| Dance
In almost every land, since the first man walked the earth, people have
probably danced. Dance is a language of movement, rhythm, pattern, and
imagination.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about dance.
Places To Go | People
To See | Things To Do | Teacher
Resources | Bibliography
Places To Go
 The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out
about dance.
New York City Ballet
Pirouette over to the New York City Ballet. Select "Fun and Education"
from the menu to play a ballet trivia game.
American Ballet Theatre
Plié over to the American Ballet Theatre to find out about this
prestigious dance company. Choose "Ballet Dictionary" from the menu to
see a listing of ballet terms. If you have the Flash plug-in, you can
even see a demonstration of the ballet terms.
Square Dance
Dosado over to the premiere portal to western square dance resources.
People To See
Swing
Have students talk to their grandparents or others who were teenagers
in the 40s and find out about swing dancing. Find out about Glenn
Miller and Tommy
Dorsey and other bits of information about the famous Big
Band era of the 1930s and 40s.
Isadora Duncan
Get to know Isadora Duncan (1878ˆ1927). She was an innovator and
pioneer in modern dance. She was inspired by the theatre of ancient Greece
and liked to dance barefoot to music that was often not written to be
danced to. She frequently danced in a costume that was similar to a Greek
tunic with many colored scarves draped over her shouldlers. She founded
dance schools in Berlin, Paris, Moscow, and London. She died in 1927 when
her scarf caught in the wheel of her car while she was driving in France.
 Shirley
Temple
Become reacquainted with Shirley Temple. She was a great tap dancer. Then
learn about tap steps such as Paddle and Roll and Shim Sham Shimmy.
Mikhail
Baryshnikov
Meet Mikhail Baryshnikov, famous ballet dancer.
The
Honey Bee
Visit with a honey bee. Honey bees do little dances to communicate to
fellow bees.When a bee discovers a source of nectar, it returns to the
hive to tell the other worker bees. Instead of leading the other bees
back to the nectar, it performs either a round dance or a tail-wagging
dance to tell them exactly where the nectar is. The round dance is for
nectar that is close to the hive. The tail-wagging dance is for nectar
that is farther from the hive. In the tail-wagging dance, the size of
the flying dance loops is relative to the distance of the nectar, and
the vigorousness of the wagging represents the approximate amount of nectar
available. In addition, the orientation of the dance tells the bees the
precise direction of the nectar source.
Agnes
de Mille
Meet Agnes de Mille. She was a world-renowned choreographer. Then meet
other choreographers such as Jerome
Robbins and Bob Fosse.
Alvin
Ailey
Dancer, choreographer and founder of the world famous Alvin
Ailey Dance Theater, Ailey is considered one of the finest, most influential,
and most beloved modern dance figures of the 20th Century. Much of his
work celebrates the American black experience.
Time
100: Martha Graham
Meet the American dancer and choreographer who’s considered the
mother of modern dance.
Things To Do
Del's Dance
Book
Oh boy! Renaissance dancing! Learn the details of how people danced in
the 16th century.
 Flamenco
World
Read an online magazine devoted to everything flamenco.
Just Salsa
Salsa dancing is "hot" now. This is an online magazine devoted to everything
you ever wanted to know. Take cyber salsa lessons from this site.
 WorldWide
Art Index - Dance
Find links to 80+ different dance categories from African dance to the
tango.
Henry's
Dance Hotlist
Check out this list of links to sites about tango, ballroom dancing, country-western/line
dancing, swing dancing, and more.
Great
Dance Performances
Read essays and view multimedia presentations on great dance performances
and the dancers who performed them.
Teacher Resources
Lesson Plans/Webquests
Bibliography
- Ancona, George. Let's Dance! New York : Morrow Junior Books, c1998.
- Grau, Andree. Dance. New York : Knopf : Distributed by Random House,
c1998.
- Maurer, Tracy. World Dances. Vero Beach, Fla. : Rourke Press, c1997.
- Packard, Helen C. A Day in the Life of a Dancer. New York : Rosen
Publishing Group's PowerKids Press, 1997.
- Tythacott, Louise. Dance. New York : Thomson Learning, 1995.
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