Name Dance: Write Your Name with Your Body

Each student "writes" the letters of their name in the air with different body parts and turns them into a movement phrase; then groups combine their phrases into one dance. Students work on creativity, using levels and speeds, and choreographic composition.

How to play

1. Show how to write a big letter in the air with your hand, then with your elbow, knee, head or foot, and at different levels (high, middle, low) (3 min).
2. Each student writes the letters of their name (or initials if it's long) using at least three different body parts and one traveling move (5 min).
3. They add variations: one very slow letter, one very fast and one frozen in a pose, and repeat the phrase until it is memorized (4 min).
4. In groups of 4, students teach their phrases to each other and decide how to combine them: one after another, all at once or in canon (7 min).
5. Each group performs its name dance to music, and the audience tries to guess some of the letters (6 min).

Rules

• Make letters big and stay in your own space without crowding others.
• Low-level letters use controlled support, with no diving to the floor.
• Every phrase in the group appears in the final dance.
• Give respectful feedback on others' work.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the student writes with arms, head and torso and uses the wheelchair for traveling and direction changes.
• Autism: provide large printed letters as a guide and let the student work alone before joining the group.
• Shyness: let the whole group perform at once or only for one other group instead of the whole class.

Learning goals

• Create an original movement phrase from a personal prompt.
• Vary body parts, levels and speeds within a sequence.
• Compose a group dance by combining individual phrases.

Equipment for a class of 25

• music: 1
• speakers: 1

Teacher tip

Instrumental music without lyrics helps students focus on movement. If someone gets stuck, suggest writing with the least expected body part, such as the nose or a heel.

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