A. Dance / C. Music · Music and Dance

Dance: Turning Your Writing and Media into Movement

A1.2 A2.1About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can use dance as a language to communicate ideas from my own writing or media works.
I can turn key words and images into movement, from literal gestures to abstract movement.
I can build the structure of a dance from the structure of a text.
I can construct a personal interpretation of the message in a dance, including messages about my community and the world, and support it with evidence.

Words to know

source
The starting point for a dance, such as a poem, a journal entry, a photo or a video.

message
The idea the creator wants the audience to understand or feel.

literal gesture
A movement that shows an action exactly as it happens in real life, like miming picking something up.

abstract movement
Movement that keeps the feeling or energy of an idea but changes it (bigger, slower, a different body part), so it is not just miming.

interpretation
Your own explanation of what a dance means, supported by evidence from what you saw.

issue
A problem or question that people in a community or the world care about, like pollution, belonging or fairness.

Remember from Grade 6

In Grade 6 you found the central theme of stories and poems and turned it into movement. This year the source is your own work: a poem, story or journal entry you wrote, or a media work such as a photo, short video, comic or podcast. Dance becomes another language for saying what you want to say.

From words to movement: five steps

Find the message. In one sentence: What do I want the audience to understand or feel?
Collect key words and images. Action words (verbs) are the easiest to move: pull, rise, scatter, choke, open. Feeling words help choose energy.
Start literal, then abstract. Mime the action first. Then change it: make it bigger or smaller, slower, do it with a different body part, repeat it, or travel with it.
Borrow the structure. Each stanza or paragraph can become a section. A turning point in the writing can become a big change in the dance.
Choose the elements. Decide on levels, pathways, energy and relationships that support the message. Then rehearse and refine.

The five steps in order. Step 3 is the one that makes a dance interesting: start with a mime, then change it so it keeps the feeling but is no longer a plain gesture.

Key word or image	Literal gesture	Abstract movement
pull bottles from a creek	bend and mime pulling something out	whole body leans back in a slow, strong pull against an invisible weight
choked	hands at the throat	body folds inward with tight, bound energy; movement stutters and stops
found its voice	mouth opens	arms and chest open wide; free-flowing travel across the whole space
a photo of an empty playground	stand still and look around	a dancer swings an arm like a swing, slower and slower, then stops alone in a wide space

Abstract movement keeps the feeling of an idea and makes it more interesting to watch than miming.

Worked example

Example: Let's turn a student poem into a dance

A Grade 7 student wrote this short poem about a cleanup in her neighbourhood:

The creek behind our school was loud with frogs and running water. This spring it's quiet, choked with cans and plastic bags. Twelve of us came on Saturday with gloves and buckets. By noon, the water found its voice again.

Message: When people work together, they can bring a damaged place back to life.
Key words: loud, running, quiet, choked, came, gloves, found its voice.
Structure: four lines → four sections. Section 1: fluid, travelling flow (the healthy creek). Section 2: the same flow slows, folds and stops (choked). Section 3: dancers enter one by one and work together (pulling, lifting). Section 4: the opening flow returns, bigger, with everyone.
Elements: levels go from low (choked) to high (voice again); energy goes from bound to free-flowing; relationship goes from alone to a whole group in unison.
Check: Does every section help the message? The return of the opening movement at the end shows that the creek has recovered.

The dance has four sections that follow the poem, uses abstract versions of key words, and ends by bringing back the opening idea to show recovery.

The cleanup poem as a four-section dance. The movement shrinks to almost nothing in Section 2 (choked), then grows back bigger than ever in Section 4, so the dance has the same shape as the poem.

Worked example

Example: Let's build an interpretation with evidence

You watch a classmate's dance. Two dancers start back to back, far apart. One keeps reaching toward the other, who turns away. At the end, the second dancer turns, reaches back, and they finish side by side. Let's interpret its message.

Describe what you saw: back-to-back start, far apart, repeated reaching, turning away, final turn toward, side by side at the end.
Notice the elements: relationship changes from apart to together; the reaching is repeated, so it is important.
Interpret: I think the message is about including someone who feels left out, or about making a new friend.
Support it: I think this because the repeated reaching shows one person trying again and again, and the ending, side by side, shows that the effort worked.
Connect: This matters in my school, where new students sometimes eat lunch alone.

A strong interpretation describes, interprets and gives evidence from the dance, and can connect the message to the community or the world. Other interpretations can be right too if they are supported.

Just for fun

What if you turned your grocery list into a dance? Milk could be a slow pour, eggs a careful tiptoe, and bananas a big curved reach. 🍌 Any list of action words can become choreography, even a silly one!

Hands-on activity

My words, my dance

You need: something you wrote (a poem, a journal entry, a short story) or a photo or short video you made, paper and a pencil, and a clear space.

Write your message in one sentence.
Circle five key words or images. Next to each, write a literal gesture and an abstract version.
Split your source into 2 to 4 sections and give each section a level, an energy and a relationship.
Create and rehearse a dance of about 32 counts (four 8-counts).
Perform it for someone without explaining it first. Ask: What do you think it was about? What did you see that made you think so?
Compare their interpretation with your message. What would you change so the message is clearer?

Your turn

What is the difference between a literal gesture and abstract movement?

Name three kinds of sources you could use for a dance this year.

Why are verbs useful key words?

A poem has three stanzas. How could that shape your dance?

Turn the word scatter into an abstract movement.

What are the three parts of a strong interpretation?

More practice: warm-up

What is a source for a dance?

What is the message of a dance?

Is miming typing on a keyboard literal or abstract?

Give an example of an issue in a community.

True or false: there can be more than one good interpretation of a dance.

More practice: on your own

Your journal entry says: I was nervous on the first day, but by lunch I had found my people. Write the message in one sentence and suggest a change in relationship to show it.

Make the literal gesture wiping tears more abstract.

You made a short video of traffic outside your apartment. Suggest an idea for a dance from it.

A classmate says your dance "was about a storm." Your message was about an argument. Is that a problem? What could you do?

Why is it useful to perform for someone before explaining the dance?

Challenge

Choose a world issue (for example, clean water or climate change). Plan a 3-section dance with a clear message, and name one element choice per section.

Two students interpret the same dance differently: one says loneliness, the other says peace. How could both be right?

Explain why turning your own writing into dance can make your message stronger.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is the best example of abstract movement for the word rise?

The best first step when turning your writing into a dance is to ___.

A poem with four stanzas could become a dance with ___.

Which is a supported interpretation?

Which of these is a media work you could use as a source?

If your audience misreads your message, you should ___.

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Students use dance as a language to communicate ideas from their own writing or media works (A1.2) and construct personal interpretations of the messages in dances, including messages about issues in their community and the world (A2.1).

How to help at home:

Help your child pick a piece of their own writing or a photo they took. Ask, "What's the one idea you want people to feel?"
Be the audience. Before they explain the dance, say what you think it means and why. That evidence is very useful feedback.
Talk about local issues they care about; these make strong sources.

Common difficulties:

Only miming. Encourage making gestures bigger, slower, repeated or done with another body part.
Interpretations with no evidence. Ask, "What did you see that made you think that?"
Being shy about sharing personal writing. They can choose a less personal piece, or keep the source private and share only the dance.