Education and Early Childhood Learning

K-DA-M1: The learner demonstrates an understanding of and a facility with the elements of dance (i.e., the body, space, relationships, and motion factors and gestures) in a variety of contexts.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Use movement to demonstrate an understanding of the body in dance: body parts, body shapes, and body actions.
• Use movement to demonstrate an understanding of space in dance: personal and general space, dimensions, directions, levels, and pathways.
• Use movement to demonstrate an understanding of relationships in dance: relationships among dancers and between dancers and objects.
• Use appropriate dance vocabulary to label and describe elements of dance.

K-DA-M2: The learner develops a facility with dance techniques.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Demonstrate basic locomotor skills (include walk, run, hop, jump, leap, slide, gallop, and skip).
• Demonstrate basic axial movement skills in a variety of dance experiences (include bend/flex, stretch/extend, swing, and twist/rotate).
• Follow basic visual and musical cues in dance experiences.
• Perform grade-appropriate dances.

K-DA-M3: The learner demonstrates musicality through dance.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Respond kinesthetically to the flow (e.g., rhythm, phrasing, form) of a wide variety of music.
• Move to a steady beat in a variety of metres (suggested progression: begin with 2/4 and 6/8, and progress through 3/4, 4/4, and changing metres) and tempos (e.g., fast/slow, getting faster/slower).
• Respond to accented beats through movement.

K-DA-CR1: The learner generates ideas for creating dance using a variety of sources.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Draw inspiration from personal experiences and relevant sources (e.g., feelings; memories; imagination; themes; observations; visual stimuli; learning in other subject areas; poems; stories; music; daily, family, or community life) to ignite ideas and questions for dance creation.
• Consider other arts disciplines (visual arts, dramatic arts, media arts, music) and other subject areas to inspire and trigger ideas for dance creation.
• Generate multiple ideas for dance creation through experimentation, improvisation, and/or play with grade-appropriate dance elements, techniques, and forms.
• Engage in collaborative idea generation/brainstorming as inspiration for dance creation.

K-DA-CR2: The learner experiments with, develops, and uses ideas for creating dance.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Experiment with movement and dance elements to test and elaborate ideas.
• Select and organize movement ideas as a class, as a group, or individually (e.g., create a dance phase using three different dance steps and two pathways).
• Describe decisions about the selection and use of dance elements, techniques, forms, motion factors, and gestures in ongoing work.
• Incorporate serendipitous discoveries into own ongoing dance creations, as appropriate.
• Develop and extend dance ideas individually and in collaboration with others.

K-DA-CR3: The learner revises, refines, and shares dance ideas and creative work.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Share work in progress to inform revisions.
• Rehearse and refine dance to perform for others, with teacher guidance.
• Share own dance ideas, choreography, and interpretations with others through performances, choreography portfolios, or video recordings.

K-DA-C1: The learner experiences and develops an awareness of people and practices from various times, places, social groups, and cultures.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Perform, observe, and demonstrate an awareness of dance from various times, places, and peoples (ideally, include dance from cultures represented within the school community).
• Identify, share, and talk about examples of dance experienced at home, at school, and in the community.
• Demonstrate an awareness of dancers in and from own community.

K-DA-C2: The learner experiences and develops an awareness of a variety of dance genres, styles, and traditions.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Demonstrate an awareness that there are many different kinds of dance.
• Demonstrate the understanding that dance works can be categorized according to common characteristics.
• Recognize that dance is an art form, along with dramatic arts, literary arts, music, and visual arts.

K-DA-C3: The learner demonstrates an understanding of the roles, purposes, and meanings of dance in the lives of individuals and in communities.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Identify when and why people use dance in daily life (e.g., for storytelling, celebrating, exercising, learning, communicating ideas, socializing).
• Demonstrate an awareness of the intended meanings and/or purposes of dances encountered in own performance and viewing experiences (e.g., representations of nature in Indigenous hoop dancing, coal mining in the Japanese dance Tanko Bushi).
• Demonstrate an appreciation of dance as a means of experiencing and exploring own and others’ lives (e.g., feelings, values, stories, events, cultures).
• Demonstrate an awareness of ways in which dance reflects, influences, and shapes issues and events, as well as traditions, values, beliefs, and identities of individuals and groups.
• Engage and/or interact appropriately as participants, audience members, and performers.

K-DA-R1: The learner generates initial reactions to dance experiences.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Take time to perceive dance experiences before sharing opinions and making judgments.
• Make personal connections to previous experiences with dance and other art forms.
• Express first impression of own and others’ dance (e.g., thoughts, feelings, intuition, associations, questions, experiences, memories, stories, connections to other disciplines).

K-DA-R2: The learner observes and describes dance experiences.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Discern details about dance (e.g., elements [body, space, relationships], techniques, motion factors and gestures, movement qualities, and expressive gestures).
• Use appropriate dance terminology to observe and describe dance experiences.
• Recognize different noticings and build common understanding about dance.
• Demonstrate the understanding that noticing details enhances own thinking about dance, as well as appreciation, performance, and creation of dance.

K-DA-R3: The learner analyzes and interprets dance experiences.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Analyze how dance elements communicate meaning.
• Reflect on and share personal responses (e.g., feelings, thoughts, images) evoked by dance experiences.
• Examine others’ interpretations to understand diverse perspectives and inform new thinking about dance.
• Co-construct criteria to critically analyze and evaluate dance works and experiences.

K-DA-R4: The learner constructs meaning and applies new understandings from dance experiences.

The learner is able to do the following:

• Justify own preferences, ideas, and interpretations about dance.
• Recognize and respect that individuals and groups may have different preferences, ideas, interpretations, and opinions about dance.
• Make informed choices for decision-making about dance.