Dancers Talking Dance: Critical Evaluation in the Choreography Class / Edition 1

by Larry Lavender

Overview

Dancers Talking Dance describes how to teach students to formulate critical responses to the dances they see, create, and perform.

Written for teachers and dancers at all levels, the book outlines a five-step, systematic approach to critical evaluation. To bring the approach to life the author interweaves practical, how-to examples with explanations of the theories underlying each step. Readers will learn how to help students observe, describe, analyze, write, and talk more effectively about dances and other works of art. These skills will enhance students' choreography and improvisation experiences.

Dancers Talking Dance features many practical tools to help readers use the book to develop the critical process:

- Think on it ideas for writing and discussion
- Teaching/learning principles
- Teacher hints
- Chapter summaries
- Chapter objectives
- Sample assignments
- References

Part I provides an overview of philosophical and pedagogical issues and perspectives on critical evaluation and its role in dance education.

In Part II, the author outlines the ORDER approach to critical evaluation:
- Observation
- Reflection
- Discussion
- Evaluation
- Recommendations for revisions

He explains each step in the ORDER approach and provides writing and discussion ideas designed to stimulate teacher and student thinking about the critical process and how it works. The book also offers numerous hints to help teachers communicate the approach in their classes.

Part III presents practical suggestions for implementing the ORDER approach in beginning- and advanced-level choreography classes. The author interweaves practical activities with theoretical considerations to help students better understand the critical process. Teachers will also learn how to handle anticritical beliefs and disagreements that arise among students in critical discussions.

With Dancers Talking Dance, teachers can help students hone their critical skills and become more articulate, creative, and confident dancers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780873226677
Publisher:	Human Kinetics Publishers
Publication date:	01/26/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

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Larry Lavender is Head of Dance at the University of New Mexico. He has taught dance at New York University, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and the University of California at Irvine. He also has choreographed more than 30 dances and composed music for many of them. In 1984 he received the Distinguished Student Scholar Award from UC-Irvine for his original choreography and music of ""The Sleep of Reason.""

Lavender has taught criticism to dance students across the United States and around the world, including England, Mexico, and New Zealand. He has published numerous articles on dance criticism for journals such as Impulse, Dance Research Journal, and Focus on Dance. Lavender earned a BA in humanities and a BA in dance from UC-Riverside, and an MFA in fine arts and dance from UC-Irvine. In 1993 he completed his PhD in dance and dance education at New York University.

He is on the board of directors of the Congress on Research in Dance, and a member of the National Dance Association and the National Arts Education Association.

Lavender lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife, Elisabeth, and their daughter, Bridget. He enjoys hiking, music, and reading.

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Table of Contents

Part I: Perspectives on Critical Evaluation in Dance Education
Chapter 1. Criticism Within the Choreography Class
Chapter 2. The Subjective Response
Chapter 3. The Problem of Using Predetermined Criteria
Chapter 4. The Problem of Relying on Artists' Intentions
Chapter 5. Teacher Myths About Critical Evaluation

Part II: The ORDER Approach to Critical Evaluation
Chapter 6. Observation
Chapter 7. Reflection
Chapter 8. Discussion
Chapter 9. Evaluation
Chapter 10. Recommendations for Revisions

Part III: Implementation of the ORDER Approach
Chapter 11. Skill Level Distinctions in Choreography Courses
Chapter 12. Potential Obstacles to Critical Evaluation

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

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""We in the dance field need this material articulated. Particularly interesting is the setting up of a framework for the critique of dance studies, compositions and full choreographies from both objective and reflective perspectives.""
Loren Bucek
Coordinator,Program in Dance and Dance Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

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