Dance

The overarching goal of Year 9 Dance is to develop confidence and understanding through performance-based assessment. Dance provides the opportunity for students to build the technique and skills appropriate to a range of Dance styles.

Year 9 Dance is a complete course that explores three areas, performance, composition, and appreciation. It is not a prerequisite for entry into the Year 10 Dance Course. However, it is regarded as invaluable preparation for Senior Dance.

Areas studied:

Safe Dance Practice

Students develop dance technique and performance quality through contemporary dance exercises that enhance flexibility, coordination, balance, control, strength, and key body skills. Through theoretical and practical study, students learn to condition their bodies, understand key joints like the knee and ankle, and explore injury prevention and rehabilitation. They also learn to describe movement using correct dance terminology and apply their understanding to create and manipulate their own technique exercises to foster their individual strengths as dancers.

Composition

Students are introduced to the process of developing dance as a work of art by engaging in creative exploration and structured improvisation. Through guided tasks, they learn to generate and manipulate movement by expanding on motifs and applying the elements of dance to create meaning. This process encourages students to make artistic choices, refine their ideas, and structure sequences that communicate intent while developing their ability to appreciate and evaluate dance as both creators and audience members.

Australian Dance

Students learn to critique Dance as an artform, as an expression of time and place. They investigate the history of Aboriginal dance in Australia, from traditional styles to Contemporary, and Aboriginal Dance – Contemporary fusions as seen by Bangarra Dance Theatre. They will study a performance work from Bangarra Dance Theatre and learn to analyse the movement, deepening their understanding of how to write about dance effectively. To compliment the unit in a practical sense, elective dance students will collaborate with students from Ngarralingayil Barker in Wollombi and work in groups to create a dance sequence based on shared Australian stories.

Performing Popular Dance 

Students explore Popular Dance through a series of teacher-led workshops that introduce a variety of styles, including Ballet, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Dancehall, and Afro Fusion. These workshops allow students to develop an understanding of the stylistic features, cultural origins/contexts, and expressive qualities unique to each genre. As they learn style-specific body skills and performance techniques, students build their physical capabilities and refine their ability to communicate ideas and emotions through movement while deepening their appreciation of dance as a cultural and artistic practice.

Assessment Structure 

• Safe Dance Practice – A duo marked individually of the class performance dance and interview.
• A group composition and workbook.
• Performing Popular Dance – A group performance marked individually that demonstrates the characteristics of one popular dance style.

Performance Opportunities 

Curriculum Dance Evening – A showcase of classwork from Elective Dance students in Year 9 through to HSC Dance students. This takes place at the end of Term 2.

Co-Curricular Dance Showcase – An exhibition of routines learnt throughout the year performed by our Troupe, Recreational, and Elective Dance students as part of the Barker Dance Co-Curricular Program. This takes place at the end of Term 3.

Through a combination of practical and theoretical study Year 10 Dance students develop skills in performance, composition and appreciation learning how to create engaging performances through acquiring appropriate dance skill and technique. The Year 10 course helps build a solid foundation for those contemplating Dance for the HSC, for those wanting to enter careers in teaching, performance arts, and those who want to foster their confidence and dance skills.

Students may study Year 10 Dance without having previously taken it in Year 9.

Areas studied:

Dance Anatomy and Physiology

Students learn the contemporary dance foundations in this unit with a particular focus on body skills, anatomy, locomotor and non-locomotor combinations to improve their technique. They do a series of lessons on kinesiology where students examine the mechanics, anatomy, and biomechanics of movement, applying this knowledge to enhance their dance technique. There is a particular focus on the foundational terminology of the course: understanding Elements of Dance, Dance Anatomy and the components of Safe Dance Practice.

Compositional Relationships

In practical lessons focusing on dancer-to-dancer relationships in space, students work in groups of 3-4 to explore an original intent. The unit is a deeper exploration of Composition, providing students with creative tools that they can use to arrange relationships in space. In teacher led theoretical based and practical application workshops they examine dance pioneers known for their scoring and creation of movement.

Passion for Performance

This unit engages students in the exploration and development of performance quality through practical workshops, choreographic tasks, and critical reflection. Students will investigate the expressive and technical components that contribute to compelling dance performance. Emphasis is placed on clarity of movement, projection, focus, musicality, and the ability to communicate intent and emotion through dance. Students will learn a class dance to perform, applying the performance skills developed throughout the unit. Alongside this, they will analyse professional works such as Cry by Alvin Ailey to deepen their understanding of how dance can convey powerful narratives and emotional depth.

Dance for Time and Place

This unit focuses on dance as an artform through all focus areas, Performance, Composition, and Appreciation. Students will explore aspects of dance Appreciation by examining popular dances of youth culture from the 1950s to today and learn about why dance has an important social impact on the era in which it was performed.  Students learn about Performance as the application of dance technique and performance quality that communicates an idea through the analysis of Rooster by Christopher Bruce. 

Assessment Structure

• Dance Anatomy and Physiology – Solo Performance and Interview
• Compositional Relationships – Group Performance, Workbook, and Rationale
• Passion for Performance – Solo Performance and Written Responses

Performance Opportunities 

Curriculum Dance Evening – A showcase of classwork from Elective Dance students in Year 9 through to HSC Dance students. This takes place at the end of Term 2.

Co-Curricular Dance Showcase – An exhibition of routines learnt throughout the year performed by our Troupe, Recreational, and Elective Dance students as part of the Barker Dance Co-Curricular Program. This takes place at the end of Term 3.

Year 11 Dance offers students a practical opportunity to build on their performance skills by refining their performance quality and technique. Students study three inter-related components: Performance, Composition and Appreciation of Dance. They engage with these components through practical and theoretical experience.

It is not a prerequisite for entry into the Preliminary course to have studied Dance in Year 9 and 10, however doing so provides students with a chance to grow a solid foundation in preparation for the Prelim and HSC course.

Content Areas:

Dance Technique and Performance Quality

This unit is designed to deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Core Performance component of the preliminary dance course. Students learn through theory and application about dance technique applied to performance by working on exercises in the style of progressive ballet technique, classical ballet and contemporary dance in the style of Lester Horton. 

Composition and Communication

Students will learn through theory and application the theories, principles, processes and practices of composition through studying pioneers such as Merce Cunningham and Anna Halprin. The unit is designed to expand on students' knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Core Composition component of the preliminary course. 

Dance Analysis

This content for the Preliminary course is a broad overview of Dance as an artform from a national and international perspective where students will study one Australian work focusing on Bangarra Dance Theatre. Students will also study a secondary work where they will learn about the eclectic nature of dance as they study the sociohistorical context of dance and its impact on the development of dance.  

Assessment

Core Performance - Individual Performance and Interview 

Core Composition - Individual Composition and Rationale

Examination - A formal Dance essay on both topics studied throughout the year 

‘The Dance Stage 6 Syllabus emphasises dance both as an art form in its own right and as an exciting medium for learning that fosters students’ intellectual, social and moral development’ – Dance Stage 6 Syllabus, NESA 

Year 12 Dance is a continuation of the Prelim Elective, where students showcase their skills in three areas: performance, composition and appreciation. This course is ideal for current students who are interested in applying themselves and showcasing their strong dance technique and foundational knowledge.  

Core Performance 

The Core Performance component of HSC Dance offers students the opportunity to showcase their ‘dance technique’ within the context of safe dance practice and anatomical principles of movement. This component requires students to perform a dance between 3-5minutes and participate an interview of up to 6 minutes to orally demonstrate their understanding of Safe Dance Practice. 

Core Composition  

The Core Composition component of HSC Dance is the vehicle by which students demonstrate their application of the compositional process. This component requires students to choreograph a 3-5minute composition for a dancer of their choice, participate in an interview to demonstrate knowledge and submit a 300-word rationale detailing the compositional process.  

Core Appreciation 

The Core Appreciation component of HSC Dance allows students to develop their ability in making informed judgements about dance. By studying the history of dance, they draw links between the cultural, practical and theoretical components of two set works, ‘Juliet and Romeo’ by Mats Ek and ‘Terrain’ by Frances Rings. They complete two essays in one hour based on each of these works, these handwritten essays will be completed in the HSC examination block.  

Major Study  

HSC Dance is catered to the students individual strengths, they will select a major study that contributes to 40% of their final mark. Through the guidance of their teachers they will choose one of the following options as their major: 

Performance – Dance choreographed by teacher and student, interview and rationale 

Composition – Dance choreographed by student for 2-3 dancers, interview, rationale 

Appreciation – Three Essays completed in HSC block 

Dance and technology ‘Dance on Film’ – Dance choreographed by student for dancers and filmed, interview, rationale 

Dance and technology ‘Choreographing the Virtual Body’ – Dance choreographed by student and showcased through a 3D animation software, interview, rationale.