Performing Arts - Dance

Year 10 Dance is an elective subject in Year 10, leading to the option of completing the ATAR general course in Year 11 and 12.

Unit 1: Dancing through time

In this unit, students will unlock the potential of their greatest instrument: their body. Learning to control it through the language of movement engages mind, body, spirit and open communication. Students will identify and understand the importance of Safe Dance Practice and how we can ensure our bodily instrument functions effectively in dance through the study of basic anatomy, as well as safe warmups and cooldowns. Students will also explore and analyse the historical morphing styles featured in ‘Popular Culture,’ becoming proficient in the technical and expressive skills required within different contexts and purposes. Students will also delve into the Element of Dance: Dynamics, experiencing and analysing the weight and force of human movements.

Unit 2: Dance with purpose

This unit engages students in a range of jazz styles utilised by Musical Theatre choreographers. They delve deeper into the technical and expressive skills of dance, acknowledging the different requirements of choreographic styles, as well as the production elements that uncover the nuances and artistry that bring stories to life on stage. Students will kinaesthetically explore, as well as analyse and evaluable in written form, the remaining Elements of Dance: Space, Time and Relationships, as well as the Choreographic Devices. They will carefully consider why choreographers make certain movement choices to communicate meaning.

Unit 3: The foundation of Dance

Contemporary Dance forms a core study in the ATAR general senior dance curriculum. In Year 10, the study will commence with an understanding of its foundation: Ballet. Students will have the opportunity to modernise an existing Ballet, to appeal to a youth audience. This will progress to the exploration of dance pioneers who inspired and shaped Contemporary Dance, such as Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. Students will explore non-conventional performance spaces through site-specific dance. They will gain an understanding of a range of movement and non-movement components that shape a choreographer’s intent and their decisions in a particular context and environment. Students will expand on their understanding of Safe Dance Practice through the surveyance of site-specific locations and the consideration of adaptations made of choreographers and dancers.

Unit 4: Global Rhythms

During this unit, students will gain an understanding of choreographic structure through a ritualistic context that can shape the purpose of a dance performance. Students will appreciate the work of Australia’s Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander modern dance company. They will explore the ritualistic context of dance performance and appreciate dance in diverse cultures through performances in the Bollywood and African dance styles, including how these have evolved overtime to become a fusion with modern styles such as contemporary and hip-hop. Through this they are expanding on their knowledge of performance and expressive skills in particular styles and in particular contexts.

Year 11 & 12 Dance (General ATAR subject)

Year 12 Assessments (mirrored in Year 11):

Task 1: Performance (20%)
Task 2: Choreography (20%)
Task 3: Project (35%)
Task 4: External Exam (25%)

Unit 1: Moving Bodies

In this area of study, students will:

• Explore the different purposes and contexts for dance, and how different dance genres/styles communicate meaning.
• Experience current and historical genres and styles of dance, including contemporary dance.
• Investigate the historical and cultural origins of the genres and styles, identifying key characteristics, movements and vocabulary.
• Explore how choreographing in specific dance genres and styles influence the creative process and the selection of dance concepts to communicate meaning.
• Investigate and rehearse their technical skills to enhance genre and style-specific techniques. They refine their expressive skills to communicate a choreographer’s meaning.
• Analyse and evaluate a variety of dance, justifying the manipulation of the elements and skills to communicate meaning. Through analysis, they develop their knowledge and understanding of dance language, referencing and language conventions.

 

Unit 2: Moving through Environments

In this area of study, students will:

• Investigate how the integration of the environment that a dance is created for and presented in shapes how meaning is communicated. These environments include physical spaces, such as a conventional stage or a specific site, and virtual spaces, such as film or digital platforms. In all instances, the environment is integral to the dance; that is, the use of dance concepts and skills to communicate the intention of the dance would be altered if the dance was presented in another environment.
• Explore how physical and virtual environments have an impact on the choreographer’s creative process and selection of dance concepts, and the performer’s use of the dance skills to communicate meaning.

 

Unit 3: Moving statements

In this area of study, students will:

• investigate how choreographers use dance to communicate a viewpoint, in a social, political or cultural context, to an audience.
• Develop and extend their application of dance concepts and skills to create and perform their own dance that communicates meaning.
• Examine Australian and international dance works and choreographers, expanding on their knowledge and understanding of how a choreographer’s life experiences influence the subject matter of their dance works and their choreographic processes.
• Explore current and historical Australian and world issues and the viewpoints of the people involved, deepening their understanding of how social, political and cultural concerns around the world affect dance.
• Explore a range of dance works to consider current and historical issues and agendas, including those affecting Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and develop their own informed viewpoints, communicating these perspectives through dance.
• Analyse the philosophies, choreographic processes, dance works and movement styles of choreographers to understand how viewpoints in various social, political and cultural contexts are shaped and communicated to an audience through dance.
• Experiment with contemporary dance and the dance concepts and skills to create and perform dance that communicates a viewpoint to an audience.

Unit 4: Moving my way

In this area of study, students will:

• Explore how other choreographers’ personal contexts, influences and perspectives are evident in their movement styles and the dance works they create, and, in turn, how students’ own choreography might reflect their personal, geographical, historical and social-cultural contexts.
• Explore who they are as individuals, their life experiences and their preferences and strengths in dance to further develop their own personal movement style and consider their own and others’ viewpoints.
• Develop their knowledge and understanding by studying various movement styles used by Australian and international choreographers, including those of Aboriginal descent and Torres Strait Islander descent, and particularly fused styles in the genres of contemporary, hip-hop and world dance.
• Safe dance practices will continue to be addressed, with students constructing an understanding of how these practices vary between different genres and specifically in relation to their own personal movement style.