Although Dance falls under PE National Curriculum, at The Jo Richardson Community School, Dance is taught under the Performing Arts Curriculum. Year 7 and 8 have a Dance lesson once a fortnight and year 9 once a week throughout the year year.
The Students study the following units of work designed to cover the three strands of dance, Choreography, Performance and Appreciation.
Year 7:
Intro to Dance – This unit teaches students the fundamental principles of dance (Action, Space, Dynamics and Relationships). They will learn to create movement using a theme, teaching them how to be a choreographer using problem solving skills to create inspiring and interesting movement
World Dance – Students will study a diverse range of movement from different cultures such as African, Indian and Latin American dance. Pupils will learn the context of where these styles originated from as well as how to perform and appreciate them accurately.
Musicals – In this unit students study the stylistic features of a musical. They will learn to appreciate how musicals have developed through history looking at Oliver Twist and Bugsy Malone to the more current pieces such as Grease and The Lion King.
Year 8:
Battle – Students study a whole class choreography on two opposing gangs, taking inspiration from West Side Story. They learn to develop their skills in performance and choreography paying particular focus to characterisation and expression.
Art – This unit teaches students to use art as a stimulus for movement. Students will study work from artists such as Picasso, Lowry and Banksy. They will learn to analyse and appreciate the works taking potential ideas for movements as well as using the context behind the paintings to develop ideas further at a GCSE level.
Professional Works – Students will study professional works such as Swansong by Christopher Bruce in detail learning repertoire from the piece and how to develop and create their own movement in the style of that practitioner.
Year 9:
Technology –Students will learn to use the idea of technological language, computer games and A.I to create unique and abstract movement. They will start to study more sophisticated choreography and look at a range of practitioners to inspire ideas further
Poetry – In this unit students will learn how to use poetry as a stimuli for movement. They will analyse and break down the poems to understand the structure and context of how the words can be used to create effective choreography.
Warriors Through History – This unit covers historical themes such as Gladiators, The Terracotta army and Boadicea. Students will learn and create choreography taking inspiration from martial arts and contemporary dance. Students will also learn to use props in their work.
The Urban Dance Timeline – Students will learn the origins of Urban dance and how this modern day phennomonem of street dance was first formed. Students will study breaking, tutting, whacking and b-boying.
Physical Theatre – This unit teaches pupils the fundamental principles of Physical Theatre. Students will focus on the use of contact work and lifts to communicate themes as well as strong characterisation.
Dance Project – This unit is taken directly from the GCSE spec. Pupils will choose a stimulus, dance style and group size of their choice to create their own choreography. They will need to research the stimulus in detail to ensure they have a range of ideas. Pupils will be marked using GCSE criteria.
In Key Stage 3 homework is not traditionally set although there are challenges on the Dance blog that students can gain extra credit for and develop their dance knowledge further.