Rationale

This rationale complements and extends the rationale for The Arts learning area.

Dance is expressive movement with purpose and form. Through dance, students represent, question and celebrate human experience, using the body as the instrument and movement as the medium for personal, social, emotional, spiritual and physical communication. Like all art forms, dance has the capacity to engage, inspire and enrich all students, exciting the imagination and encouraging students to reach their creative and expressive potential.

Dance enables students to develop a movement vocabulary with which to explore and refine imaginative ways of moving individually and collaboratively. Students choreograph, rehearse, perform and respond as they engage with dance practice and practitioners in their own and others’ cultures and communities.

Students use the elements of dance to explore choreography and performance and to practise choreographic, technical and expressive skills. They respond to their own and others’ dances using physical and verbal communication.

Active participation as dancers, choreographers and audiences promotes students’ wellbeing and social inclusion. Learning in and through dance enhances students’ knowledge and understanding of diverse cultures and contexts and develops their personal, social and cultural identity.