Course Syllabus
Course: DANC 1054
Division: Fine Arts, Comm, and New Media
Department: Dance
Title: Pilates Mat/Conditioning
Semester Approved: Spring 2023
Five-Year Review Semester: Fall 2027
End Semester: Fall 2028
Catalog Description: Based on the pioneering work of Joseph Pilates, this class consists of a series of stretching and strengthening exercises designed to develop muscle tone, flexibility, and posture. The class will also include some cardio work. Repeatable for credit.
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 1; Lecture: 1; Lab: 1
Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Justification: Pilates is a mind, body, and spirit practice. Its benefits include improved posture, better coordination and balance, increased lung capacity, improved concentration and focus, increased body awareness, stress management, and injury prevention. This class may fulfill the conditioning for dance requirements for students pursuing a dance degree at a four-year college.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Proficiency in beginner to intermediate-level mat exercises. Instructor and peer verbal evaluation and student teaching.
Understanding of pilates-based principles of centering, concentration, control, precision, breath and flow. Instructor and peer verbal evaluation and student teaching.
An improvement in posture and muscle tone. Instructor, and peer verbal evaluation and student teaching.
An improvement in endurance. Instructor and peer verbal evaluation and student teaching.
An improvement in flexibility. Instructor and peer verbal evaluation and student teaching.
An increased understanding of the relationship between strong core muscles and movement. Written review of the Snow College Dance Concert.
Content:
Each class will begin with a warm-up series (core activation, pelvis, and shoulder stabilization) and gradually progress to the more physically demanding mat work series meant to lengthen and strengthen all the body's major muscles, including the core, torso, arms, and legs.This class welcomes students of all abilities and backgrounds. While the teacher serves as a model, he/she/they also encourage each student to progress at their own pace. The students are also empowered as teachers as they will work in small groups and lead certain class sessions.
Key Performance Indicators:
Attendance 50 to 70%
Classroom Participation 20 to 40%
Student teaching 5 to 20%
Snow College Dance Concert Review 5 to 20%
Instructor and Peer evaluation 10 to 20%
Representative Text and/or Supplies:
Mat
Theraband
Magic circle
Pedagogy Statement:
This exercise class welcomes students of all abilities and backgrounds. At first, the instructor serves as the sole model, introducing the exercises and explaining their proper alignment and breathing patterns. He/she/they also provides oral feedback to students as they perform the exercises. As the class progresses, students are gradually empowered to evaluate each other more and more often. Finally, students become the course instructors, leading class sessions in small groups of two or three. At the end of the semester, they also learn to apply pilates principles to movement by writing a review of the Snow College Dance Concert from the point of view of such pilates principles as flow, breath, balance, and core.
Instructional Mediums:
Lecture/Lab
Maximum Class Size: 20
Optimum Class Size: 12
