D.T303

Identifying Aesthetics

Students will view a video of a past dance concert or performance that includes several pieces of choreography or finished pieces. The teacher may choose to show a different performance with several dances, a recent assessment that was video recorded, or a different video of his/her choice. The video may be a performance of the students themselves, of professional dancers, or anything of the teacher’s choosing.

Before viewing the performance, students will randomly select a title of one of the dances in the video. While viewing the performances, the student will observe aesthetics, including skills of the performer(s), emotional impact of the performance, and visual impact of the performance.

Students will write a reflective analysis of the specific dance, using their notes and observations, and present their observations and reflection to the class, using the video for evidence and as a visual aid.

Note: Seventh-grade students may view a video with fewer pieces, giving the whole class a smaller range of pieces to analyze and compare, while sixth-grade students may view a video with only one or two pieces.

This item has not yet been field-tested.


This is an analytic rubric. The column on the left shows the dimension that is being measured in the student’s performance. The levels across the top row indicate the performance level in the dimensions. Occasionally all dimensions and performance levels are exemplified by multiple students in a single recording.

TEACHER SCORING RUBRIC—REFLECTIVE WRITING AND PRESENTATION

  • Dimension
  • Describing Skills of the Performer

  • Describing Emotional Impact of the Performance

  • Describing Visual Impact of the Performance

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • The student does not describe the skills of the performer or the impact of the performance in his or her writing and presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student describes little of the skills of the performer and the impact of the performance in his or her writing and presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student partially describes the skills of the performer and the impact of the performance in his or her writing and presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student thoroughly describes the skills of the performer and the impact of the performance in his or her writing and presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student does not describe the emotional impact of the performance in his or her writing and his or her presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student limitedly describes the emotional impact of the performance in his or her writing and his or her presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student moderately describes the emotional impact of the performance in his or her writing and his or her presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student thoroughly describes the emotional impact of the performance in his or her writing and his or her presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student does not describe the visual impact of the performance in his or her writing and presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student limitedly describes the visual impact of the performance in his or her writing and presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student moderately describes the visual impact of the performance in his or her writing and presentation.

    N/A at this time.
  • The student thoroughly describes the visual impact of the performance in his or her writing and presentation.

    N/A at this time.
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