Welcome To Dance Your Story

Creating Your First Narrative Dance

Here’s all you need to do to create your own ballet.

**I will be happy to send you the anchor chart that you see to the left. Just send me a note through "contact" or "suggestions."

 

Begin with a story you already know. It’s easier to learn something new when you begin with something familiar. You might want to choose a fable or a folktale that most everyone knows, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears or The Three Little Pigs, or Little Red Ridinghood.

  1. First, click on “create project.” Create a title for your story and add your name. You can add a special picture for your story, or a default picture will be added. You can change the picture at any time.
    *SAVE YOUR WORK
  2. Next, organize your story into different scenes or sections. Ballets are typically organized into scenes, like in a play. In longer ballets like The Nutcracker, each scene may have several dances which can become overwhelming. So, I suggest that each scene contains only one dance, for the moment. If you look at the “Featured Projects” section, you will find several examples of how I have divided the Three Little Pigs story into scenes. For now, limit the number of scenes in your story to five.
    *SAVE YOUR WORK
  3. Now, write a short description of each scene’s action and the characters involved. You may want to begin this work in a Word document or on paper so that it is easier to make notes, draw lines, cross things out, etc.  Because this is a draft and it’s important to get your ideas on paper, you can write this down in short phrases or single words. The point is to use this draft to help you remember your story.
    *SAVE YOUR WORK
  4. It’s time for music! Read what you have for each section and think about how the characters are feeling and what they are doing. Then, go over the music section and find music that sounds good for a specific section. This process may take some time. When you find music that you like, drag it to the music spot next to the words. Hint: You don’t have to find all the music at one time. You can always save your work and come back to it later.
    *SAVE YOUR WORK
  5. Next, using your draft notes and sketches for each scene/section, begin to write the story in a more formal way so that it can be read by others more easily.
    *SAVE YOUR WORK

Congratulations! You have created your first ballet. Now it’s time to dance.