WORKSHOP 4: ABORIGINAL AND AFRICAN DANCE
WEEK 8: THURSDAY 30TH AUGUST 2012
LECTURER/ CHOREOGRAPHIC ARTIST: JACQUI DREESSENS
This worksop focussed on the ritualistic and ceremonial dances from the Indigenous Australians and Africans. Jacqui expressed the importance of respecting these cultures and explained that her approach to teaching and learning in this workshop would be more directed.
Kingfisher Boogie
A significant dance to the Wurundjeri people, I was intrigued to find out more. The following is taken from the CERES website:
About the Return of
the Sacred Kingfisher Festival
The CERES
Return of the Sacred Kingfisher Festival is an annual community celebration
welcoming the Sacred Kingfisher back to its original habitat, along the banks
of the Merri Creek in Brunswick. The Sacred Kingfisher bird has become a symbol
of "hope" connecting people and place. It is a community ritual and a
working process with the Wurundjeri people, various cultural communities and
performers of all ages and abilities. As long as the Kingfisher returns each
year in Spring, it is a sign that we are taking care of our local environment
and the home or Stamping Ground of the Sacred Kingfisher. The community is
invited annually to wear Kingfisher colours, make a mask, learn the Kingfisher
Boogie at the Village Green and follow the Giant Mother Kingfisher puppet
through CERES in celebration of the Return of the Sacred Kingfisher.
Our first point of call was to dress the part. Jacqui provided bright blue scarves and makeshift wings to help us into the part. I tied the scarf around my waist and left a 'tail'. Others wrapped the scarves around their bodies, or around their arms. The photo above shows the group dressed as kingfishers.
The Kingfisher boogie represented the bird
- ruffling feathers
- balancing on perches
- chirping
- pecking
The movement qualities included
- vibrating hands
- swaying hips wide and bending from the hips
- transferring body weight form side to side
- moving shoulders forwards and backwards repetitively
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| 'Kingfishers' sitting on perches (the lines on the floor) |
Following learning the Kingfisher boogie we grouped into small groups of five and created a 'nest' for the Kingfisher. In my group there was a lot of discussion about how to connect and what it would look like. We ran out of time to verbally agree on something, but when Jacqui called 'time' we all placed our hands in the middle, crossed them and held wrists.
Snake Activity
Our next activity made use of a different piece of material - a long coloured piece of chiffon. At first we played with it. A pedagogical approach that encourages children to explore what the material is capable of, and also helps them to focus later on the activity as they have already experimented. My group stretched the chiffon and threw it in the air, walking underneath it as it fell.
Then we joined together as a group again, but not in a large circle like we have many times before. This activity saw us imitating snakes. Everyone was connected to the long scarves by placing it on their left shoulder, and then each group connecting into a long line. We explored speed and saw how the last person had to try harder to keep up. e then created a spiral shape and placed the lengths of chiffon on the floor (as seen below).
We formed another line by placing our hands on the next person's elbows. This was described to us as a fertility dance performed by females. As we only have a few males in the group, and to be inclusive, they joined in too.
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| Female fertility dance |
Jacqui was our leader and she guided us around the space. The effect of moving her arms up and down created a canon throughout the rest of the line as we each followed, one by one.
We were led around into a spiral next to the material and were directed to lay down, staying close to one another. It was very much like mass spooning.
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| Working our way into the spiral |
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| Representing our connection to one another by laying close |
Elephants
The next part of the workshop saw us transformed one again into an animal. This time, elephants. We began by forming two straight lines, on opposite sides of the room, linking arms with those in our group, and facing the other group.
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| Lining up for the 'Elephant' dance |
Our movements had to represent the solid and graceful pattern of an elephant. Our bodies were bent at the knees and waist, and we moved our body weight from side to side, all the while trying to stay in unison.
In smaller groups, we practiced refining our stance, and began to chant. A leader was nominated, and that person called the shots, in terms of what direction and timing.
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| Practicing changing direction |
Following the 'elephant dance', the class was almost at a close. we finished by stretching, using animal poses as our inspiration.
VELS
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How to adapt the workshop into a
primary lesson and integrate other domains with dance
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Level 1 and 2
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The Kingfisher boogie could be adapted
to be used with younger levels. Prompting students to think about and copy
the movements the kingfisher (or other animal) does in the wild. Props would
be a great addition. This could be integrated with science concepts focussed
on animal life. Furthermore, you could add visual arts through students
creating their own masks.
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Level 3
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As a tuning in activity before dance is
introduced, students could create an action vocabulary list for animals. In
Dance, students could explore how these would look in relation to different
animals. Students could choose four words and create a movement sequence
based on their ideas. Students could then create a story that uses the order
of the words in their dance. This is integrating literacy in a number of ways
(vocabulary, spelling, writing).
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Level 4
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Students could investigate predator and
prey animals in Science. Using their knowledge, students could illustrate
through dance, the different movements that they would have. For example, a big
cat waiting to pounce or a bird swooping to attack.
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Safe use of props and equipment:
If using the same or similar props that we did with children, it is important to set expectations. This would include a discussion about safety and that nothing should interfere with your sight as you could bump into somebody, and nothing should be wrapped around the neck.
Reflection:
Throughout this workshop, I was thinking about how I could not wait to see my 4 year old nephew and mimic some of the kingfisher movements with him. I enjoyed using the props and 'chirping' and think children would love doing it too. Using animals to engage the minds of children and connect it to movement seems to be a natural progression of thought. I also was very interested in learning about the history of the local environment and how the community has come together to celebrate cultural connections. As a future primary teacher, I aspire to use dance in my curriculum to explore and celebrate different cultures.
References
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