Periodization

A Framework for Dance Training

Matthew Wyon, Gaby Allard

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781350194540
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Dance

The training of elite dancers has not changed in the last 60 years; it is often only those that have survived the training that go on to have a career, not necessarily the most talented. It is time to challenge and change how we train tomorrow's professional dancers. This book brings you the reasons why and all tools to implement change. 10 years ago, Matthew Wyon and Gaby Allard introduced a new pedagogical approach to training vocational dancers: Periodization. This ground-breaking new methodology provides an adaptable framework to optimise training - it's goal-focused, fits to performance schedules, and is highly sustainable for the dancer. It is the future. For the first time, Wyon and Allard have put their discoveries to paper. Periodization provides clear context to why change is needed, and explores the theoretical underpinnings of this new approach and how it can be effectively applied to a dance environment.

PART ONE

Explanation of the concept

1

From the educational/didactical perspective

The concept of periodization for dance education is often presented as a helpful tool to improve the health and well-being of dancers, and rightfully so as we look at the impact it can have on injury reduction and the creation of a more sustainable layout of a 3–4 year educational training programme. However, the focus was initially on the more important artistic (so didactical) question the school or company faced, which in turn positively influenced health-related challenges that are always associated with a training environment.

In the research project conducted at the contemporary dance company Dance Works Rotterdam, the artistic staff were not only keen to get a better understanding of how to support the dancers with a training programme that made them more physically fit, but also to understand the effectiveness of the schedule on the artistic output. A small number of dancers in the ensemble had to perform a full programme of diverse repertoire; the often extreme range of dance movement vocabulary used in the various choreographies forced a rather harsh shift for the dancing body going from the day time rehearsals to the evening performances and this placed a big physical strain on the dancers. This sparked the need to understand what type of preparatory training would be needed to best protect the dancers from getting injured.

In the research on Excellence and Wellbeing at the Codarts Dance Academy, the question was raised of how to best support the students considering the great differences in their training background. As well as looking at the cause, frequency and number of reoccurring injuries of the dance students, the possible impact of the didactical approach towards handling these differences was also examined. Data from interviews with the teaching staff showed that there was a difference in the didactical approach towards the students who had had several years of training prior to starting the course (pre-starting) and those who had not. It had an impact on the type, cause and above all number of reoccurring injuries; most unexpectedly, students who were seen as the most prepared and therefore identified as the ‘capable’ group were found to have the most increased injury incidence. This was related to the expectation that due to their pre-education, these students, unlike the others, were ready for a full training programme at the start of their dance education.

During the major curriculum renewal at ArtEZ School of Dance, the artistic ambition was to combine a dancer and maker (choreographer) profile into one bachelor programme. To enable this, we turned to the concept of periodization (Allard et al. 2012).

Periodization for dance training can only be successful when applied tailor-made to the specific question it is trying to provide an answer for. It is an approach that requires constant reflection and adaptation, and is not a system that can be implemented as a format. Therefore, it is vital to state that it is crucial to identify the artistic, and therefore the didactical, driver to start implementing periodizing principles within the training programme. Using the case study of the curriculum renewal at ArtEZ will provide more insight. The programme deployed periodization for optimizing the effectiveness of the entire four-year programme. It will demonstrate how the artistic (didactical) ambition translated into a new dance training programme (curriculum) using the periodization approach.

ArtEZ School of Dance: periodization for dance education

In the 2012 accreditation, the ArtEZ School of Dance was awarded an internationally recognized special feature for their innovative Dancer/Maker programme: Periodization for Dance Education (NVAO 2012). The Dancer/Maker Bachelor’s degree developed a technically periodized programme, which combined both the Dancer and the Maker curricula.

Ambition as drivers behind the change in orientation

The strong links with the professional field, through for instance the guest teachers and staff who sat on relevant professional bodies (renowned dance companies and Arts Council), had allowed the programme to closely monitor how the professional field had been changing. The field was continuing to evolve, a development which at that time was made only the more pressing by the financial crisis and funding cuts to the worldwide cultural sector. This resulted in the traditional goal of belonging to a dance company, as a dancer, to no longer be the only norm.

The programme staff decided that their approach to contributing to the field of dance was to train the Dancer/Maker into an individually unique artist who conceives of dance as the expression of movement research and reflective practice, in which the technical capability and physical abilities are crucial to a more visceral experience. In their vision, the Dancer/Maker needs to embody the complex qualities of adaptability and self-sustainment of both personal and artistic vision. They must be responsible for the cultivation of a professional ecosystem in which they can learn, share, grow, practice research, conceptualize, create, produce and reflect.

Ultimately, the ArtEZ Bachelor of Dance aimed to provide an environment that not only trained Dancer/Makers who were able to sustain themselves, but who could also (re)generate, create and build themselves to meet the new and continually adapting environment, which was and still is the present dance profession.

Integrating the Dancer and Dance Maker

ArtEZ developed one Dancer/Maker programme, replacing the former two separate specializations, Dancer and Dance Maker. In the new Dancer/Maker programme, the essential elements of the former Dance Maker specialization that used to take place in year three and four only for those who chose to become a maker, were now introduced in the first two years. The individual student’s development and exploration of their unique signature grew in significance, while still maintaining the opportunity for them to emphasize on either the maker or the dancer dimension.

The choice was also made to include complementary curriculum components that would allow the Dancer/Maker to flourish as a freelance practitioner in the final qualification profile. These components included the ability to create and find work, as well as information on how to stay mentally and physically fit. The programme offered a curriculum that focused on qualitative rather than quantitative technical proficiency. Periodization contributed to the sustainable ArtEZ Dancer/Maker graduate. He or she:

•is an artistic contributor, who is able to share, develop, adapt and perform choreography (professional, active, knowledge);

•is an independent artist, who is capable of developing and using his or her unique Dancer/Maker signature to effectively map out and advance his or her career (flexible, active, professional);

•acknowledges his or her physicality and will therefore apply periodization to prepare the body for optimal performance (knowledge, flexible, active).

The Dancer/Maker programme provided a relatively small-scale learning environment with an individualistic approach. From day one, students were exposed to a rich and dynamic programme that required them to research and reflect. The study periods, often high in intensity, were followed by adequate time for recovery, reflection and finally integration of course work. The programme stimulated this by providing a wide array of choreographers, intensive studies and repertoire.

The curriculum outlines

The curriculum of the ArtEZ Bachelor of Dance programme is based on the principle of providing the right information and training at the right moment. This means that throughout the year, as well as over the four years, students learn in four phases (Figure 1.1). The programme maintains a coherent unity where the various subjects supplement each other. Subjects are developed within modules which are in turn aligned to specific learning tracks (Figure 1.3 p33).

Design principles

The integrated curriculum is based on the following:

1it deploys methods from sports coaching (and particularly periodization) for optimal learning (chapter 4);

2it improves the programme’s effectiveness and efficiency;

3it reduces drop-out and keeps preventable injuries to a minimum;

4it builds an integrated curriculum where the Dancer and Maker components are interwoven, which strengthens them both;

5it re-defines the function of the technique class in the specific phase and year in which it is located so that the goals of each class are aligned and will support the student’s learning capacity;

6it strengthens core programme elements (learning tracks, phases and the Active Learning module) while also allowing ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part One Explanation of the concept
• 1 From the educational/didactical perspective
• 2 Periodization: a sport science perspective
• 3 Periodization: a psychological perspective
• 4 Developing a coaching philosophy for talent development
• 5 Getting the most out of class: motor learning in a personcentred dance education curriculum
• Part Two Culture change: more than a schedule – a radical turn around
• 6 The start
• 7 Who does what?
• 8 Train the trainer
• 9 Beginner’s mistakes
• Part Three Applying the science
• 10 Periodization
• 11 Macro- and micro-cycles
• 12 Goal-setting revisited
• 13 Training load
• Part Four Curriculum change: it doesn’t happen over night
• 14 The influence of the external
• 15 The risk of relapse: look who is stressing now
• 16 The power of self-regulating students
• 17 The teachers’ perspective
• Part Five Other things to think about
• 18 Physical fitness training
• References
• Appendices
• Index
• Copyright