Moth (2003)

Next Steps

Note to teachers: Be aware that Indigenous students in your classrooms may share these understandings. Be open to discussing these ideas. Connect with your local Indigenous community to discuss and share their ideas about cultural life.

FOR YEARS 3/4

Expand on ideas to create new and imaginative combinations through improvising and experimenting with movement

How can we change from one way of moving to another? This is an example of metamorphosis.

Transfer and apply information in one setting to enrich another

Choose a shape where one specific body part is in contact with the floor (eg your back). We call this body part your base. Now gradually move off that base (your back) and onto another chosen base/s (eg your left shoulder, ear and the front of your lower legs). Chose a third base/s (eg the side of your body) and move into a shape where only that part of your body is in contact with the floor. Now return to your first base and shape. Slowly and smoothly move through each of the three shapes repeating the sequences several times as a cycle.

Make dance sequences

Explore one way of moving such as walking then gradually change this to running, then skipping. Now choose a movement which involves having two feet and two hands on the floor. Without stopping gradually change this movement to one where you are moving on only your feet. Gradually return to the first movement then find a way of changing the way you move so that you get closer and closer to the floor until you are able to slide. Repeat this sequence and share with another person. PSC

Experiment with a range of options when seeking solutions and putting ideas into action

Experiment with making shapes with your whole body - round, elongated, symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes. Choose four favourite shapes and teach them to another person. Hold each shape then move slowly and smoothly to the next shape. This pattern of shape move, shape, move, shape, move, shape is a sequence. Repeat this sequence with your partner. PSC
If Moth represents the ‘pupae to moth’ stage of the life cycle, what would the metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar, or the caterpillar to pupae, look like?

Explore situations using creative thinking strategies to propose a range of alternatives

There are a number of triangles used throughout the dance. Look at the costumes and at the movements. What do you think the triangles may represent?

Draw on prior knowledge and use evidence when choosing a course of action or drawing a conclusion

Moths don’t have hands but they do have other appendages. What else could the dancers use their arms to represent? Look closely at pictures of moths for ideas.

Communicate ideas through their art works

Choose one of the sequences based on travelling, and one involving different bases and a sequence of different shapes. Teach each sequence to another person or group. Choose the order in which you will perform each sequence and in which direction or part of the room you will perform the sequence.

Reflect on, explain and check the processes used to come to conclusions

Reflect on this order to see if you now have a clear beginning, middle and end. Alter the order to improve the changes between each sequence. Are you communicating a story in your dance?
Perform your dance to another group. Ask them what they saw and felt when they watched your dance. Could they see you metamorphosing from one thing to another? PSC

Explain and justify ideas and outcomes

What could you call your dance? What kind of music could you make or choose to go with your dance? Why have you made these choices?

FOR YEARS 5/6

Expand on known ideas to create new and imaginative combinations through improvising and experimenting with movement

How can we change from one way of moving to another? Explore different arm and leg gestures that lead toward, away from and around their own body. Repeat the movements but alter them subtly each time so that the direction and or gesture change.

Transfer and apply information in one setting to enrich another

Choose a shape that takes up a large amount of space. Now gradually change that shape so that it shrinks. Reverse the process back to the original shape.
Experiment with gestures that remind you of the movements of a particular animal. Try to use different parts of your body to explore the same idea. A hand, leg, shoulder or head could draw the pathway of a snake; a chin, elbow knee or chest to describe the movement of a brush turkey.
Play a knots game. Stand in a circle putting your hands into the centre taking hold of two different people’s hands. As a group unknot yourselves without pulling or hurting others. (tip you can release your grip on someone else to make the movement more comfortable)

Make dance sequences

Make a shape with others. Link your bodies in some way (back to back, side to side, elbow to shoulder). Move together as a group keeping the links but changing the shape. Repeat this so that you can remember the pathways you need to travel to get to your new shape.
Develop your animal movements into a sequence that travels across the space. Choose three different points to travel to and rest before moving on.
Join with a partner with a different animal and teach each other your movements.

Experiment with a range of options when seeking solutions and putting ideas into action

Experiment with performing the same sequences at the same time; contrasting your sequences and following each other’s movements in canon. PSC
If Moth represents the ‘pupae to moth’ stage of the life cycle, what would the metamorphosis from your animal’s movements to your partner’s movements’ look like?

Explore situations using creative thinking strategies to propose a range of alternatives.

There are a number of triangles used throughout the dance. Look at the costumes and at the moments. What do you think the triangles may represent?

Draw on prior knowledge and use evidence when choosing a course of action or drawing a conclusion

Moths don’t have hands but they do have other appendages. What else could the dancers use their arms to represent? Look closely at pictures of moths for ideas.

Communicate ideas through their art works

Choose one of the sequences based on travelling, one of the sequences involving using different bases and a sequence of different shapes. Teach each sequence to another person or group. Choose the order in which you will perform each sequence and in which direction or part of the room you will perform the sequence.

Reflect on, explain and check the processes used to come to conclusions

Reflect on this order to see if you now have a clear beginning, middle and end. Alter the order to improve the changes between each sequence. Are you communicating a story in your dance?
Perform you dance to another group. Ask them what they saw and felt when they watched your dance. Could they see you metamorphosing from one thing to another?

Explain and justify ideas and outcomes

What could you call your dance? What kind of music could you make or choose to go with your dance? Why have you made these choices?

Based on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) Level 3 statements from the Critical and creative thinking continuum for generating ideas, possibilities and actions, Reflecting on thinking and processes and Analysing, synthesising and evaluating reasoning and procedures areas. Licensed under a Creartive Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia (CC BY NC SA) licence. Accessed June 2013.