PE Central March 10 Dance of the month...Day with Dance Purpose of Activity: Students will learn a...
Transcript of PE Central March 10 Dance of the month...Day with Dance Purpose of Activity: Students will learn a...
PECentral’sDanceLessonIdeaoftheMonth
NameofActivity:CelebratingSt.Patrick’sDaywithDance
PurposeofActivity:StudentswilllearnadancepatternbasedonIrishstepdancemovementsaswellasinformationconcerningthecountryofIrelandandthehistoryofSt.Patrick’sDay.
SuggestedGradeLevel:4‐12
MaterialsNeeded:Irishmusic.ThemusiccanbepurchasedfromiTunes:Morrison’sJigbyTheIrish
Experience.Itcanbepurchasedfor$0.99.Putthesongnamein“searchstore”button.
Anticipatoryset:
FamousFactsofIreland:(http://www.realirishfood‐recipes.com/famous‐facts‐of‐Ireland.html)
Dr.PatO'CallaghanwonIreland'sfirsteverOlympicgoldmedalasanindependentnation;hewonhisgoldinthehammereventin1928inAmsterdam.
FourIrishpeoplehavewontheNobelPrizeforLiterature:WilliamButlerYeats,GeorgeBernardShaw,SamuelBeckett,SeamusHeaney.
Ireland’smascot,ofcourse,istheLeprechaun.TheLeprechaunisanIrishfairywhoisasmall,short
(about2feettall)oldman.Heisdressedlikeashoemaker,withacockedhatandaleatherapron.Healsohaspointedearsandacoatofgreen.Accordingtolegends,Leprechaunsareratherunsociable,preferringtobeleftalonetomaketheirshoes.Itisalsothoughtthatthesewhimsicalcreaturespossess
ahiddenpotofgold!SotreasurehuntersarealwayslookingforLeprechaunsbylisteningforthesoundoftheshoemakers’hammers.
Ireland’smagicnumberis3,hencetheshamrocksymbol.TheIrishbelievethateverythinggoodcomes
in3s:faith,hopeandcharity;sky,earth,andunderworld,past,presentandfuture.EvenwhenstorytellingtheIrishtraditionistouse3adjectives.ThismakesbothintensificationandexaggerationalwaysapartofagoodIrishstory!
TypesofIrishDances:IrishdancesareknownasReels,Jigs,Slips,LightJigsandSingleJigs.Allofthese
typesofdancesareknownas“softshoe”dances.HardShoedanceincludesdancesknownasHornpipe,HardJig,andTrebleReel.Today,jigs,reels,hornpipes,sets,halfsets,polkasandstepdancesareallperformed.Solodancingorstepdancingfirstappearedattheendoftheeighteenthcentury.
ThehugesuccessoftheRiverdanceandLordoftheDancehasplacedIrishdanceontheinternationalstage.DancingschoolsinIrelandtodayarefilledwithyoungpupilskeentoimitateandlearnthesedancingstyles.
HistoryofSt.Patrick’sDay:
St.Patrick’sDay,celebratedeachyearonMarch17,isanIrishholidaycelebratedaroundtheworld.It
honorsthepatronsaintofIreland,St.Patrick,whoisoneofthemostcelebratedreligiousfiguresaroundtheworld.Hewasbornin385AD.Whenhewas16hewascapturedandsoldintoslavery.Heescapedwhenhewas22andlivedinamonasteryfor12years.
St.Patrickusedtheshamrock(whichhas3leavesoneachstem)toexplainaboutGodandtheTrinity.
AnothertalesaysthatSt.PatrickdrovethesnakesfromIrelandbystandinguponahillandusingawood
stafftodrivetheserpentsintothesea,foreverbanishingthemfromIreland.AlthoughIrelandhasnosnakes,thisstoryisprobablynomorethanametaphorforbringingChristianitytoIrelandanddrivingoutthepaganreligions.
St.Patrick’sDayiscelebratedwithalargeparadeinDublin,Ireland.ItisalsocelebratedintheUnited
States.NewYorkhostsoneofthelargestSt.Patrick’sDayparadesintheworld.ChicagoevendyestheChicagoRivergreenonSt.Patrick’sDay.
YoungIrishdancersdressedintraditionalcostumes.
http://www.britannica.com/bps/image/293754/288/Young‐traditional‐folk‐dancers‐at‐a‐street‐festival‐in‐Dublin
MapofIreland CoastlineofIreland
http://www.britannica.com/bps/image/293754/61327/
http://www.britannica.com/bps/image/293754/100114/Aerial‐view‐of‐Irelands‐coastline
TheIrishStepCombination–Thedifferentcombinationsdescribedbelowcanbeusedinanyorderand
repeatedanynumberoftimes.Astheyarewrittenthecombinationswillendwiththeslowerportionofthejigmusic.
Asthesongbeginsholdfor2setsof8.
1‐8 TouchRtoedown(1),steponRfoot(2),TouchLtoedown(3),steponLfoot(4)RepeatRLforcounts5‐8
1‐8 TouchRtoedown(1),steponRfoot(2),TouchLtoedown(3),steponLfoot(4),TouchRtoe
down(5)steponRfoot(6)StompL(7),StompR(8)
Whenmusicbegins:
1‐4 HopR(1),stepLtoL(2),crossRoverL(3),stepL(4)
5‐8 HopL(5),stepRtoR(6),crossLoverR(7)stepR(8)
Repeatthe8counts
1‐8 HopR(1),stepLfootbehindR(2),HopL(3),stepRfootbehindL(4),HopR(5),stepLfootbehindR(6)stepRLR(7&8)–(Aneasierversionwouldbetodoa4thhop‐stepinsteadoftheRLRsteps.)
1‐8 HopR(1),stepLinfrontofR(2),HopL(3),stepRfootinfrontofL(4),HopR(5),stepLinfront
ofR(6),stepLRL(7&8)–(Aneasierversionwouldbetodoa4thhop‐stepinsteadoftheLRLsteps.)
Repeatbothsetsof8.
1‐4 StepLtotheL(1),stepRnexttoL(2),stepLtothesideand(3)hopL(4)
5‐8 StepRtotheR(5),stepLnexttoR(6),stepRtotheside(7)andhopL(8)
Repeatbothsetsof8
1‐8 (HoppingonRfootwitheachmovement)PointLtoetoLside(1),bringLfootupinfrontofshin(2),pointLtoetoLside(3),bringfootbehindcalf(4),pointLtoetoLside(5),bringLfootupinfrontofshin(6),stepL(7),stepRbehindL(&),stepLnexttoR(8)
Reversetheabovecombination.
1‐4 HoppingontheRfootkickfront(1),side(2),front(3)stepL(4).
5‐8 HoppingontheLfootkickfront(5),side(6),front(7),stepR(8)
Repeattheabovecombination.
Beginwiththefirst2setsof8toe‐steps.
RepeattheentiredancebeginningwithahopontheLfootandperformingthecombinationsonthe
oppositeside.
Attheendofthiscombinationthemusicgetsmuchfasterandthestudentscanbechallengedtorepeatthecombinationatanevenfasterpace.
Variations:Thiscombinationcanbedonewithapartner.Thepartnerscanfaceoneanotherwiththedancersmirroringoneanother.Itcanalsobedoneinacirclewitheveryotherpersonmovingeither
towardsthemiddleofthecircleorawayfromthecenterofthecircleduringthehopfrontandbackstepsandtheopeningtoe‐steps.Ifthedanceisdoneinlinesthestudentscanalsomoveinopposite
directionsduringthetoe‐stepcountsandchangelinepositions.
Assessment:StudentscanbeaskedtoresearchthecostumesofIrishdancelookingforhistoricalinfluencesonthecostumes.Olderstudentscanbeaskedtoconstructandteachanoriginal8countforthedance.