UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES
RHYTMIC ACTIVITIES

SUBJECT CODE : PE 002

MODULE NO. : 11
WEEK : 15
TOPIC OR LESSON : Popular/Contemporary Dances
SUB-TOPIC/S : Definition and Description
Popular Dances
Contemporary Dances

 OVERVIEW OF THE TOPIC

It is not certain when man started to learn how to dance, but dancing has been an integral
part of human history. As evidenced by the rituals and customs handed down through
generations, the dance is one art form that has been used by man to express himself.
It is a way for people to communicate with one another, of expressing one’s ideas and emotions.
It provides a way for people to socialize and interact with each other and, in most cases, dances
usually tell stories.
Modern and contemporary dances are both developed from the art of rhythmic body
movement used as a medium of social communication and expression. They are equally potent
channels that utilize different nuances in style and varieties of techniques to represent the
emotions and unuttered speech.

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

1. Define and describe popular and contemporary dances.

2. Written Activities.
3. Essay for reflection
4. Quiz.

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES

At the end of the week, the students are expected to:

1. identify the definition of popular and contemporary dance;

2. describe popular and contemporary dance.
3.. recognize the key differences between popular and contemporary dance;

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

ENGAGE

Activity 1: Point the Word

Directions: Identify words associated with the word inside the circles:

popular contemporary

EXPLORE

Activity 2: Think and Share!

Directions: Using the information you got from the previous activity, try to fill-out the necessary
information inside the table below:

Definition Description Example

Popular Dance

Contemporary Dance

EXPLAIN

Activity 3: Think and Share

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES
Directions: Read and understand the concepts below. You can raise questions that you want to
clarify where students and teacher must collaborate in this part.

Definition

Popular Dance

Is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is
generally up-tempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also
suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a combination of dance and pop with
influences of disco, post-disco and synth-pop, it is generally characterized by strong beats with
easy, uncomplicated song structures which are generally more similar to pop music than the
more free-form dance genre, with an emphasis on melody as well as catchy tunes. The genre, on
the whole, tends to be producer-driven, despite some notable exceptions.
Dance-pop is known for being highly eclectic, having borrowed influences from other genres,
which varied by producers, artists and periods. Such include contemporary
R&B, house, trance, techno, electropop, new jack swing, funk and pop rock.
Dance-pop is a popular mainstream style of music and there have been numerous artists and
groups who perform in the genre.
Examples:
1. Hip hop
2. Gangnam style
3. Macarena
4. YMC

Contemporary Dance

Contemporary dance is a style of expressive dance that combines elements of several

dance genres including modern, jazz, lyrical and classical ballet. Contemporary dancers strive to
connect the mind and the body through fluid dance movements. The term "contemporary" is
somewhat misleading: it describes a genre that developed during the mid-20th century and is still
very popular today.

Contemporary dance stresses versatility and improvisation, unlike the strict, structured
nature of ballet. Contemporary dancers focus on floorwork, using gravity to pull them down to
the floor. This dance genre is often done in bare feet. Contemporary dance can be performed to
many different styles of music.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES
Today's contemporary dance is an eclectic mix of styles, with choreographers drawing
from ballet, modern, and "post-modern" (structureless) forms of dance. While some
contemporary dancers create characters, theatrical events, or stories, others perform entirely new
creations as they improvise in their own unique style.

Examples:
1. Ballroom dance
2. Jazz
3. Ballet
4. Modern dance

Some of the Characteristics:

Dance-pop generally contains several notable characteristics, which are listed here:

 Up-tempo, upbeat music intended for clubs, with a danceable or dance-centered

character.
 Catchy songs with an easy, pop-based structure.
 A strong emphasis on beats, grooves and rhythms.
 Prominent hooks.
 Simple lyrics.
 Polished productions.

Contemporary dance encompasses many movement types. Some common characteristics of

contemporary dance, however, are…

 Grounded movement
 An appreciation of the body and its natural movement
 Themes or motifs in movement
 Facial expression used while dancing other than smiling
 Interesting, different movement that does not fall into other dance categories
 Accents in movement (sudden or even sharp movements in the midst of slow,
smooth movement, for example)
 Exploring human experience through movement
 A basis in technique but a focus on execution and “feeling” the movement
 Partner connection through movement

ELABORAT
E

Activity 4: SPOT THE SD!

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

Directions: Directions: Using the diagram below, list down the similarities and difference of
popular and contemporary dance.

POPULAR DANCE SIMILARITIES CONTEMPORARY

EVALUATE

Activity 6: True or False

Directions: Read each statement below carefully. Place a T on the line if you think a statement it
TRUE. Place an F on the line if you think the statement is FALSE.

_________1. Contemporary dance is a style of expressive dance that combines elements of

several dance genres including modern, jazz, lyrical and classical ballet.
_________2. Dance-pop is known for being highly eclectic, having borrowed influences from
other genres, which varied by producers, artists and periods.
_________3. interesting, different movement that does not fall into other dance categories is a
characteristic of a pop dance.
_________4. Popular dance has its up-tempo, upbeat music intended for clubs, with a danceable
or dance-centered character.
________5. Contemporary dancers focus on floorwork, using gravity to pull them down to the
floor.
________6. Hip-hop dance style is an example of contemporary dance.
________7. Jazz dance style is an example of a contemporary dance.
________8. Contemporary dance is generally up-tempo music intended for nightclubs with the
intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

REFERENCE
S

 http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/entertainment-miscellaneous/
difference-between-modern-and-contemporary-dance/
 https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-contemporary-dance-1007423
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance-pop
 https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-common-characteristics-of-contemporary-dance

Prepared by PE Professors:

Noted:

JENNIFER G. DELA CRUZ, LPT, Ed.D.

Head, PE Department

Recommending Approval:

BERNADETTE B. ENRIQUEZ, LPT, DPA

Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Approved:

ATTY. RODERICK P. VERA, LL. M

Vice President for Academic Affairs

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

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