‘Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion’ – Martha Graham

Intent

The Dance curriculum at Jubilee High School offers students the opportunity to build confidence through performance in a supportive environment, as well as inspire them to engage with dance exploration through the study of professional dance works and the sharing of work from older year groups. We want our all our students to be creative learners, critical thinkers and proud performers.

Our curriculum aims to:

• Foster a love for Dance both in and out of the classroom. 
• Challenge the students through learning a range of different Dance styles and techniques to explore the power of Dance.
• Encourage all students to be aspirational, unique and creative with their artistic exploration of Dance.
• Provide students with the means to be reflective of their work, allowing them to understand how to develop their work with an aim of improving and producing the best work possible.
• Support all students to thrive creatively through a collaborative classroom environment by providing many opportunities to engage in group activities. Thus building on their ability to communicate effectively to share and discuss ideas/opinions around various Dance topics.

Meta-concepts

The following meta-concepts underpin our curriculum:

• Expression – Being able to express themselves through Dance evoking emotions and telling stories by expressing emotions through the body and face.
• Technique– Understanding which techniques need to be employed for particular Dance styles and application. 
• Reflective– To be able to confidently evaluate their own, peers and professional Dance works.
• Inclusivity– To celebrate diversity in Dance and be able to explore a range of Dance styles.
• Creativity– To explore their imagination in producing original Dances.
• Discipline– To understand and grow as a Dancer through rehearsal and responding to feedback to reach their full potential.

Dance curriculum sequence

Implementation

Our Dance curriculum is designed to provide enriching lessons to explore various styles and techniques through both practical and theoretical exploration. Through this, students are able to understand the basic skills needed, which they then deepen over the key stages.

Key Stage 3

Students in years 7-9 have two lessons a fortnight. 

Year 7- We have carefully designed a curriculum for all student to access dance as soon as they join JHS, no matter their previous dance experience or ability. They identify the fundamental skills of dance to be able to create their own chorography through exploring the themes of the professional work “Enter Achilles”. We then take what we have learnt and apply to the styles of Contemporary, Street and Jazz.  

Year 8- In year 8 students are able to develop the skills and styles they learnt in year 7. We also expand their knowledge by teaching more higher order performance skills, which we explore through learning class dances.

Year 9- Students will apply their previous knowledge, as well as extending it by looking into different practitioners and stimuli. They will then take the chorographic approach to create their own dances.

Key Stage 4

In year 10 and 11 Dance is an option subject part of the 'Health and Movement' block. Students opting to take Dance will have five lessons across the fortnight. These are split into three practical and two theory lessons.

Year 10- In year 10 student's complete component one . This is where we study the chorographic approach of 3 different professional works. The students take this and then create their own dances. 

Year 11- At the beginning of year 11 students will complete component two. This includes students studying professional repertoire in which they perform. They will then complete component 3  in which students will create their own dance by responding to a stimuli.

GCSE specification- Dance

Impact

Our curriculum allows students to explore their artistic development and personal growth through dance. We focus on providing a comprehensive learning experience, so students are exposed to a broader scope of Dance as an art form. Within this we ensure all students are able to: 

• Have a deep understanding and appreciation of different dance styles and techniques to not only expand their repertoire, but also to nurture their cultural understanding to collaborate as a community.
• Explore their own unique artistic voices through experimenting with movement and in depth learning about the creative process, as well as enriching their dance practice to support and develop their critical thinking.
• Learn the fundamental skills to ensure they are successful in making progress throughout the years, as well as laying the foundations for their future whether that be academically or in the professional industry.