Dance
Back‘Excellent provision both in and outside lessons in the visual and performing arts is supporting pupil’s high achievement in these areas.’
Studying Dance in school gives students the freedom to be expressive, creative and imaginative.
Dance at Nunnery Wood aims to excite and inspire. We believe that Dance offers students the chance to succeed and achieve whilst developing confidence, self-belief, creativity and collaborative skills.
We feel it is of equal importance to offer our students exciting opportunities both in and out of the classroom. Throughout Key Stage 3 students experience a varietyof dance styles through choreography, performance and dance appreciation. We provide an extensive range of extra-curricular activities giving students the opportunity to be involved in dance shows, musicals, festivals, key stage evenings and other performances. There are alsoweekly danceclubs for all year groups. We have strong links with primary schools and opportunities to work with primary school pupils.
Our students are offeredopportunities to participate in annual dance festivals and events, including; Worcestershire Dancing Festival, GCSE Dance Sharing Outstanding Practice, Circuit Dance Festival, Nunnery Primary Dance Festival and the The Three Counties Show. Students are also given the opportunity to work with external Dance specialists and companies. Examples include; Flexus Dance Collective, Fuzzy Logic Dance Company, Rubix Dance, 2Faced Dance Company and Rambert Dance Company. Theatre trips and outings to various Dance venues are regularly organised including; Pineapple Dance Studios, London’s West End, Birmingham Hippodrome, DanceXchange, Artrix Theatre and Malvern Theatre. Visiting these venues enables students to see live performances and shows, along with the opportunity to participate in workshops.
Dance is the language of the body and enables students to communicate and express themselves in a standalone, unique form. It is both empowering and inspiring encouraging students to develop their physical, creative, emotional and intellectual capacity. All students are encouraged to aspire and succeed whatever their previous dance experience. The study of dance is character building and teaches core life skills including; confidence, patience,problem solving, creativity,collaboration, organisational,and reasoning skills. Dance in education teaches students to be inclusive, not exclusive, therefore promoting a sense of community, partnership and acceptance.
Staffing Structure
Curriculum Leader: Mrs H Cooper
Email: h.cooper@nunnerywood.worcs.sch.uk
Phone: 01905 363653
Team Structure
Curriculum Leader for the Arts
Curriculum Leader for Dance
1 Part time Teacher of Dance
1 Performing Arts Teaching Assistant/Technician
Curriculum Facilities
1 large studio theatre equipped with a mirrored wall, sprung floor, orchestral pit, sound and lighting box, lighting rig, inbuilt sound system, retractable seating of 280 seats. A folding wall divides the studio into two rooms for day to day teaching of Dance and Drama. For performances the wall slides away and the space opens into one extra-large performance space.
KS3
KS3 Description of the key skills, knowledge and understanding that are a prime focus of KS3 teaching in the subject area
In Dance lessons students develop choreographic, performance and danceapperception skills through their practical class work. Students also learn how to be creative thinkers and effective collaborators.
Choreography:
The 4 pillars of dance; action, space, dynamics and relationships.
The understanding and effective use of choreographic devices and dance relationships within choreography.
Key choreographic collaborative skills.
Form and structure in choreography.
How to create and structure choreography.
Working from a stimulus
Using theme in dance
Using choreographic intention in dance
Performance:
The study and application of mental, physical and expressive skills, and technical skills within performance.
The introduction and application of health and safety, nutrition and hydration.
How to communicate a theme, mood, choreographic intentand stimulus through a performance.
Appreciation:
Develop verbal analytical skills.
Appreciation of self, peer and professional dance work through video and live work.
Analytical self and peer feedback.
Development of own individual view points and opinions about their own and others’ dance work.
Organisation of the KS3 curriculum and how students are assessed (brief summary of long term plan of units and very approximate timings.
Students have a one hour lesson, once a week for three of the six half terms a year.
One key assessment takes place at the end each half term. Students watch each other’s work live, with work being recorded so students are able to watch their own work on video. Usually assessments take the form of a live performance of material learnt and/or created in lesson time over the course of the half term.
Year 7
Actions of the Body
Musical Theatre
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
Year 8
Stomp (working creatively with props in dance)
Indian Dance
Social Media
Year 9
Chairs (working creatively using chairs as props in dance)
Dancing Through the Decades
Emancipation of Expressionism
Contact
Urban environment
KS4 - GCSE Dance AQA 8236
KS4 Description of the key skills, knowledge and understanding that are a prime focus of KS4 teaching in the subject area
GCSE Dance is a practical course designed for students who are enthusiastic about dance. The course aims to develop ‘the thinking dancer’.
GCSE Dance gives students the opportunity to experience learning through performance in a range of different dance styles, choreographic approaches and the art of choreography, by responding to exciting stimuli. Critical appreciation of dance is taught through the study of professional dance works choreographed by both established and emerging choreographers. During the course, learners will experience exploring and synthesising ideas, thoughts and meaning through movement. The study of professional dance works and their own dance practice will enable learners to develop a broad theoretical knowledge while enhancing and enriching their practical work.
Performance:
Students develop their physical attributes including posture, alignment, balance, coordination, control, flexibility, mobility, strength, stamina, extension and isolation. Mental skills such as confidence, concentration, commitment and movement memory are explored. Students are challenged and encouraged to achieve expressive skills including, projection, focus, spatial awareness, facial expression, phrasing, musicality, sensitivity to other dancers.
Choreography:
Students explore action, dynamic, spatial and relationship content to communicate a choreographic intent. They will learn about the choreographic process, including researching, improvising, generating, selecting, developing, structuring, refining and synthesising. They will be taught how to use choreographic devices within their work and to experiment with a range of actions (travel, turn, elevation, gesture, stillness, use of different body parts, floor work, and transfer of weight.) Dynamic content will require students to work with time, weight, flow and the space. They will develop their choreographic understanding of relationships within dance such as lead and follow, mirroring, action and reaction, accumulation, complement and contrast, counterpoint, contact and formations.
Appreciation:
Identifying areas of strength and areas for development and responding to feedback about their own dance practice.
Students develop an understanding about how to communicate a choreographic intention through the exploration of mood(s), meaning(s), idea(s), theme(s) and style/style fusion(s). They also analyse choreographic content which includes movement (action, dynamics, space and relationships). Students will learn how to identify choreographic structures, forms (binary, ternary, rondo, narrative, episodic, beginning/middle/end, unity, logical sequence, transitions.) and choreographic devices (motif and development, repetition, contrast, highlights, climax, manipulation of number, unison and canon).
Students will also learn how to understand the components in order to interpret and appreciate the impact of the choreographic meaning.
Organisation of the KS4 curriculum (brief summary of long term plan of units and very approximate timings)
Year 10:
Component 1: Performance and choreography teaching of set phrases and performance in a duo/trio.
Teaching of performance skills and attributes; mental, physical and expressive skills.
Component 2: Introduction of the anthology works through both a practical and theoretical leaning.
Fortnightly spelling and definitions tests of key dance terms and required subject knowledge.
Two written mock exams 1 hour 30 minutes long.
Two practical mock exams.
Year 11:
Examination of all practical work March-May
Component 1: Performance and choreography refinement of set phrases and performance in a duo/trio.
Component 2: Ongoing study of the work in the anthology and own practical work to support the sections of the written exam.
Continued learning of key dance terms and required subject knowledge.
At least one written mock exams 1 hour 30 minutes long.
At least one practical mock exams.
Assessment
Component One: Performance and Choreography 60%
What’s assessed?
Performance 30%
1. Students will learn and perform two out of a possible four set phrases, each one minute in length.
2. Students will learn and perform a duet or a trio comprising of developed material from the remaining set phrases (approx. three and a half to five minutes).
Choreography 30%
1. Students will choreograph either a solo or group choreography in response to a range of exciting stimuli.
Component Two: Dance Appreciation 40%
What’s assessed:
1. Knowledge and Appreciation of choreographic processes and performance skills.
2. Critical Appreciation of your own work, embedded into the practical work.
3. Critical Appreciation of professional dance works from the anthology, embedded into the practical work.
40% of the overall GCSE grade which is assessed through a 1 hour 30 minute written exam.
Sources of information that may be useful
http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/dance/gcse/dance-4230
https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#safe=strict&q=rambert&*&spf=509
http://stopgap.uk.com/
http://www.phoenixdancetheatre.co.uk/dates/
https://www.jamescousinscompany.com/
http://www.boyblueent.com/
