Dance: Strands, Achievement Objectives, and Learning Examples

Developing Practical Knowledge in Dance In this strand, students explore and use the vocabularies, practices, and technologies of different dance forms, genres, and styles. They use the elements of dance to explore how the body moves and the body's relationship in movement to other people, objects, and environments. Students extend their personal movement vocabularies and movement preferences, and they learn about and apply safe dance practices in individual, pair, and group activities.

Developing Ideas in Dance In this strand, students initiate, develop, conceptualise, and refine ideas in dance through the creative process of choreography. They use dance ideas derived from such sources as imagination, feelings, experiences, or given stimuli. They manipulate the elements of dance to develop dance works, individually and in groups. Through the active and reflective process of choreography, students develop their ability to express experiences, ideas, beliefs, feelings, and information through dance, using a variety of choreographic structures, devices, and processes.

Communicating and Interpreting in Dance In this strand, students develop knowledge and understanding of how dance communicates and is interpreted and evaluated. As dancers, they learn, rehearse, and share dance works and perform them to a variety of audiences in formal and informal settings. They develop performance skills and reflect on and evaluate their own dance. As audience members, students learn to appreciate dance in its many forms. They respond to, reflect on, analyse, and interpret dance, and they make increasingly informed judgments about the value, intentions, and qualities of work performed by others. Students learn about and use production technologies, such as video, lighting, costumes, and sound. They explore the influence of such technologies on communication and interpretation in dance.

Understanding Dance in Context In this strand, students develop knowledge and understanding of the forms and purposes of dance and its integral part in past and present cultures and societies. They come to appreciate that dance is firmly rooted in tradition yet constantly evolving to reflect changes in contemporary culture. Students engage in practical and theoretical investigations of dance and explore the ritual, social, and artistic purposes of dance within global contexts. They investigate and celebrate the unique forms of traditional Maori dance and the multicultural dance heritage of New Zealand society.