Stephen told the students that he did not start dancing until he was in his twenties. When he was at school he loved horse riding. It was not until he was much older and was travelling that he experienced the ballet when in Austria and started having dance lessons.
He is a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer.
He talked to the students about how we sculpt our bodies into different forms. We use our body to communicate ideas, emotions, tell a story. He also discussed costumes and music.
The students watched a scene from the ballet - The Nutcracker and talked about what they liked ...
- she showed expression
- the ballerina was graceful
- she was happy
- she must have worked very hard to do it
- The costumes - tutu's
This ballet was first performed in 1890 and has not changed very much in the last 100 + years.
It is re-danced and preserved. Mr Stephen compared it to a living painting. Trying to keep as much like the original as possible.
We then looked at a more modern piece where a group of people are dancing in the rain. The students liked ....
- it was fast
- energetic
- lots of movement
- active
- dressed more casual
The students compared costumes between the two time periods and movements.
The students came to understand that dance does reflect the society it is in.
After a break the students did a small workshop with Mr Stephen. They used their face and bodies to create frozen expression. They then learned dance steps and added different emotions to the same basic steps to completely change the dance.
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