Examples provided in this resource are not exhaustive. Teachers will find their own threads and links to investigate and make connections between aspects of
background, choreographic style, and influences on chosen dance works.
Highlight the bubbles and make the connections as you and students investigate influences and impacts.
Reverse chronology
Dance 2019 v1.1
Reverse chronology for historical understanding
Within each unit, reverse chronology is an effective approach to investigate arts practice.
This approach begins with a contemporary focus and follows logical pathways backwards to learn about relevant historical, cultural and traditional styles and art forms.
Reverse chronology follows a cause-and-effect pathway to understanding influences on
artists, styles and practices. This differs from a customary chronological approach that
would begin in the past and follow a sequential path to the present.
The benefits of a reverse-chronology approach to learning about historical traditions of the art form of dance include:
• helping an understanding of ourselves, and the decisions and choices made by artists in the present, by examining and acknowledging the influences and events that affected previous generations
• fostering research skills in an inquiry learning model, in which students pose questions about the causes and effects of influences and compare dance of past and present times
• ensuring enough time is dedicated to focus on relevant historical practices
• engaging students who are more interested in ideas that relate to themselves and the time they inhabit, which enables them to follow connecting pathways more effectively
• understanding how knowledge of historical forms and practices helps an
understanding of those of the current day.
This approach enables the development of an understanding of the background and life experiences of a choreographer (influences on
philosophies, choreographic processes, choice of genre/s, development of personal movement style and aesthetic).
Reverse chronology approach
Reverse chronology example
Justin Timberlake Tiger Shroff
Usher
Bruno Mars
Bhangra dance
Jerome Robbins Gene Kelly Beyoncé
Janet Jackson
Madonna
Signature (dance group)
Michael Jackson
James Brown West Side
Story dancers
Current Past
Subject matter
• identify and demonstrate, using a reverse chronology approach, an understanding of the background and life experiences of Stephen Page and at least one other
choreographer* to consider influences on
philosophies
choreographic processes
choice of genre/s and the development of their personal movement style and aesthetic
aesthetic choices to communicate meaning in their dances
Unit 3: Moving statements
*Choice of choreographer: Robert Battle — current Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
David Parsons
Social dance Broadway
musicals
Masazumi Chaya
Mikhail Baryshnikov Battleworks
Dance Company Martial Arts
Jazz dance Donald
McKayle Carmen de Lavaallade
James Truitte Carolyn
Adams
Judith Jamison
Katherine Dunham
Ulysses Dove Paul Taylor
Dance Company
Dudley Williams Pearl Primus
Alvin Ailey
African- American dance revues
20th century concert
dance
African dance Blues
Spiritual Gospel music Clifton Brown
Matthew
Rushing Linda
Celeste Sims
Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater 2018
Parsons Dance
Robert Battle
Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo
Lester Horton
Martha Graham American
Ballet Theatre
Reverse chronology thread from current to past
• Robert Battle is the current Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He was a former dancer and influenced by Parsons Dance Company (David Parsons)
• David Parsons was a dancer in Paul Taylor Dance Company
• David Parsons created works for AAADT
• Battle was also influenced by Alvin Ailey
• Ailey was in turn influenced by:
- Lester Horton, African American dance revues and Broadway musicals
- 20th Century concert dance, African American culture, Blues, Spirituals and Gospel music
- Jazz Dance and African Dance
David Parsons Alvin Ailey Lester Horton
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Blues Spiritual Gospel music Broadway
musicals Robert Battle
Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater 2018
Parsons Dance
African dance
Jazz dance
African- American dance revues
20th century concert dance
Example linked to work
No Longer Silent — Robert Battle
• choreography mirrors the rhythmic complexity of the long-forgotten score by Erwin Schulhoff whose work the Nazis had banned.
• powerful movement phrases exploring the life of the composer through abstract themes of flight and fatigue, chaos and unity, the group and the individual
• reminiscent of the early works of Martha Graham
• reflects theatricality of Paul Taylor
References
• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, www.alvinailey.org/performances/repertory/no-longer-silent (excerpt)
• Robert Battle Interview: Why did you select Erwin Schulhoff's music for "No Longer Silent?” www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ8ZUwbY1B0
• Introduction to Robert Battle, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u2LnkjgZ1s Robert Battle
Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater 2018
Paul Taylor Dance
Company Alvin Ailey
African- American dance revues
20th Century concert dance
Blues Spiritual
Gospel music African dance
Martha Graham
Useful links
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater,
www.alvinailey.org/alvin-ailey-american-dance-theater/robert-battle Dance Consortium, ‘Robert Battle’,
www.danceconsortium.com/features/choreographer/robert-battle/
Battle, R 2016, ‘Alvin Ailey’s Robert Battle on His First Real Dance Shoes’, The New York Times,
www.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/arts/dance/alvin-aileys-robert-battle-on-his-first-r eal-dance-shoes.html
Bauer, P 2016, ‘Robert Battle: American Dancer and Choreographer’, Encyclopaedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Battle Mackrell, J 2016, ‘Revelations and revolutions: How Robert Battle put Alvin Ailey’s dancers to the test’, The Guardian,
www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/aug/30/revelations-robert-battle-alvin-ailey-d
ancers
Subject matter
identify and explain, using a reverse chronology approach, the effect of background and influences on choreographers* and how these are reflected in their dance
through
discrete and fused movement genres and styles
innovative practices, including choreographic processes, integration of production elements
philosophies and viewpoints
the selection and manipulation of movement by the elements of dance, structure, production elements and dance skills
*Choice of choreographer — Akram Khan
Unit 4: Moving my way
Akram Khan — examples of influences
BalletBoyz
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Indian classical dance Kathak Tai chi,
meditation, martial arts,
modern dance, ballet
Merce Cunningham
Peter Brook’s experimental Shakespeare productions
Spanish flamenco
Martha Graham Sylvie
Guillem
Pina Bausch
DV8 Physical
Theatre
Charlie Chaplin Michael
Jackson hip-hop
Akram Khan Anne Teresa
De Keersmaeker
English National Ballet
Akram Khan — Key influences and impacts on choreographic style
• narrative through movement; collaborator across cultures and disciplines
• classical south Asian dance form of Kathak (classical dance form of northern India and Pakistan) - Pandit Birju Maharaj, Padmashri Pratap Pawar — Kathak gurus
• Contemporary dance
- studied Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham techniques, exposed to Pina Bausch (especially Rite of Spring), Jiři Kylián and DV8 in early contemporary career
• worked with/choreographed for
- Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s Brussels-based X-Group project
- cross-cultural collaborations including with the National Ballet of China; Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
- Sylvie Guilliem
- Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui; Israel Galván - Kylie Minogue
- BalletBoyz
- 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony
- actress — Juliette Binoche in a dance-drama piece
- visual artists — Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Tim Yip, - writer — Hanif Kureishi
- composers — Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost.
• popular culture — Michael Jackson, movie Matrix, Charlie Chaplin, Bruce Lee
• current influences: film directors — Asghar Farhadi, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Satyajit Ray
Until the Lions (2016)
• uses kathak and contemporary dance (blend of styles) and explores the notion and the physical expression of gender
• uses the text Karthika Naïr’s book Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata, an original reworking of the epic Mahabharata which is one of the two major Sanskrit narratives of ancient India.
• Khan originally performed (age 13) in Peter Brook’s experimental Shakespeare production of Mahabharata
References
• Until the Lions / Akram Khan Company – trailer, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xtrmMwNABU
• Crompton, C 2016, ‘Akram Khan: I’m terrified that my body will give in,’ The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/jan/08/akram-khan-until-the-lions-interview
• Akram Khan – Until the Lions – post show talk, www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2mwxnsr2kE
• Akram Khan & Guruji Pratap Pawar in conversation, May 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg7gM4vlH9M
Akram Khan — Work and key influences
References
• Akram Khan Company, ‘Dust/English National Ballet’, www.akramkhancompany.net/productions/dust-english-national-ballet-2014/
• Jocelyn Pook Dust Akram Khan, English National Ballet, www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CuMWTQUy8
• Lest We Forget: Choreographer Akram Khan on Dust, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RAmOes2U0Q
Dust (2014)
• features as part of English National Ballet’s production of Lest We Forget which commemorates the centenary of the First World War focusing on the men in the trenches and the women at home supporting the war effort
• combines his choreographic style with exploration and creation of movement material on ballet bodies
Akram Khan — Work and key influences
Other useful links
Dance Umbrella, ‘My dance DND | Interview with Akram Khan’,
www.danceumbrella.co.uk/my-dance-dna/akram-khan-kathryn-hunter/
Jaggi, M 2010, ‘A life in dance: Akram Khan’, The Guardian,
www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/sep/27/akram-khan-dance-life Akram Khan Company, www.akramkhancompany.net/
Akram Khan: an interview, www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4h72Rd5lBg Welbye, H 2014, ‘theartsdesk Q&A: Choreographer Akram Khan’, theartsdesk.com,
www.theartsdesk.com/dance/theartsdesk-qa-choreographer-akram-khan
Mitra, R. (2015) Akram Khan: Dancing New Interculturalism, Palgrave
Macmillan, United Kingdom
Daniel, J T 2014, ‘Pedagogy of teaching history: Comparing the chronological and thematic approaches’
(Honors Senior Theses/Projects) West Oregon University, Oregon,
http://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=honors_theses
Hartman, J 2015 , ‘Teaching the history of rock music using reverse chronology’, iAchieveLearning https://iachievelearning.com/2015/12/teaching-the-history-of-rock-music-using-reverse-chronology/
Himes, G 2015, ‘Why we should teach music history backwards’, Smithsonian.com,
www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-we-should-teach-music-history-backwards-180955053/
Steal Like An Artist: Austin Kleon at TEDxKC, www.youtube.com/watch?v=oww7oB9rjgw
