Dance Units: Levels 6-8

These dance units have been developed to support the teaching of dance to students at levels 6, 7 and 8 as described in The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum.

Level 6 units

Chairs
Students explore choreographic processes through the use of a chair as a prop, considering the literal and metaphorical ideas suggested by the prop.

Flight
Students explore movement improvisation and group choreographic processes as they build a group performance around the theme of flying.

Global dance
Students view and analyse dances from various cultures, focusing on using objects that are integral to dance traditions, such as castanets.

Level 7 units

Being a dance critic
Students explore critical writing about dance, compose their own dance reviews, and compare their critical responses to published reviews of the same work.

Māori and Pacific dance
Students analyse dance performances by New Zealand choreographers that include Māori or Pacific influences and consider the influence of Māori and Pacific dance on New Zealand contemporary dance.

Going solo
Students create a three-minute solo dance on the theme of identity, using relevant technology to include images, stories, or interviews on the theme.

Level 8 units

Dance history
Students research dance forms such as modern dance, post-modern dance and Butoh, and describe how these have challenged artistic and aesthetic boundaries in New Zealand contemporary dance practice.

Lines and circles
Students analyse dances that use circles, chains, or lines as central structures, research the social and cultural influences in these dances, then choreograph their own dances exploring these formations.

The production
Students choreograph a group dance on an issue relevant to them and incorporate it in a programme for public performance, using cycles of action and reflection within the development processes.