K-2 Dance Diaries

Dance in the Creative Arts Curriculum - what is it all about?

In Primary Dance, students will develop knowledge and understanding, skills, values and attitudes in performing, composing and appreciating by engaging with the elements of dance (action dynamics, time, space, relationships and structure) through a range of contexts within a planned and sequential process of teaching and learning. Learning in dance is taught in such a way that performing, composing and appreciating are integrated. The use of the elements of dance is essential to all learning activities and draws on dance from a range of contexts.

• Perform - to present
• Compose - to create
• Appreciate - to make judgements about
• Action refers to what is occurring
• Dynamics refers to the quality or how it is happening
• Time refers to when is it happening
• Space refers to where is it occurring
• Relationships refers to with or who aspects of the dance
• Structure refers to the unity and form of the dance

Learning to perform, compose and appreciate dance involves a range of skills that use the dancing body and the elements of dance. Students will use the elements in performing, composing and appreciating. With ideas for dance drawn from a range of contexts, they will engage with the concepts of dance artists (performers and choreographers), dance works, the audience and the world to develop broader and deeper knowledge, understanding, values and attitudes about dance.

(source: Creative Arts K–6 Syllabus (2006) PDF)

Stay tuned for next week’s ‘K-2 Dance Diaries’ article.  

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Nicola Jackson
K-2 RFF Teacher