Building Dances: A Guide to Putting Movements Together [Paperback]

Susan McGreevy-Nichols (Author), Helene Scheff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1995 | ISBN-10: 0873225732 | ISBN-13: 978-0873225731

This text aims to help teachers introduce, develop and assess the basics of choreography. Accompanied by a card deck that provides 224 movement ideas, this reference takes the reader step-by-step through the choreographic process. The book provides: sample lesson plans; guidelines for the teaching skills involoved; suggestions for organizing the movements; ideas for stylizing and individualizing dances; 112 dance cards; 9 dance construction models for designing dances; age-appropriate adaptions; student assessment forms and sample criteria; summaries; and a glossary that explains important dance terms in everyday language. The text depicts construction models mapping out simple and complex movements that can be made into a dance. Some of these movements use the whole body, others use various body parts in isolation or together. Teachers can adapt the construction models to design a single lesson, a dance unit, a semester unit or even a year-long programme. The book is accompanied by a deck of cards that provide movement examples that students can try out. The cards offer 224 teacher-tested ideas for choreographing dances in four categories, including dance techiniques, elements that change movements, sport and game movements and creative suggestions. Students can mix and match the movement examples to create unlimited dances.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan McGreevy-Nichols is the national director of Arts, Planning and School Support for the Galef Institute in Los Angeles. She taught at Roger Williams Middle School in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1974 to 2002. She was the founder and director of the inner-city school's nationally recognized dance program in which more than 300 of the school's 900 students elected to participate.

Susan is coauthor of Building Dances: A Guide to Putting Movements Together (1995) and its second edition (in press), Building More Dances: Blueprints for Putting Movements Together (2001), and Dance About Anything (in press). She is a charter member and presenter of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) and a former treasurer and board member. She also has served as the president of the National Dance Association (NDA) and the nominating chair and (Rhode Island) state leader for the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education.

Susan has received numerous NDA presidential citations and an Eastern District Association (EDA) of the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Merit Award in Dance. In 1994 she was named Rhode Island's Dance Teacher of the Year, and in 1995 she was honored both as the NDA National Dance Teacher of the Year and as an EDA Outstanding Professional. She received AAHPERD's Honor Award in 2000.

Helene Scheff, RDE, has been a dance educator and administrator for 45 years in both the public and private sectors. She is coauthor of Building Dances: A Guide to Putting Movements Together (1995), Building More Dances: Blueprints for Putting Movements Together (2001), Experiencing Dance: From Student to Dance Artist (2005), and Dance About Anything (in press).

A registered dance educator, Scheff is the founder and executive director of Chance to Dance, an in-school dance program started in 1985 that brings quality dance education to children in grades 4 through 8.

A graduate of the famed NYC High School of Performing Arts, Scheff is a former Joffrey Ballet dancer. She is a founding member and former president of the Dance Alliance of Rhode Island and has served as vice president of dance for the Eastern District Association (EDA) of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She is a board member of the Rhode Island Alliance for Arts Education and the Committee Liaison for UNITY. Scheff is a member of the National Dance Association (NDA) and a charter member of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO).

Scheff was named the Rhode Island Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance's (RIAHPERD) Dance Teacher of the Year in 1996 and was honored as an EDA Outstanding Professional in 1996. She received the RIAHPERD President's Honor Award in 1997 and an NDA Presidential Citation in 1998. She was awarded the Dance Alliance of Rhode Island Dance Legacy Award in 2002.

Marty Sprague, MA, is a professional choreographer and performer with more than 29 years of experience in public dance education. She is the dance teacher at the Providence Academy of International Studies and artistic director of Chance to Dance.

Marty holds a master's degree in dance education from the Teacher's College at Columbia University and a BFA in dance from Boston Conservatory. She has been a licensed trainer for the National Center for Education and the Economy's Course I, Standards-Based Curriculum—a professional development course for standards-based teaching and learning. She served on the Rhode Island Governor's Task Force for Literacy in the Arts. Marty is a member of the Arabella Project, a dance group exploring the realms of the older dancer.

Marty is coauthor of Building More Dances: Blueprints for Putting Movements Together (2001), Experiencing Dance: From Student to Dance Artist (2005), and Dance About Anything (in press). She also served as a consultant to the authors for the first edition of Building Dances: A Guide to Putting Movements Together (1995).

In 1992 Marty was named the Rhode Island Dance Educator of the Year and in 1998 earned an Outstanding Professional Award from EDA. In 2004, Marty was honored with Dance Teacher Magazine's Dance Teacher of the Year Award for K-12. She is a member of the National Dance Association (NDA) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and she is a charter member of National Dance Education Organization (NDEO).

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics Publishers (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873225732
• ISBN-13: 978-0873225731
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,928,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book--dance cards have practical application, February 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Building Dances: A Guide to Putting Movements Together (Paperback)

I teach dance to adult women, and, although this book is geared towards teaching children, I have found the dance cards enormously useful. Using the suggestion in the book to pass out the cards to students in small subgroups, I have seen amazing creativity result in the mini-choreographies that they make. Using the cards is a great 10-15 minute class exercise that really enhances creativity. I've received good feedback from students, and, in my opinion, the cards alone are worth the price of the book. The book also contains some good basic information about body positioning, choreography, and how to use the cards. The book is written in very clear language, with clear illustrations and graphics. I'd rate it an A+.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lame-0, October 15, 2002

By 

C. Kirk "newmommy" (Fort Wright, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building Dances: A Guide to Putting Movements Together (Paperback)

I bought this book with high expectations. I teach dance, drama, and art to elementary school children and I found only one really good lesson from this book. There is a bunch of information on how to use national standards for dance in the classroom and some decent rubics, but as a whole...I wished I would have saved my money.

1 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars !, June 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Building Dances: A Guide to Putting Movements Together (Paperback)

I thin kthe book was very interesting. And as a vocal artist I dance and it gave me some tips on better dance moves and i think my choreographer that of it as a blessing (i gave her a copy too). Thanks