Academic Catalog

DANC 18A: INTRODUCTION TO HIP-HOP DANCE

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Summer 2023
Units: 1
Hours: 3 laboratory per week (36 total per quarter)
Advisory: This course is included in the Social & Cultural Dance family of activity courses.
Degree & Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area VII: Lifelong Learning
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Identify beginning steps and combinations of hip hop dance with correct terminology and analyze musical phrasing.
  • Perform the beginning exercises of hip hop dance technique while exhibiting proper body placement, flexibility and coordination.

Description

An introduction to the technique of hip-hop dance with an integrated fitness approach that focuses on developing the stabilization muscles of the center of the body. Concentration will be on isolations of the muscles of the torso, back, hips, inner and outer thighs, chest, and abdominals, in conjunction with breathing, postural alignment, and body awareness.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:

  1. Perform hip-hop dance as a popular technique with an increasing degree of proficiency
  2. Demonstrate studio decorum and procedures
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamentals of hip-hop theory
  4. Demonstrate and perform basic hip-hop dance techniques
  5. Analyze and demonstrate hip-hop dance in its culturally diverse American context, as well as in a global context
  6. Discuss, analyze, critique, and evaluate hip-hop in readings, video clips, and performances

Course Content

  1. Performing hip-hop dance as a popular technique with an increasing degree of proficiency through basic movements, demonstrating increased skills pertaining to memorization of phrases, physical safety, body awareness, postural alignment, and aesthetic critique
    1. Historical overview: jazz dance, rock n' roll, pop lock, breakdance, street funk, house
    2. Composition theory: use of time, space, energy, shape, and direction
    3. Hip-hop dance in relationship to hip-hop culture: graffiti art, rap, music
  2. Demonstrate studio decorum and procedures
    1. Preparation for class
    2. Classroom dress and proper dance etiquette
  3. Exposure of fundamentals of hip-hop theory
    1. Body awareness: alignment through isolations, stretch, level, contract, and release
    2. Spatial orientation: space as a tangible volume and stage directions
    3. Time orientation: relationship of movement to sound
  4. Performance and demonstration of basic hip-hop dance technique
    1. Completion of given movement phrase
    2. Improvisation of movement phrase based upon conceptual idea
    3. Creation of original movement phrases
  5. Analyze and demonstrate hip-hop dance in its culturally diverse American context, as well as in a global context
    1. Origins of hip-hop culture
    2. Compare and contrast hip-hop culture in various global context
    3. Visual references from video, performance, and film clips for evaluation, review, and discussion

Lab Content

  1. Demonstration and practice of beginning hip-hop technique exercises
  2. Demonstration and practice of beginning isolations, floor, and center exercises in hip-hop technique
  3. Demonstration and practice of proper body alignment and awareness

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

1. Dance studio, audio set-up.
2. Exercise or dance shoes and appropriate exercise clothing.
3. When taught as an online distance learning or hybrid section, students and faculty need ongoing and continuous internet and email access.

Method(s) of Evaluation

Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:

Periodic evaluation of performance skills
Demonstration of selected movement phrases
Written critiques on live dance performances
Written tests on vocabulary and history of hip-hop technique
Creative project: movement problem-solving and originality

Method(s) of Instruction

Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:

Collaborative learning and small group exercises
Discussion of assigned readings
Quiz and review performed in class

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

Ambrosia, Nora. Learning About Dance, 8th ed.. 2018.

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

  1. Written critique of a live dance performance
  2. Optional writing exercises based on recommended reading

Discipline(s)

Dance