Grades: 	Elementary (K–5)
Subjects: 	Visual Arts, Dance
Time Required:	3–5-Part Lesson
	Four 30-minute class periods
Author: 	J. Paul Getty Museum Education Staff

Lesson Overview
Students will learn about an artist’s sketchbook that includes drawings of ballet dancers. They will practice two ballet steps and discuss how an artist uses line to depict dancers in rehearsal. Students will make a sketchbook and produce a series of quick sketches of dancers. 

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
•	demonstrate that visual artists use sketchbooks to record what they observe and experiment with line and other elements of art. 
•	rehearse two ballet steps—a tendu and a plié. 
•	describe how an artist uses a variety of lines to depict gesture and motion in a drawing.
•	make their own sketchbook.
•	create original sketches from life.
•	describe how artists and dancers warm up and rehearse to practice their art forms.

Featured Getty Artworks
Ballet Dancers Rehearsing (p. 25) by Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas 
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=133702

Ballet Dancers Rehearsing (p. 23) by Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=133701

Related Getty Artworks

An Album of Pencil Sketches by Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=499

Materials
•	Reproductions of Ballet Dancers Rehearsing (pages 25 and 23) from An Album of Pencil Sketches by Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas
•	Background Information and Questions for Teaching about Degas’ drawings
•	Internet access
•	Video: “Warming Up to Dance” produced by the J. Paul Getty Museum with the Anaheim Ballet in the “Multimedia” list on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/performing_arts/multimedia.html 
•	Video: “Degas and the Art of Dance” produced by the J. Paul Getty Museum with the Anaheim Ballet in the “Multimedia” list on the Getty Web site at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/performing_arts/multimedia.html
•	Information and activities in the “Understanding Formal Analysis” section on the Getty website (optional) at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis.html 
•	Tracing paper or copy paper that has been treated with cooking oil (see Art Activity: “Tracing Paper on a Budget” (PDF, 230KB) on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/tips_tools/index.html
•	Pencils
•	Acetate
•	Overhead projector
•	Paper
•	Recycled cereal boxes
•	Scissors
•	Hole punches and brads
•	Art Activity: “A Simple Sketchbook” (PDF, 219KB) on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/tips_tools/index.html
•	Art Activity: “Create a Quick Gesture Sketch” (PDF, 254KB) on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/tips_tools/index.html

Lesson Steps

Day 1: Introducing Ballet

1.	Ask students to discuss with a partner the role of dance in their lives. Specifically ask them to discuss types of dance they can recall or have experienced. Ask students to share with the group what they discussed. Guide discussion with the following questions: 
•	Where and when do people dance?
•	When do you dance? 
•	What kind of dancing do you do?
•	How did you learn the dance?
•	Who taught you the dance?
•	Why would you rehearse or practice a dance before you performed it in front of people?
•	What types of dance have you seen?
•	When and where do you dance with a group of people?

2.	Show students video clips of cartoon characters performing ballet or ask them to recall a favorite animated ballet sequence (i.e., “Dance of the Hours” from Fantasia, Bugs Bunny in A Corny Concerto).

3.	As a warm-up activity for lower elementary school students, watch the video “Warming Up to Dance” in the “Multimedia” list on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/performing_arts/multimedia.html and practice dance movements observed. Be sure that students have space in which to move freely and safely, such as the multipurpose room at your school.

4.	Discuss types of lines with students. Ask students to create lines (straight, curved, parallel, etc.) with their fingers, arms, back, legs, and whole body. Show students video clips of ballet excerpts online at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/la-danse-le-ballet-de-lopera-de-paris/excerpt-from-the-film-rehearsing-paquita/995/. As you watch, pause the video and identify types of lines made by dancers’ bodies.

5.	Ask students to describe the types of movements they observed in the video excerpts (i.e., hopping, leaping, stretching, bending, twisting). Write students’ responses on the board.

6.	Teach students two ballet movements called a tendu and a plié by having students follow instructions in the video “Degas and the Art of Dance” in the “Multimedia” list on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/performing_arts/multimedia.html.

7.	After students watch the videos, ask them what kinds of lines they made with their bodies to create these dance steps.

Day 2: Degas’ Drawings of Dancers

1.	Begin the second part of the lesson by explaining to students that artists over the years have been inspired by dance. Some artists have been particularly inspired by ballet. Display a reproduction of Ballet Dancers Rehearsing (p. 25) by Edgar Degas. Have students take the time to look closely at the drawing with a partner. Let students know they are looking at a single page from a sketchbook that has dozens of drawings. Then ask them to describe what they see. Prompt students with the following questions:
•	What does it look like these people are doing? (practicing ballet) What do you see that makes you say that? (They are stretching, pointing toes, leaning on the bar while extending their right legs.) What other details do you notice? 
•	Describe the costumes that you see in the drawing. (The dancers are wearing skirts, some with ribbons in the back, and their hair is in braids.)
•	Where do you think they might be? (ballet class) Where do you see evidence for that?
•	What do you see in the drawing that makes you say so? (the bar on which the dancers are practicing)
•	What are the girls in the lower right of the page doing? (One girl is checking the time while the others are huddled around her.) Why do you think the artist included this?
•	What do their gestures communicate? (They might be on a break.) What makes you say this?

2.	Instruct students to select one of the figures from the sketchbook page. Have them closely observe the position of her arms, legs, shoulders, chest or back, and head. Remind students to look closely at the types of lines formed by the dancers’ bodies. Invite a volunteer to the front of the class to take the position of one of the figures on the page. Ask students if any of these positions remind them of the ballet steps they practiced. (the figure in the top left)

3.	Invite your students to return to the sketchbook page and look for areas where the artist has drawn lines to indicate figures’ bodies. Refer to the “Understanding Formal Analysis” section on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis.html if you want more information about the elements of art, or if you want warm-up activities for introducing line. Identify the areas of the sketch where Degas has drawn and redrawn the extension and gliding motion of a leg, foot, and toes. 

4.	Display a reproduction of Ballet Dancers Rehearsing (p. 23) by Degas. Ask students where they find evidence of a dancer who may be practicing a plié. (center)

Day 3: Practicing Line, Making a Sketchbook

1.	Let students know that these two pages are part of a forty-two-page artist’s sketchbook of scribbles, quick doodles, and more-finished drawings. Tell students they are going to create a study from a single sketchbook page in order to explore line and practice drawing bodies in motion. Provide each student with a sheet of tracing paper and a reproduction of a sketchbook page. If you do not have access to tracing paper, students can make their own (see the art activity “Tracing Paper on a Budget.”)

2.	Instruct students to place a sheet of tracing paper over a reproduction of Degas’ drawing. Tell them to choose one or two dancers from the drawing. Have them use a sharp pencil to trace the lines used to depict the dancers. Invite students to the front of the class to trace lines of the drawing on acetate with an overhead projector. Lower elementary teachers should model this activity for the class. Ask students to describe the lines that they observed and traced. Identify lines that communicate motion in the drawing. 

3.	Distribute paper, recycled cereal boxes, scissors, and hole punches and brads. Let students know they are going to make a sketchbook in class. Refer to the art activity “A Simple Sketchbook” to guide students through this process.

Day 4: Capturing Gesture

1.	Remind students that artists and dancers need to warm up before practicing their art. Allow students time to explore different ways of making marks by drawing in their sketchbooks. For step-by-step instructions on mark making, see steps 4–6 in “Framing the Landscape” from the Getty Museum’s When Impressionism Was a Dirty Word curriculum at http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/impressionism/lesson02.html. 

2.	Inform students that they will be creating a sketch of a dancer in their sketchbook from life. Review types of lines made with body parts to generate ideas. Model with a student volunteer a quick sketch using a variety of types of lines to capture gesture and motion. Invite three to five students to the front of the class and ask them to hold a dance gesture or line for two minutes. Remind the “dancers” that they cannot talk or move any part of their bodies during this time. As these students hold their gestures, have the rest of the class draw one of the dance gestures in their sketchbooks. Guide the drawing students to look closely at the outside edge of a person’s body, or contour. Instruct them to make a quick sketch of the gesture in pencil with any types of lines. Remind students to quickly draw their lines as Degas did in his sketchbook and as they did in their own warm-up exercises. Refer to the art activity “Create a Quick Gesture Sketch” to guide students through the process.

3.	If appropriate for your grade level, tell the students who are drawing to pay close attention to the position and relationships between each dancer’s body parts. Have them draw a figure by focusing on the shapes created by the negative space between the person’s body parts.

4.	Explain to students that they will fill their sketchbooks for ten minutes a day over the course of a week. Invite them to work in pairs and draw doodles of their partner in a favorite dance gesture or position. Instruct students to do these drawings quickly. Ask students to share with a partner what it was like to draw a person from life rehearsing a dance gesture or pose.

Assessment
Students will be assessed on the following criteria:
•	their ability to practice ballet movements
•	their ability to follow directions for creating a sketchbook
•	their use of a variety of marks and lines that depict dancers
	
Extensions
Give students the opportunity to draw other activities in their sketchbooks that reflect their own interests and experiences.

Learn about Degas’ sketches and paintings of the circus acrobat Miss Lala on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/videoDetails?cat=6&segid=3830. 

Learn more about works of art by Edgar Degas on the Getty website at http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/degas/. 

Standards Addressed

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

Grades K–5

SPEAKING AND LISTENING
K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and text with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
K.4 Describe familiar people places, things, and events, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.
1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.2.4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audible in coherent sentences.
3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
4.6 Differentiate between contexts that call for formal English (e.g., presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g., small-group discussion); use formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 4 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
5.3 Summarize the points a speaker or media source makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence, and identify and analyze any logical fallacies. 
5.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 5 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)

Visual Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools 

Grade 1
2.0 Creative Expression
	2.8 Create artwork based on observations of actual objects and everyday scenes.

Grade 2
3.0 Historical and Cultural Context
	3.1 Explain how artists use their work to share experiences or communicate ideas.

Grade 3
1.0 Artistic Perception
1.5 Identify and describe elements of art in works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, texture, space, and value.

2.0 Creative Expression
	2.1 Explore ideas for art in a personal sketchbook.

Grade 4
1.0 Artistic Perception
1.2 Describe how negative shapes/forms and positive shapes/forms are used in a chosen work of art.

Grade 5
2.0 Creative Expression
	2.2 Create gesture and contour observational drawings.

Dance Content Standards for California Public Schools

Grade 1
1.0 Artistic Perception
	1.3 Name basic locomotor and axial movements (e.g., skip, slide, stretch, roll).

3.0 Historical and Cultural Context
	3.2 Describe aspects of the style, costumes, and music of a dance.
	3.4 Identify where and when people dance.

Grade 2
1.0 Artistic Perception
1.2 Show a variety of combinations of axial movements (e.g., swing and balanced shapes, turn and stretch, bend and twist).

2.0 Creative Expression
	2.7 Work cooperatively in small and large groups.

Grade 4
5.0 Connections, Relationships, Applications
5.1 Explain how dance practice relates to and uses the vocabulary of other art subjects (e.g., positive and negative space, shape, line, rhythm, character).

Grade 5
1.0 Artistic Perception
1.1 Demonstrate focus, physical control (e.g., proper alignment, balance), and coordination in performing locomotor and axial movement.