.
• The Learning Community: Students in Wisconsin will demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively in teams or groups, use information and technology in a
responsible manner, respect intellectual property rights, and recognize the importance of intellectual freedom and access to information in a democratic society.
• A.12.1 use desktop or video conferencing equipment and systems
• D.4.2 employ proper etiquette in all forms of communication
Dance:
Students in Wisconsin will recognize, understand, and demonstrate movement elements and skills in dance.
• A.4.9 Demonstrate rhythmic awareness by moving to a musical beat and responding to changes in tempo
• A.8.6 Demonstrate increasing kinesthetic awareness, concentration, and focus in performing movement skills
• A.12.3 Use increasingly complex combinations of locomotor and non-locomotor movements, emphasizing the elements of space, time, and force
Language Arts: Students in Wisconsin will listen to, understand,and speak clearly and effectively for diverse purposes.
• C.4,8,12.2 Listen to and comprehend oral communications.
• C.4,8,12.3 Participate effectively in discussion.
• E 4, 8, 12 Use media and technology critically and creatively to obtain, organize, prepare and share information; to influence and persuade; and to entertain and be entertained.
Social Studies: Behavioral Sciences Students in Wisconsin will learn about the behavioral sciences by exploring concepts from the discipline of sociology, the study of the interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions; the discipline of psychology, the study of factors that influence individual identity and learning; and the discipline of anthropology, the study of cultures in various times and settings.
• E.4, 8, 12.4 Describe the ways in which ethnic cultures influence the daily lives of people
• E.4.9 Explain how people learn about others who are different from themselves
• E.8.10 Explain how language, art, music, beliefs, and other components of culture can further global understanding or cause misunderstanding
• E.8.13 Select examples of artistic expressions from several different cultures for the purpose of comparing and contrasting the beliefs expressed
• E.12.10 Describe a particular culture as an integrated whole and use that understanding to explain its language, literature, arts, traditions, beliefs, values, and behaviors
• E.12.13 Compare the ways in which a universal theme is expressed artistically in three different world cultures
Social Studies: Geography
Students in Wisconsin will learn about geography through the study of the relationships among people, places, and environments.
• A.8.8 Describe and analyze the ways in which people in different regions of the world interact with their physical environments through vocational and recreational activities
• A.12.8 Identify the world's major ecosystems and analyze how different economic, social, political, religious, and cultural systems have adapted to them
Social Studies: History
Students in Wisconsin will learn about the history of Wisconsin, the United States, and the world, examining change and continuity over time in order to develop historical perspective, explain historical relationships, and analyze issues that affect the present and the future.
• B.8.12 Describe how history can be organized and analyzed using various criteria to group people and events chronologically, geographically, thematically, topically, and by issues