Talking Points: Dancing to Art

A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to using their whole bodies to respond to paintings.

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Dancing to Art by Tate Gallery

“Corali, a leader in dance created by artists with a learning disability, have worked with Tate since 1998 and are experts in creatively taking up space in our galleries. We invited Paul, Sherri, Bethan and Dj from Corali to design performances in response to four artworks at Tate Britain. We wanted to show what happens when people have the freedom to enjoy the gallery however they want, and how this can open up new ways of responding to art.” – Tate Youtube

Watch the video with the pupils, and look at the images below. Find out how you can respond to art through dance. 

Improvisation 35 (1914) painting in high resolution by Wassily Kandinsky

Improvisation 35 (1914) painting by Wassily Kandinsky

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Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872) famous painting. Original from Wikimedia Commons.

Questions to Ask Children

What movement might you use to describe a windy day?

What movement would you use in response to the colour red? Blue? Green? Black?

Use your whole body to make a movement that represents an atmosphere or an emotion, such as gloomy, peaceful, excited…

How would you use your body to respond to a spikey / straight / curved line?

 

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