Nguyen 1

Gabrielle Nguyen
November 18, 2015
AP ENGLISH 12
Mr. White
P. 2

INTRODUCTION
For my Senior Project I must find a way to expand my love and understanding for dance,
so I will be teaching a dance to my Vietnamese youth group, for the Vietnamese New Years
Event. In doing this event, I will be applying my knowledge of dance and what I have researched
to improve it. I will be exploring; the different styles of dance, the different learning and teaching
styles, how music can help muscle memory, about injuries that usually occurs within dancers and
how to prevent them, and also improving the attention span of students. I think that this would be
a good learning stretch for me because it will help me strengthen my technique, improve my
choreographing skills, and also help me learn more about how others learn.
I would like to think that my Senior Project will be completed without any problems, but
that is very unlikely. A couple of the things that could go wrong in my project is that people will
have difficult schedules to work around, they wont remember the choreography, and that there is
always a chance that someone could get injured from doing. Another fear that I have is that I
wont be able to take control of the group and get them to focus. I hope that we will be able to
get through these obstacles by getting an early start so that there will be enough time to learn
everything, we will go over and work out any problems within the with choreography, and we
can stretch and avoid any hazards during dancing. Also, that I will learn how to voice my
opinions and take charge.

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For my my Senior Project I have set two goals, one for the group and one for myself. For
the group I hope that they will gain more knowledge of traditional dancing and ballet, also that
they learn more about themselves; how they work with others, how quickly they learn, asking for
help when needed, and being more comfortable with how they dance and their style. For myself,
I expect to become more comfortable with a position of authority, to learn how others work, and
so expand my love for dance.
I will be recording the progress of the group by taking videos and photos. Each week I will
see what progress we have made. By the end of the project I will have compiled enough
recordings to see how much has changed over time and see if i have completed my goals.

RESEARCH
In dance there are many different styles, for example; jazz, ballet, contemporary, modern,
tap, hip hop, and the various types of traditional dancing (Dufrene). Even though there are many
different styles, you can always somehow relate each style to another. Traditional dancing or
multicultural dancing can be seen as artistic expression and a bridge between spirituality,
communication, and art (Dufrene). The different ways of communicating is by verbal, gestures,
graphics, and by print (Ruben). The different styles of dance represent the different ways of
expressing yourself to others, through gestures and emotions (Dufrene). Because dancing is a
nonverbal form of communication; touch space, expression, and eye contact are important
interactions to have(Peick).
Students learn in different ways, like by visual and auditory skills or by sensing and
intuitively (Felder). These two categories can be broken down even further; visual, auditory, and
kinesthetic learning (Felder). There are even more categories such as logical, solitary, and social
learners (Brady). These categories can be put into phases, such as feeling, thinking, doing, and

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reflection (Kolb). To figure out what type of learners the students are, make a survey, and see
where each student lies (Felder). There are four quadrants to each learning style; the
accommodators, convergers, assimilators, and divergers (Kolb). To become a successful
instructor, one must balance concepts, have images, and many concrete examples (Brady). The
main purpose of the instructor is to make sure that every student understands what is going on,
and to help them understand better (Kolb).
In order to be a successful instructor one must have insight on teaching, learning, and
how to approach the different styles (Silverman). When instructing it is better for the students or
children to have uncertainty because it means that they are willing to try and that there is room
for improvement (Lange-Kttner). The is no right or wrong way of teaching, it is just trying to
find the best way of teaching so that the students can understand the most (Silverman). In
teaching, the important information must be emphasized and have visuals or demonstrations
(Kolb). Like learning styles, there are many different types of teaching styles; concrete, factual,
conceptual, and theoretical, it is important to emphasize which is needed from the instructor
(Silverman). There has been more success in learning when the instructor has given positive
feedback to the children or students (Lange-Kttner).
Music can help people to remember sequences, have a faster memory retrieval, and help
with learning (Palmer). According to Palmer, music is a cognitive process that helps our memory
become more accurate. For a student or performer to do well, they must build endurance to
increase the fluidness of the performance (Binder). The patterns of the pitches, in the music, help
improve the performers motor movement (Palmer). The movement of the muscles and the
patterning of the music, help to manipulate the two things into one (Palmer). As students

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combine similar things together, the chance for error is less (Binder). Although the chances of
errors in movement can decrease, the risk of injuries do not (Verhaar).
Many injuries occur in dancing because the dancer is not well stretched and not aware of
how long their bodies endurance (Brunton). Dancers can experience fatigue and not know how
to manage it, because they want to push through and complete the activity at hand (Brunton).
Injuries can happen from landing in exorotation positions in dance (Verhaar). Many dancers
strive for the best turn out and tend to rotate too much (Verhaar). The ways to avoid these types
of injuries is to work on a comfortable position and not to work through fatigue (Brunton).
Many dancers do not have the proper health care because it is not given to them (Guptill).
Many dancers do not receive the proper health care because of the amount of hours they work
with different companies, as a dancer you hop from audition to audition and gig to gig
(Ambegaonkar). Dancers are highly dedicated and have to go through many repetitive rehearsals,
to master their craft and have to improve their muscle movements (Caswell). The physical
demand that is needed from dancers are so high and are underserved (Ambegaonkar). Most
Dancers should connect with their mind and body, not just one or the other because then
dancers can tell whether or not the can carry on (Latorre). Dancing should not just be with one
part of your body, it should be with all parts working together as one unit (Latorre). If one part of
the body is tired and worn out a dancer should know when to stop and how far to push
themselves (Brunton).

CONCLUSION
In my senior project I would like to work through my issues very easily, but as I can see
in my research it will not be as easy as I thought. While doing the research i realized that there
was more to what I was talking about than I thought. In this process I learned many helpful tips

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and new knowledge, that i had not had before. I feel that because I did so much research on my
main topics, I will have an easier time trying to resolve the issues.
I learned about the different forms of dancing, the different types of styles and teaching
methods, how music can help muscle memory, about injuries that usually occurs within dancers
and how to prevent them, and also improving the attention span of students. Because the are so
many different styles of dance, teaching, and learning, I feel that I will be more prepared with the
research that I have done.
In my Senior Project, I will be applying this new information by; making a short quiz for
the dancers to take so that I can know what type of learner they are and by having more
examples and visuals of what I am going to be teaching. Another way I will be applying my
knowledge is by being prepared for any injuries and making sure that I am not going to be over
exerting the dancers during rehearsals. My goals for this project have not changed. I think that
the most difficult goal to pass will be teaching the group about more traditional styles instead of
the styles that I am more used to. I feel that if I apply my new knowledge to what I already know
and keep trying to find better and more effective ways to teach, then my Senior Project will be
not only successful, but also a great learning stretch.

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WORK CITED

Binder, Carl, Elizabeth Haughton, and Denise Van Eyk. "Increasing endurance by
building fluency: Precision teaching attention span." Teaching Exceptional Children 22.3 (1990):
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Brady, Carol, L. "Understanding Learning Styles: Providing The Optimal Learning

Experience." International Journal Of Childbirth Education 28.2 (2013): 16-19. CINAHL Plus
with Full Text. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.

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Brunton, Laura K., and Doreen J. Bartlett. "The Bodily Experience Of Cerebral Palsy: A
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Implementation Of An In-House Linda Healthcare Program For University-Level Performing
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Kolb, David. "Learning styles inventory." The Power of the 2 2 Matrix (1985): 267.

Lange-Kttner, C. "Viewing And Attention In Children." Acta Paediatrica 98.10 (2009):

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Peick, Melissa. "Dance as Communication: Messages sent and received through dance."
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Dance, Frank EX, and Carl Ruben. "The functions of human communication."
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