Workshop 4: Telling stories, Morris Bush Dance

Workshop 4: Telling stories, Morris Bush Dance
13th September, 2012

We began today’s class by picking leaves from a tree.

The tree represented the ‘tree of life’ and we began a discussion on what this tree meant to us personally.

I thought that the tree represented our lives and each branch represented a journey we were undertaking such as; love, careers, money etc.

We thanked our tree for the goods it brings to us and picked a branch.

We carefully examined our branches and quietly reflected on what this branch may mean to us and how it represents our life. I believe mine represented prosper and growth.

NAH NAH NAHKANA

We then continued inside to perform an aboriginal dance titled ‘nah nah nakana’ which was a dance used as a smoking ceremony to to cleanse the space and the body and welcome strangers to their land through the roots of the trees.

Burning the leaves

Here we used physical skills such as the stamping of the feet which represented the stamping of the earth in the most sacred ways, sweeping the floor to cleanse the earth, mind and spirit and locomotor movements such as standing on the tips of our feet, walking, waving our arms etc. 

We used the motion of rubbing our hands together in an upwards and downwards motion to represent the sticks rubbing together to make a fire. We passed the sticks to each person so that we all worked together to create the fire. 

Following this, we learnt a new dance known as the stockyard dance. The stockyard dance is a ‘Bush Dance’ which originated in the Gold Rush era of the 1800’s. The majority of the dances performed with variations of folk dances. Many men were sent to the goldfields leaving their partners behind.  

This segment began in pairs with males and females. In a circle (or oval) we stand beside our partner.

1.     Males walk into circle and on 8^th count they bow to one another. Walk back for 8 beats.

2.     Females do the same thing with a curtsey.

3.     Holding hands with partner and bringing left arm across the body to walk around each other in a clockwise direction for 8 counts.

4.     Repeat step 3 in an anti-clockwise direction bringing the right arm in front of the body.

5.     Promenade around the room in the circle for 16 counts.

This dance was extremely important during this era as it allowed for the farmers to socialize and not be left in isolation.

We learnt how to trust our partners whilst walking around the room with our eyes closed, trusting that our partners will not lead us into other couples. We made it more difficult by using different levels, walking backwards etc. We also continued on by using different partners and not knowing who was leading us.

Following this dance, we then learnt an African GAHU dance. We formed a circle which honoured the mother earth and the creator spirit: Mama Africa and a reflection of the earth.

We learnt each piece of the dance in small and easy steps and progressed through from simple to complete.

This piece involved a series of movements which had meanings behind them:

-         Knees over toes

-         Stamping to connect with mother earth

-         Upside and right side of hands: we are a mirror image of the earth.

-         Moving our arms up and down for the creator spirit (male energy), earth spirit (female energy)

-          Hands on hips dancing- flapping elbows:  pride and protector- guardian

-         Share, shake, open torso: attract attention and greeting.

-         Face: Sun energy

-         Trunk: Moon energy

-         Pelvis: Star energy.

VELS:

The Arts- Level 4

Creating and making

Students independently and collaboratively experiment with and apply a range of skills, techniques and processes using a range of media, materials, equipment and technologies to plan, develop, refine, make and present arts works.

Exploring and responding

Students discuss traditional and contemporary arts works using appropriate arts language to describe the content, structure and expressive qualities of their own and other people’s works from a range of arts disciplines and forms.

Communication- Level 4

Listening, viewing and responding

Students develop interpretations of the content and provide reasons for them. They explain why peers may develop alternative interpretations.

Interpersonal Development – Level 4

Building social relationships

Students demonstrate, through their interactions in social situations, respect for a diverse range of people and groups

Working in teams

Students work effectively in different teams and take on a variety of roles to complete tasks of varying length and complexity. They work cooperatively to allocate tasks and develop timelines. Students accept responsibility for their role and tasks. They explain the benefits of working in a team. They provide feedback to others and evaluate their own and the team’s performance.

Personal Learning- Level 4

Managing personal learning

Students develop and implement plans to complete short-term and long-term tasks within timeframes set by the teacher, utilising appropriate resources

Thinking Processes – Level 4

Creativity

Students use creative thinking strategies to generate imaginative solutions when solving problems.

The Humanities- Level 4

Historical Knowledge and understanding

They compare and contrast the values and beliefs of Australians and people of other cultures. They compare aspects of different cultures and countries. 

Further Understandings:

To encourage students to understand the history and relevance

of Morris dancing they will watch the following YouTube clip as a whole group.

  http://www.safeshare.tv/w/pvwyScGeik

As a class there will be a discussion based around the following

questions

- What types of movements did you see?

- What parts of their bodies did they use?

- How did they use the space around them?

- Referring to your sheet, what choreographic principles did you see

them using?

- What did the dance make you think of?

Students will follow the teacher in a number of the moves demonstrated in the video using clap sticks and bells on strings that can be tied onto their legs. They will do this in partners to get into the jumping and stepping rhythm of Morris dancing.

References

Deakin University 2011, ‘Types of movement’, ECA410 – Primary Arts Education: Focussed Study (Dance), accessed 20 September 2012

Morris Dancing in Oxford - Safeshare.TV. 2012. Morris Dancing in Oxford - Safeshare.TV. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.safeshare.tv/w/pvwyScGeik. [Accessed 28 September 2012

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) 2007, ‘Victorian Essential Learning Standards’, accessed 20 September
2011, <http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/>