Year 1- Dance with Total Dance

1KN- Dance with Total Dance

Project Overview

This half term 1KN worked with Sacha from Total Dance to explore different styles of dance and work towards a final dance to perform to parents and families! 

Every week the children had super attitudes, ready to learn and build upon their skills. They followed instructions well and loved playing the various activities Sacha challenged them with. Their listening and reactions were developed through a variety of games including musical statues, “Sacha says” and musical pictures. Musical pictures involved children working in groups to create a picture that Sacha set such as a racing car and houses. The children had to work together to create this shape with their bodies- lots of brilliant communication and teamwork! 

Across the weeks, Sacha taught the class a variety of dance moves and dances. The children were constantly challenged and built upon these dances both with Sacha’s guidance and in their own small groups. Children shared ideas and developed their own pieces which they then performed to the class. 

One style of dance we continued to work upon was ribbon dance. The children learnt a number of moves that they pieced together with Sacha. This included performing the dance in unison as well as learning to perform moves in cannon! Within the dance, children had their own freestyle moments and had to decide upon their own finishing pose. 

In the final week, after 7 weeks of practise, parents and families were invited in to watch the children perform their dance. This was a great challenge for the children and some were very nervous however they were amazing! The children performed the dance fantastically and remembered the various performing tips Sacha and I discussed with them including smiling and staying focused on the audience. An incredible performance that the children should be very proud of. Well done! 

What The Student Says

“I feel proud of myself”

“It’s been fun learning dances with Sacha”

“I love musical statues!”

“I liked working with my friends and with Sacha”

“I liked working with the ribbons”

What skills were developed?

The children have:

• copied and explored body movements and patterns
• remembered simple dance steps and performed them in a controlled manner
• chosen actions and linked them with sounds and music
• described their performance 
• developed their communication and language skills
• developed their turn taking and sharing skills
• improved in confidence when performing in front of others
• followed instructions carefully 
• performed to an audience!

What The Teacher Says

It has been incredible to see the children’s dance skills and confidence grow across the half term. They have listened well to Sacha and explored a range of dances. The children have shared ideas, communicated well and used their recall skills throughout.

They have come to every lesson and with enthusiasm and a desire to learn which has been brilliant. Seeing the children apply their skills in different styles has been amazing and their work this the ribbons was lovely. 

I feel so proud of the children performing to an audience, this takes a lot but they had put in the hard work and were ready to show this off. A great celebration of their development and bringing  together their skills. 

Mrs Clark- PE Teacher