Just Dance

Teaching with videogames: exploring Geography games

This is a dance building lesson to develop physical skills and kinaesthetic awareness, explore choreographic processes and create dance performances for peers and audiences to interact and engage with.

Year levels: 7 & 8

Learning areas: Dance

Suggested duration: 1-2 sessions, with optional further learning activities

Equipment you'll need:

  • a projector, or devices that students can use to access YouTube
  • the game Just Dance, or alternatively, some YouTube clips from the game
  • video cameras or devices to with cameras
  • a green screen (optional)

Download the full lesson plan

The lesson plan includes links to the Victorian and Australian Curricula, indications of lesson timing, and ideas for differentiation and assessment.

Just Dance stills
Just Dance stills
Just Dance stills
Just Dance stills

In this lesson, students will

1. Analyse Just Dance sequences in terms of group structures and spatial organisation
2. Use Just Dance sequences to inspire their own choreography
3. Film choreography (optionally using a green screen in the style of Just Dance) and share interactively with peers
4. Reflect on their developing choreographic processes
Optional further learning
5. Analyse and critique Just Dance sequences in terms of style, cultural reference points and genres
6. Consider, critique and refine their own cultural and aesthetic choices

By the end of this lesson, students should

Know how to...
identify dance styles and conventions of contemporary dances and how cultural genres intersect
learn and follow devised choreography
perform using body movement in an expressive way
create a dance sequence to music using the Dance Design elements of 'Group Structure' and 'Spatial Organisation' (pathway to VCE/VET Dance)
Be able to...
translate knowledge and understanding of performance skills and composition components (Dance Design) into their own choreographed work
recognition of how choreographers use Dance Design and production elements to enhance performance for screen audience
ability to pick up and retain a memory of steps and sequence in a dance through game play
creation of choreography that is effective and interactive for a peer audience

Authorial credit

You are free to copy, communicate and adapt this lesson plan which was created by Holly Loughran and ACMI and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.