Week 3: Site Specific Dance
Tutor: Jacqui Fenwick
Date: 21st March 2016
Site specific dance is movement that is created using the environment including the aspects of fauna and flora, weather, history and architecture. Sekoff (2012) sums up site-specific dance succinctly stating:
'Site-specific dance refuses the confines of a concert stage. From sidewalks to airports, bridges to buildings, choreographers are reshaping our conventional notions of performance. When a dance piece is conceived in relation to a particular place (and is therefore “site-specific”) the location becomes as much a part of the performance as the dancer’s body. Brought out into the world, dance expands its imaginative repertoire, engages with new audiences, and helps reinvigorate a sense of communal space'
As soon as I read this, I was instantly drawn to an example of site-specific dance used for a music clip by Fatboy Slim and his song Praise You, which sees a dance group perform on a sidewalk in front of a large gathering of onlookers. The clip can be viewed below:
Site-specific dance has the potential to be utilized across many areas of the Australian Curriculum due to its flexible nature. Areas that could be explored include areas such as mathematics, geography, history, science to name a few. While assisting to fufill these domains it is important to recognise that site-specific dance would also benefit such areas as personal and interpersonal development in forms of communication, planning and exploration.
Due to my absence of this particular workshop, I have created the following lesson plan that could be used to implent site-specific dance within the classroom.
REFERENCES
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority 2016, 'Australian Curriculum', retrieved 8 June 2016, http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au.
Praise You by Fatboy Slim [Official Video] 2010, YouTube clip, Fatboy Slim, 18 May, retrieved 8 June 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex1qzIggZnA.
Sekoff, H 2012, 'Site-Specific Choreography: When Dances Goes To Unexpected Places', retrieved 8 June 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/site-specific-dance_n_1707315.html?section=australia.