Thread: Spin Off- What do you qualify as Intermediate?

I've been following the beginners in intermediate class threads and now I'm curious. I know each teacher is different, but I wonder how we each define a dancer as beginner and intermediate? Layering? Traveling? Vocab? All of it? ..g.: I wanna know ..g.:

I think it is probably different for every teacher. For me - I require mastery of the skills and concepts I consider essentials:

1. Basic history of dance, Concepts of what the dance is and isn’t
2. Basic posture
3. Good warm up and cool down habits
4. Basic dance movements and isolations of head, torso, shoulders, arms, stomach, hips, footwork
5. Specific movement types covered – variations of lifts, drops, twists, basic shimmy, ¾ shimmy, circles, figure 8s, undulations, slides (all movements in place and traveling)
6. Footwork patterns
7. Concepts of patterns, level changes, layering, direction changes, musical interaction
8. Basic zill patterns
9. Basic rhythms
10. Simple choreographies, circle dances, line dances
11. Concept of improv, solo performance, troupe performance, partnering, follow/lead, call/response

At the Intermediate level, I cover:

1. More complex layering of movements
2. More complex Shimmy variations
3. Movement/dance step combinations
4. Variations in all dimensions (level changes, direction changes, 3 dimensional dancer)
5. Audience interaction/performance basics
6. Introduction to using Props – veil, sword, cane, tray
7. Solo improv, Group Improv
8. Partnering: follow/lead, call/response
9. Zill patterns and accents
10. Basic drum solo techniques
11. Intermediate choreographies
12. Musical interpretation
13. Introduction to regional dance style
14. Costuming for performance

*** The level stuff is all for my dance students who plan on continuing toward performance level. If someone is happy staying within the beginner level indefinitely, they are always welcome to do so :) ***

My Level 1 class focuses on posture and body awareness, basic movement vocabulary, and an introduction to the cultural context of the dance. My Level 2 expands on the basic movement vocabulary, incorporates more traveling/combinations, introduces zills/veil, and deals extensively with Middle Eastern music (basic Egyptian rhythms, instrumentation, artists to know, etc.). Once students master Level 2, they have achieved proficiency in the areas Mahsati listed:

Originally Posted by mahsati

I require mastery of the skills and concepts I consider essentials:

1. Basic history of dance, Concepts of what the dance is and isn’t
2. Basic posture
3. Good warm up and cool down habits
4. Basic dance movements and isolations of head, torso, shoulders, arms, stomach, hips, footwork
5. Specific movement types covered – variations of lifts, drops, twists, basic shimmy, ¾ shimmy, circles, figure 8s, undulations, slides (all movements in place and traveling)
6. Footwork patterns
7. Concepts of patterns, level changes, layering, direction changes, musical interaction
8. Basic zill patterns
9. Basic rhythms
10. Simple choreographies, circle dances, line dances
11. Concept of improv, solo performance, troupe performance, partnering, follow/lead, call/response

I deal with many of the skills from Mahsati's Intermediate list in my Level 3 class:

1. More complex layering of movements
2. More complex Shimmy variations
3. Movement/dance step combinations
4. Variations in all dimensions (level changes, direction changes, 3 dimensional dancer)
5. Audience interaction/performance basics
6. Zill patterns and accents
7. Basic drum solo techniques
8. Intermediate choreographies
9. Musical interpretation
10. Introduction to regional dance style
11. Costuming for performance

I deal with folkloric styles to a much greater extent in my Level 3 class.

Nisaa

Neat! Thank you for answering! I had wondered how much the class levels differed

I'm afraid that the difference is only relevant to your teacher. Many of the things listed here as being basic, eg knowledge of dance history, zills aren't even taught in 'advanced class'

Originally Posted by jencUK

I'm afraid that the difference is only relevant to your teacher. Many of the things listed here as being basic, eg knowledge of dance history, zills aren't even taught in 'advanced class'

Ah, this already I know, there is no universal 'intermediate' qualification, and that was the point...perhaps to spark some discussion about those differences and why they come about. I was just curious. Thank you anyway, jencUK