Dance
Curriculum Intent
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 3 lessons aim to introduce and develop key performance and choreography skills that will form the basis of their Dance experience.
Year 7 begins with ‘An Introduction to Dance’ which introduces them to the fundamentals of choreography such as action, space, dynamics, & relationships. Students build confidence and communication skills by exploring a variety of lifts and contact work. The students then take a mixture of taught choreography and their own work and contribute these ideas to an ensemble piece.
Lessons in Year 8 and 9 aim to expand upon the skills introduced in Year 7 independently as they apply them to a range of new dance styles and professional works including The Lion King and Rambert.
Co-curricular opportunities include; KS3 Dance Club (led by sixth form dance ambassadors), Afrobeats (led by dance coach Jo Odro), Diversity Dance Club & House Dance.
Key Stage 4
Key Stage 4 lessons take key performance and choreography skills established within the Key Stage 3 curriculum and apply them to the demands of the GCSE specification.
Year 10 works on building students independent choreography skills and solo performance skills through solo choreography tasks and learning two solo set phrases. Students also learn the importance of performing as part of a large ensemble as well as a smaller trio, exploring a range of styles and choreographic intentions. Students also have the opportunity to build their understanding of dance terminology, choreographic processes, performing skills and appreciation of their own work through theory based practice. Students are introduced to the GCSE Dance Anthology and interpret, analyse and evaluate six professional dance works including pieces performed by The Royal Ballet & Rambert.
Year 11 is all about rehearsing and refining the solo and trio performance taught in Year 10. Students learn about rehearsal techniques and work on improving key performance skills. The GCSE choreography question is released at the start of Year 11 and students apply all their knowledge of choreographic processes and skills when responding to stimuli. All practical work is filmed as part of a controlled assessment and sent off to AQA for moderation. Theory based work centres around developing writing skills through appreciation of own work and professional dance works.
Co-curricular opportunities include; Afrobeats, Diversity Dance Club, House Dance, lunchtime support clubs for GCSE focusing on both performance and choreography, performance opportunity in national competition “Great Big Dance Off”, annual trip to Move It Dance Convention & KS4 specific theatre trips.
Key Stage 5
Key Stage 5 lessons aim to introduce a natural progression from GCSE to A Level based work through development of performance, choreography and appreciation.
The development of technical and interpretive performance skills is of focus, through more rigorous technique classes in the style of named practitioners from the set area of study. Students will not only learn a variety of Contemporary and Jazz techniques but they will learn set repertoire from professional work and apply this to solo based work.
Students will also learn to perform in a duet and quartet developing key skills from GCSE.
Choreography skills will continue to be a focus and will develop students' creativity and originality when responding to a stimulus through solo and group choreography tasks.
Theory based work will continue to develop interpretive and evaluative responses from analysing professional works, but will now look at contextualising works in a social, historical and political context. Students' writing skills will be developed through longer essay based questions.
Co-curricular opportunities include; Afrobeats, Diversity Dance Club, Leading House Dance as a Year 12 Captain, leading KS3 dance clubs, annual trip to Move It Dance Convention & KS5 specific theatre trips to Sadlers Wells.
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Curriculum Implementation |
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Key Stage 3 In KS3 pupils have two Computing lessons a fortnight in Year 7 and three lessons a fortnight in Year 8 and 9. |
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Year 7 |
Year 8 |
Year 9 |
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Introduction to Dance Students develop their core dance skills including use of varied action, dynamic, spatial & relationship content within choreography. They understand what safe practice looks like in dance and develop their teamwork skills whilst developing their performance skills whilst working as part of a group. The Lion King Here, we explore the importance of movement in The Lion King and how it helps communicate character and storyline. Students learn set movement from The Lioness Hunt, as well as choreographing original movement which embodies the key characteristics of the lioness. |
Emancipation of Expressionism by Boy Blue Entertainment Choreographer Kenrick H20 Sandy presents a work which explores themes of order and chaos & having the freedom to express individuality. Students work on this through creating an ensemble performance in an urban dance style that focuses on these key themes. Six The Musical Students explore Six The Musical, learning choreography inspired to show the character of the six ex-wives of Henry VIII. There are cross-curricular History links with students learning the history behind each woman and what happened to her after marrying Henry VIII. |
A Linha Curva by Rambert This topic focuses on celebrating the vibrant culture of Brazilian life with themes of Samba parades and carnival seen throughout. Students create a whole class ensemble piece using a variety of choreographic techniques and samba infused dance styles to replicate Rambert’s original production. Infra by The Royal Ballet Choreographer Wayne McGregor presents a work performed by The Royal Ballet & inspired by human relationships and interactions; specifically after The London Bombings in 2007. Students focus on using motif development in a variety of choreographic tasks based around key themes presented in Infra. Performance focuses on students' ability to convey emotion and sensitivity to other dancers through communicating different human relationships and interactions. |
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Key Stage 4: GCSE (AQA) |
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Year 10 |
Year 11 |
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Component 1: Performance and choreography Introduction to performance
Introduction to choreography
Component 2: Dance appreciation
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Component 1: Performance and choreography CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT – Filmed throughout the year and sent for external moderation Performance 30%
Choreography 30%
Component 2: Dance appreciation 40% Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes (summer exam time)
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Key Stage 5: A Level (AQA) |
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A Level Dance |
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Component 1: Performance and Choreography 50% NEA work which is performed internally & marked by an external visiting examiner.
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Component 2: Critical engagement 50% Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes The exam consists of two sections; compulsory area of study & optional area of study. Compulsory set work and area of study: 50 marks Rambert (1966 - 2002) Rooster (1991) - Christopher Bruce Practitioners: Christopher Bruce, Richard Alston & Robert North Students must answer short questions about the constituent features of the professional dance work Rooster. They will then answer a 25 mark essay around the area of study Rambert, from the time period 1966— 2002. Optional set work and area of study: 50 marks American Jazz Dance (1940 - 1975) Singin’ In The Rain (1952) - Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly Practitioners: Gene Kelly, Jerome Robbins & Bob Fosse In this section of the paper, students must answer two 25 mark essays; one on the set work Singin’ in The Rain & one on the area of study American Jazz 19409—1975 |
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Impact
Key Stage 3
- Dance is introduced as a new skill set in Year 7 and allows students of all abilities to challenge themselves appropriately in lessons. As students gain more confidence in the core skills, they are then applied to a range of dance styles, dance ideas and choreographic tasks throughout the course of KS3 allowing them to make effective progress.
- Students are able to develop their confidence in performing whilst choreography tasks provide an excellent opportunity for students to be creative whilst working as part of a team. Students also gain an appreciation for dance by analysing professional dance works and use these analysis skills to evaluate their own performance and their peers' performance during lessons.
- GCSE set works are gradually introduced to students in Year 8 and throughout Year 9, allowing them to get a preview of what it would be like to study GCSE Dance as a subject in KS4. On top of this, popular Musical Theatre productions are introduced to students to develop and foster a love for the arts and interest in the
Key Stage 4
At the start of KS4, students are introduced to the course by creating a whole class performance which is entered into national dance competition Great Big Dance Off. This allows students to strengthen their performance and choreography skills, all core skills which are integral to Component 1 of the course.
Students' confidence in performing is then developed further through the performance of two solo set phrases, a performance in a duet/trio and the exploration of solo choreography tasks in Year 10 followed by controlled assessment of either a solo or group choreography in Year 11.
Students explore the Dance Anthology which features six professional dance works throughout the course of two years; through practical exploration tasks as well as theoretical analysis which supports their understanding in preparation for their C2 written exam.
Students analyse their own performance consistently throughout the course of the two years and learn how to apply this analysis to questions asked in Section B of the written paper on their own solo performance, group performance and choreography.
Key Stage 5
- Finally, dance at AHS culminates with the option to study A Level in which students apply all aspects learnt throughout KS3 & KS4. The course is split 50% performance and choreography and 50% written exam.
- Students further develop analysis skills, by applying knowledge of performance into essay based questions. Students gain a deeper understanding of the social & historical context of time periods in relation to the dance companies and professional works being studied.
- Students widen their knowledge of varied techniques and practitioners studied, applying this not only in theory work but in practical performance and choreography tasks. Regular theatre trips and dance convention trips allow students wanting to go into the profession to deepen their understanding of the requirements of the industry.
- All students are fully equipped to pursue the subject at degree level at university or conservatoire.
