Dance is a social (studies) event, right?

Due to illness, I was unable to attend this week's dance class. However, the syllabus told me that the focus would be on cross-curricular learning between dance and social studies. So, i decided to venture into the handy-dandy world of CODE and do some cross-curricular exploration of my own... this is one of the many amazing resources I stumbled across. 

A unit titled 'Reflecting Society Through Dance' takes junior or intermediate students on a journey of exploration through a variety of social dance styles from around the world and allows them to compare them to the role of social dance in Canada, today. 

The unit brings students through the history of dance, social relationships and greetings while intertwining drama techniques such as tableau and allowing students to experiment with the elements of dance (body, energy, relationship, shape and time). 

The lesson I was most intrigued by was called, 'Exploring Social Relationships: Greeting Others'. Greetings are so unique to individual cultures. In the Western world we know, a hand shake or a wave are of the most common greetings. Whereas in different parts of Europe, a single or double kiss on the cheek is the expectation. This lesson allows students to experiment with greetings of their making by using a variety of body parts and moving freely around the room. 

After some exploration, students are instructed to create greetings with their peers and perform them with and without eye contact. The class then has an opportunity to talk about this specific aspect of greeting others. It would provide a great opportunity to discuss societies in which eye contact is considered disrespectful in comparison to our society in which eye contact is the norm. 

click here to access the full lesson!