Imagine. Create. Inspire.
ABOUT:
Looking for an alternative way to express yourself? What to develop teamwork skills, confidence and be creative – than Dance is for you? Dance is a powerful and dynamic form of expression, which promotes the development of a holistic individual. Through dance students will develop 21st Century skills as they become critical thinkers, reflective and independent learners and effective communicators.
AT ALDRIDGE:
Dance runs through all grades at Aldridge. In Year 7 and 8, dance is built into PFA – our taster subject that gives students the chance to try all the Creative Arts. From Year 9 it is taught on its own as Dance, with Year 11 and 12 being a General ATAR subject. Through the grade's students are provided with opportunities to choreograph, perform and respond to their own and other dance works.
WHY STUDY DANCE?
21st Century skills such as teamwork, creative thinking and problem solving are some of the most sort after skills in the world today. Dance interrogates the human experience and challenges our understanding by encouraging and provoking alternative ways of seeing, doing and thinking. Students learn to pose and solve problems, work independently and in collaboration, create and convey meaning from various viewpoints. Engaging in dance allows students to develop important, lifelong skills, provides opportunities for students to critically examine and reflect on their world through higher order thinking and develop a sense of social inclusion. Self-confidence is developed alongside an awareness of and respect for the body through dance, with this subject having the means to prepare students for future possibilities with highly transferrable skills and the capacity for flexible thinking and doing.
FACILITIES:
The Dance Studio
K04 is the centre of Dance at Aldridge. Students have the chance to learn and create in a specifically designed and decked out dance studio. This space features a partially sprung floor, covered in dance specific vinyl which allows students to jump, turn and slide in a safe environment. The space also contains mirrors to enable students to self-correct alignment and view dance demonstrations.
Students also have access to equipment such as cameras, tripods, lights, laptops and editing programs through which they can create, film and edit their projects.
UNITS OF STUDY:
Year 9:
Students develop a basic knowledge and understanding of the dance elements through choreography, performance and responding tasks. The students build on what they experienced in Year 7/8 PFA taking these skills to a higher level in preparation for senior dance. They have the opportunity to learn popular style and contemporary dance movement sequences, manipulate these and perform these for teachers and peers. They also have the chance to experiment with choreography in these dance genres, all the while responding through reflection and evaluation on their own and others works.
Year 10:
Unit
| Time
| Name
| Description
|
1
| 15 Weeks | Moving Bodies | Students learn a dance piece focusing on either popular dance or contemporary styles, learning about technique, alignment and expression. They then have the chance to experiment with the choreographic process – learning how to create and manipulate dance phrases – resulting in the creation of their own dance work. |
| 2 | 15 Weeks | Movement To Impress | Students in this unit have the chance to learn and experiment with further dance styles and develop their dance technique. They also learn how to respond to a dance work through an analytical essay. |
| 3 | 8 Weeks | Movement With Meaning | Exploration into the power of dance and how it can communicate a message to the viewer. Students use the dance knowledge and skills they have to design, create, refine and present a dance work based on a stimulus. They than respond to this process in a statement of intent and evaluative response. |
SENIOR
In Years 11 & 12 – Dance is a General subject and is used to award students their ATAR rank.
Unit
| Time | Name
| Description
|
| 1 | 15 Weeks | Moving Bodies | Students learn a dance piece focusing on the contemporary genre and how a dancer can use and alter technical and expressive skills to communicate meaning. Then based on a stimulus of their own choice students have the chance to choreograph their own dance work which is designed to communicate meaning. |
| 2 | 15 Weeks | Moving Through Environments - Dance Project
- Internal Exam
| Students learn about what a Dance Project is and create their own, from the design through to the editing of their piece. The piece must draw inspiration from the stimulus statement “The World Today" and be based in an alternative dance environment. Students then extend on their analysis skills by responding to dance works in a written exam. |
| 3 | 17 Weeks | Moving Statements | This unit looks how dance has the power to express political, social and cultural viewpoints. The students examine choreographers who have successfully done this and use this knowledge to perform a dance based on a political or social issue. Students than create their own political social or cultural dance work. |
| 4 | 17 Weeks | Moving My Way - Dance Project
- External Exam
| This unit looks at how choreographer's have developed their own movement style to create dances that reflect their personal contexts, influences and perspectives. Students will use all the skills learnt throughout this course to create a Dance Project that addresses a pivotal moment in their lives that has helped shape them into who they are today. ATAR exams will cover the entirety of the Dance course. |
PATHWAYS:
A course of study in Dance can establish a basis for further education and employment in the field of dance and to broader areas in creative industries and cultural institutions. Diverse pathways may include fields such as psychology, social work, counselling, law, journalism and human relations.
Further areas may include:
- Arts administration
- Communication
- Creative Industries
- Education
- Public Relations
- Research
- Science and Technology
TEACHER:
Mrs Symes has been teaching at Aldridge since 2007 and has a passion for everything Dance and Performing Arts. She has an extensive background in dance, productions and performances, having worked professionally in the industry for a number of years. She is passionate about passing on her love for dance and sharing her knowledge of the subject with students. She believes in providing students with the opportunity to experience everything dance has to offer and to help them become independent, creative and passionate adults.