Contrasting Movement Styles

Overview

Students investigate foundational movements and characteristics of hip hop and contemporary dance. Through practical exploration and a short theory task, they compare how the two styles use body, space, time, energy and relationships to communicate ideas.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• Identify foundational movement features of hip hop and contemporary dance.
• Explore how dance elements create different effects and meanings.
• Perform short movement phrases using appropriate technique, control and musicality.
• Explain similarities and differences between the two styles using dance vocabulary.

Success criteria

• I can demonstrate at least two recognisable features of each dance style.
• I can use body, space, time and energy deliberately in movement.
• I can perform safely and respectfully with others.
• I can explain how a movement choice changes the audience’s interpretation.

Curriculum links

• Developing Practical Knowledge in Dance: explore and apply dance elements, techniques and processes.
• Communicating and Interpreting in Dance: perform movement sequences and communicate ideas through dance.
• Understanding Dance in Context: recognise that dance styles develop from particular cultural, social and historical contexts.
• Creating and Responding in Dance: generate, refine and respond to movement ideas using appropriate dance language.
• Key competencies: managing self; participating and contributing; thinking; relating to others.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and prior knowledge. Teacher plays two contrasting short music excerpts and opens the hook comparison slide, asking: “What makes a dance style recognisable?” Students silently record three observations, then share with a partner. Establish that hip hop is a broad culture and range of styles, while contemporary dance is also diverse; today’s lesson focuses on contrasting movement qualities rather than fixed stereotypes.

2. 5–13 min · Theory input. Teacher uses the style and dance-elements slides to introduce accessible definitions and examples. Explain hip hop foundations such as grounded posture, groove, bounce, rhythm, isolations, sharp accents, freezes and responsive interaction. Contrast these with contemporary foundations such as breath, release, contraction, suspension, weight shift, floor work, fall and recovery, fluid transitions and varied levels. Connect examples to the elements of dance: body, space, time, energy and relationships. Students complete the first section of the hip hop and contemporary comparison worksheet, recording features and one question.

3. 13–23 min · Warm-up and safe practice. Teacher leads a gradual warm-up: pulse-raising locomotor movements, joint mobilisation, spinal articulation, grounded bends, balance and controlled weight shifts; remind students to maintain personal space, work within their physical limits and avoid unsafe lifts or forced floor movements. Students mirror simple teacher-led phrases, first with hip hop groove and then with contemporary release and breath.

4. 23–35 min · Foundational movement laboratories. Teacher demonstrates a short hip hop phrase: bounce, step-touch groove, isolation, level change, sharp stop and freeze; then a contemporary phrase: breath-led reach, contraction and release, spiral, fall-and-recover and travelling transition. Revisit the movement laboratory instruction slide for the sequence and safety cues. In groups of five, students rotate between practising each phrase, observing one another and identifying body, space, time and energy choices on the worksheet.

5. 35–47 min · Contrast and composition task. Teacher asks each group to create an eight-count phrase that begins with hip hop qualities and transforms into contemporary qualities, or reverses the order. Require at least two identifiable movements from each laboratory and one deliberate change in level, energy or rhythm. Students rehearse, refine transitions and decide how their phrase communicates a feeling or idea. Teacher circulates, giving feedback using: “What is clearly hip hop?”, “What is clearly contemporary?”, and “Which element could be made more intentional?”

6. 47–55 min · Sharing and interpretation. Teacher uses the performance and response prompts to organise informal showings. Groups perform for the class, with the audience identifying one movement quality and one dance element they noticed. Students should describe evidence rather than judge performers, using language such as “I noticed…”, “This created…”, and “The contrast became clear when…”.

7. 55–60 min · Theory consolidation and exit response. Teacher returns to the plenary slide and asks students to complete the final worksheet response: “Hip hop and contemporary are different because…, but they are similar because…”. Students submit the worksheet or photograph their response before leaving. Invite two students to share a precise comparison, correcting misconceptions and reinforcing that both styles contain varied practices and histories.

Resources

• the hip hop and contemporary teaching deck
• the hip hop and contemporary comparison worksheet
• Clear, open dance space
• Device and speakers
• Suitable, culturally respectful hip hop and contemporary music excerpts
• Board or projector
• Water access and appropriate footwear/clothing

Assessment

• Observe warm-up and laboratory work for safe practice, participation, control and use of contrasting movement qualities.
• Listen to group explanations and use questioning to check understanding of body, space, time, energy and relationships.
• Assess the worksheet and exit response for accurate style features, relevant dance vocabulary and a supported comparison.

Differentiation

• Provide the movement phrases in smaller sections, demonstrate from multiple angles and allow students to mark movements before performing them fully.
• Offer sentence starters on the worksheet and display key terms with simple definitions; pair EAL learners with supportive peers and model each term physically.
• Students who need reduced impact may perform standing alternatives to floor work, reduce range of motion or observe and annotate before rejoining.
• Extend confident dancers by requiring a more subtle transformation, a purposeful use of canon or unison, and an explanation of how cultural context influences movement choices.