1. The document outlines the syllabus for a Dance IV Honors course taught by Ms. Quick at Seventy-First High School. 2. Students will learn advanced modern dance techniques and create choreography to communicate ideas and emotions. They will analyze and evaluate their own work and that of other choreographers. 3. Requirements include maintaining a notebook and portfolio of work, attending performances, and completing choreography assignments which include notating their work and writing reflective papers. Students' grades will be based on participation, homework, quizzes, tests and performance.

1. Seventy-First High School
Dance Department
Dance IV Honor Syllabus
The Dance Department at Seventy-First High School
recognizes that students come in as individuals, and seek
to pursue diverse pathways/accomplish diverse
outcomes. With Ms. Quick's guidance, each student
interweaves their own experiences to make a life in
dance. Ms. Quick will give the students a lived
experience of dancing- meaning dancing with full
engagement, awareness, and presence--an experience that is meaningful and powerful.
Ms. Quick strives to give students an appreciation for both excellence and balance in the
dance classroom. Students need to expand their interests and possibilities, pushing their
understanding of what might be achieved through a life in dance. At the same time,
students need to recognize that dance is only one part of a productive life. Ms. Quick will
help students identify their individual strengths, weaknesses, passions, and values, and
facilitate the development of skills and attitudes necessary to achieve their goals.
Instructor: Ms. Quick
Email: kimberlyquick@ccs.k12.nc.us
Course Description: Using a Modern Dance approach, Dance IV is a rigorous honors
level course aligned to the Essential Standards dance curriculum at the advanced level.
Students create dances using movement choices, choreographic principles, structures,
processes and production elements to fulfill artistic intent and aesthetic criteria. Students
use expanded aesthetic criteria to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate their own
choreography as well as work of others. Students examine the creative process of
integrating movement with choreographic contexts focusing on the dance styles of
important 20th
and 21st
century choreographers. Students maintain portfolios containing
written and visual examples of their work for evaluation. Rehearsals and performances
are required and may include some daytime, weekend, or evening participation.
Student Goals
1. Understand how to use movement skills in dance.
2. Use choreographic principles, structures, and processes to create dances that
communicate ideas, experiences, feelings, and images.
3. Understand how to use performance values (kinesthetic awareness, concentration,
focus, and etiquette) to enhance dance performance.
4. Understand cultural, historical, and interdisciplinary connections with dance.
5. Use a variety of thinking skills to analyze and evaluate dance.

2. Dress Code:
Females-Bare feet, black leotard, tan tights, black dance shorts. Hair should be pulled
away from the face and neck and jewelry should not be worn.
Males-Bare feet, athletic shorts (with compression shorts underneath), and a black tee
shirt.
Possible other items: Knee pads
Classwork Participation: Classwork Participation in class means that you are a part of a
community of learners and are expected to engage actively in all assignments, including
all class discussions, moving exercises, and choreography assignments. Participation in
all in school performances and out-of- school performances is required. Please
follow the Performance Policy guidelines.
Performance Policy: The objective of the Performance Policy is to provide a policy that
will allow all members of dance a fair chance to perform at their maximum potential. In a
performance group, having a consistent ensemble is necessary if each individual is to be
able to perform at his/her best. The absence of even one member of an ensemble will
change the performance structure. In order to reflect the importance of each individual
fulfilling his/her responsibility to the performance group, the following policy will be
observed at Seventy First High School. Positive participation in all performances is
required. Students who miss due to an illness or other excused absence will be given a
makeup opportunity to be determined by the teacher, however, understand that prior
notification of a performance absence is required. Any student that misses a performance
without a written and accepted excuse will receive a maximum grade of a 70 for that
grading period. Factors such as class participation, tests, and other grades for the grading
period will determine if a 70 or lower will be given.
Audience Etiquette
Only when the audience unites with the performing artists can the fusion between them
develop the bonding necessary to allow the performance to reach its maximum potential.
Therefore, all audiences should adhere to these six basic guidelines:
1. Dress for the occasion. Attending a live performance is a special occasion. Dress
up to celebrate.
2. Be prompt. Give yourself plenty of time to arrive, be seated, and review the
program before the performance begins. You will not be seated once the
performance has begun.
3. Be considerate. Do not cough, whisper, unwrap gum or candy, or leave an
electronic device on during a performance. Please remove small children who are
interrupting the performance immediately. Also, remember to leave the theatre
out of necessity and if you do, please do it during intermission.
4. Respect property. Do not eat or drink in the facility, always clean up your trash,
and never put your feet on the back of the seat ahead of you.
5. Reward talent. Always applaud at the end of the performance to show your
appreciation. Never shout, yell, whistle, or make noises that are only appropriate
at athletic events and never be openly critical of any performance or performer.

3. 6. Stay. Stay and enjoy the entire performance. Do not leave once the performance
has begun.
***Dance students are required to attend at least one outside performance a
semester and write a two page review about the concert. Due by: TBD
Grading Scale: Students will be graded in dance based on daily classwork participation,
written exams, special projects, and written assignments. Here is the percentage break
down:
Classwork (Daily grade) =45%
Participation=10%
Homework =10%
Quiz=10%
Test=25%
A = 100 – 93
B = 92 – 85
C = 84 – 77
D = 76 – 70
F = 69 - 0
Attendance: Your attendance is expected and required. You are also expected to arrive
on time. Any and all tardiness will result in a lower classwork grade. You are only
allowed nine (9) absences for the semester. Further explanation of the attendance policy
at Seventy First High School can be found in the Student Handbook. Appropriate
documentation is required for an absence to be excused and must be submitted within two
days of the absence. Make-up work is required after an excused absence and should
follow the Article Critique guidelines. Please refer to the Performance Policy guidelines
for attendance policies regarding all performances.
Article Critique: Find an article that is a minimum of two pages in length about dance
from a dance magazine dated no later than 2004. Read the article, prepare a two-page
critique following the guidelines for MLA style of writing, and deliver a short class
presentation on the article. The critique must be typed using a 12 point font, one inch
margins, and double spaced. The reference page should follow the guidelines for MLA
style of writing. Be sure to answer the following questions thoughtfully and completely.
Turn in the critique along with a copy of the article.
1. The first paragraph
2. The second paragraph should summarize the article with all events in
chronological order.
3. The third paragraph should explain what you find interesting about the article
using examples.
4. The fourth paragraph should give your opinion of the article:
• How well the article was written
• Did the author(s) discuss everything they promised in the article’s
introduction?

4. • What are the article’s shortcomings?
• Did the author(s) provide enough background information?
• Were there adequate and appropriate examples and illustration?
• The fifth paragraph should be a conclusion
Notebook: You are required to maintain a three-ring notebook. Notebook guidelines:
1. Your Dance notebook will be your most important study guide. Please strive for
neatness as this notebook will be a major part of your grade.
2. No other subject should in your Dance notebook
3. You will need your Dance notebook every day in class.
4. Please divide and label your Dance Notebook into four sections (from top to
bottom): Journal, Vocabulary, Class Work/Notes, Test
5. You will need a good supply of notebook paper in the index divider marked
“Class work/Notes”.
6. All work should include a title, your name, class, period, and date.
7. Notebooks will be graded using the Dance Notebook Evaluation criteria.
Portfolio: As part of the North Carolina Essential Standards, each student enrolled in a
dance class at the high school level must demonstrate personal progress through the use
of a portfolio containing written and visual samples of their work. All students are
required to not only maintain a notebook with samples of their work but also maintain a
DVD-R containing work that has been videotaped. By signing this syllabus, the parent
and student is also providing permission for the student to be photographed and/or
videotaped during dance activities deemed appropriate for the portfolio section of their
dance course at Seventy-First High School.
Tentative Schedule of Units of Study:
Unit One: First Grading Period
History and Body Awareness
Unit Two: Second Grading Period
Elements of Dance and Dance as Communication
Unit Three: Third Grading Period
Critical and Creative Thinking Skills and Dance in Various Cultures and Historical
Periods
Unit Four: Fourth Grading Period
The Choreographic Process and Dance in Other Disciplines
Choreography Notations: All choreography assignments shall be notated in any way
that works for you and is decipherable and clear for the reader. You may write out the
counts and describe the movements, draw floor patterns, etc.

5. Reflective Papers
Each choreography project will culminate in the writing of a paper. The paper must be
typed with a cover page in Times New Roman, 12 point font, double spaced, one inch
margins, black ink, following MLA format, and please number your answers according to
the number of the question.
1. What did you/your group do on the first day you worked on the assignment? How
did you begin? If this was a group assignment, what did you contribute?
2. What did you/your group do on the second day you worked on the assignment? If
this was a group assignment, what did you contribute?
3. What did you/your group do on the third day you worked on the assignment? If
this was a group assignment, what did you contribute?
4. What challenges did you/your group face? What were the successes?
5. If this was a group assignment how did you reach consensus?
6. What was your experience of presenting your piece for the first showing?
7. How did you respond to the comments about your work?
8. What did you/your group work on between the first and final showing? If this was
a group assignment, how did you contribute?
9. What was your experience of presenting your piece for the final showing? What
changed from the first to the final showing?
10. What did you learn about yourself from this process?
***Evening of Dance: You will be required to attend Evening of Dance at Douglas Byrd
High School (date to be announced). If your choreography is selected for the show you
will also be required to be at the rehearsal (date and location to be announced).
***All County Auditions: All County Dance auditions will be held tentatively February
20th,
2013 at Seventy First High School (time to be announced).

6. I have read and understand all
requirements outlined in the
Dance IV Honor Syllabus for
Seventy-First High School
and accept the responsibility
for fulfilling these
requirements.
Student’s Name _______________________________
(Print)
Student’s Name ______________________________ Date ____________
(Signature)
Parent’s Name _______________________________
(Print)
Parent’s Name ________________________________ Date ____________
(Signature)

7. I have read and understand all
requirements outlined in the
Dance IV Honor Syllabus for
Seventy-First High School
and accept the responsibility
for fulfilling these
requirements.
Student’s Name _______________________________
(Print)
Student’s Name ______________________________ Date ____________
(Signature)
Parent’s Name _______________________________
(Print)
Parent’s Name ________________________________ Date ____________
(Signature)