Wheelers Hill Secondary College Senior School Handbook 2020

VCE Performing Arts

Dance Units 1, 2, 3 & 4

Course Description:      

Throughout the VCE Dance course, students will create and perform their own dance works as well as studying the dance works of others through performance and analysis. They will undertake systematic dance training to build physical skills and develop their ability to execute safely a diverse range of expressive body actions. Students develop and refine their choreographic skills by exploring personal and learnt movement vocabularies, and ways in which movement can be created and arranged to communicate the expressive intention of the dance-maker. They also study ways in which ideas are communicated through the skilled performance of their own and others’ dances. Students consider influences on the expressive intention and movement vocabulary of their own dances and also on works created by choreographers working in a range of styles, genres and traditions.

 

The units in VCE Dance share a similar structure, with Outcome 1 focusing on dance perspectives, Outcome 2 focusing on choreography and performance and Outcome 3 on learnt dance

Assessment:                    

This course uses the following forms of assessment:

  • Essays or reports
  • Multimedia presentations
  • Solo and group performances
  • Practical and theoretical exams

Prerequisites:                  

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4. It is recommended that students have three to four years dance and/or movement experience prior to the commencement of VCE Dance.

Expected Skills:               

Students should have the ability to:

  • develop and refine safe dance practices and a kinaesthetic awareness of the body
  • respond creatively to ideas, observations and explorations of movement to communicate an expressive intention
  • observe, experience and write about dance in an analytical, a critical and a reflective manner
  • understand influences on their own dance works and those created by other choreographers.

Special Course Commitments:

This subject is offered through our partnership with private dance provider INTENTION DANCE. Classes are run once a week at Wheelers Hill Secondary College in D01. Students will be invoiced by the provider.

  • Classes are held outside of regular timetabled classes. They take place on Wednesday afternoons during VET time (Units 1 & 2: 3.00pm – 6.30pm; Units 3 & 4: 1.00pm – 4.30pm)
  • As this course is run privately outside of regular timetabled classes, students have the option of studying VCE Dance as either an extra subject or as part of their regular class load
  • The special arrangements for this course attract a higher cost of $600 a year, which include and provide for all students’ course materials; excursions, incursions and workshops; guest teachers; performance fees; costume requirements; and INTENTION DANCE uniform (printed tee and hoodie). Payment is made directly to INTENTION DANCE and a variety of payment plans are available to minimise the financial inconvenience. Remittance information will be provided upon enrolment with INTENTION DANCE.
  • To enrol in this course, students elect the subject as normal through WHSC and student contact information will be given to INTENTION DANCE who will send out an enrolment package

Drama

Successful completion of Year 10 Theatre Studies and /or Drama is strongly recommended for students wishing to undertke this subject.

Units 1, 2, 3 & 4

Unit 1

Students study three or more performance styles from a range of social, historical and cultural contexts. 

They examine drama traditions of ritual and storytelling to devise performances that go beyond re-creation and/or representation of real life as it is lived. This unit focuses on creating, presenting and analysing a devised solo and/or ensemble performance that includes real or imagined characters and is based on stimulus material that reflects personal, cultural and/or community experiences and stories. This unit also involves analysis of a student’s own performance work and a work by professional drama performers. 

Students apply play-making techniques to shape and give meaning to their performance. They manipulate expressive and performance skills in the creation and presentation of characters, and develop awareness and understanding of how characters are portrayed in a range of performance styles. They document the processes they use as they explore a range of stimulus material, and experiment with production areas, dramatic elements, conventions and performance styles. 

Unit 2

In this unit students study aspects of Australian identity evident in contemporary drama practice. This unit focuses on the use and documentation of the processes involved in constructing a devised solo or ensemble performance. 

Students create, present and analyse a performance based on a person, an event, an issue, a place, an artwork, a text and/or an icon from a contemporary or historical Australian context. 

They examine selected performance styles and explore the associated conventions. Students 

further develop their knowledge of the conventions of transformation of character, time and place, the application of symbol, and how these conventions may be manipulated to create meaning in performance and the use of dramatic elements and production areas. 

Students analyse their own performance work as well as undertaking an analysis of a performance of an Australian work, where possible, by professional actors.  

Unit 3

In this unit students explore the work of drama practitioners and draw on contemporary practice as they devise ensemble performance work. Students explore performance styles and associated conventions from a diverse range of contemporary and/or traditional contexts. They work collaboratively to devise, develop and present an ensemble performance.  

Throughout development of the work they experiment with transformation of character, 

time and place, and application of symbol. Students devise and shape their work to communicate meaning or to have a specific impact on their audience. In addition, students document and evaluate stages involved in the creation, development and presentation of the ensemble performance. 

Students analyse and evaluate a professional drama performance selected from the prescribed VCE Drama Unit 3 Playlist published annually on the VCAA website. 

Unit 4

In this area of study students explore, and develop skills in, play-making techniques in the development of a short solo performance. They demonstrate application of symbol and transformation of character, time and place. Teachers provide stimulus material appropriate to the size of the task, such as a person, an event, an issue, a place, an image, one word, a definition, a quotation, lyrics, a sound or an icon. 

Students prepare for the task of devising a short solo performance by exploring, experimenting with and trialing processes they will employ in developing their extended solo performance for Outcome 2. They focus themselves for applying symbol and transforming character, time and place. The focus of the performance should be on acting. Students may use production areas such as costume, make-up, objects, props or mask, to assist in application of symbol or transformations. Students develop a short statement that identifies the techniques of this performance. They then present this solo performance in an informal setting such as in a classroom. The stimulus material the student uses in this area of study must be different from the stimulus material used in completing Outcomes 2 and 3, and should not be selected from the prescribed structures published for the current year in the VCE Drama Solo Performance Examination. 

Outcomes 2 and 3 involves the preparation, creation and presentation of a devised solo performances, for an externally assessed performance.  

 

Assessment Tasks: 

Unit 1/2 

SAC 1 (Outcome 1) – Class Notes, workshops and observations made during the creation of a solo/ensemble performance 

SAC 2 (Outcome 2) – Performance of a solo or ensemble performance 

SAC 3 (Outcome 3) – Self performance evaluation, response to structured questions/oral presentation 

SAC 4 (Outcome 4) – performance analysis, response to structured questions in response to professional theatre performance 

 

Unit 3 

SAC 1 (Outcome 1) – Development and presentation of characters within a devised ensemble performance. Each student to have 5 – 8 minutes of primary focus performance time in work. 

SAC 2 (Outcome 2) – Analysis of the development and performance of characters in the ensemble developed in Outcome 1. (Oral presentation OR Response to Structured Questions) 

SAC 3 (Outcome 3) – performance analysis, response to structured questions in response to professional theatre performance (Professional Performance from Unit 3 Playlist) 

Unit 4 

SAC 1 (Outcome 1) – Mini solo demonstration, based on stimulus material supplied by classroom teacher AND oral or written statement, describing techniques used in demonstration.   

SAC 2 (Outcome 2) – Preparation and development of a solo performance, based on the VCAA prescribed structures. (Externally assessed)  

SAC 3 (Outcome 3) – Self performance evaluation, response to structured questions, of solo performance devised for Outcome 2.  

 

Proposed topics: 

The following topics are relevant and appear throughout all Units of VCE Drama 

Understanding Performance Styles –Epic, Poor, Cruelty, Absurd, Realism etc 

Playmaking techniques – how to create a performance based on stimulus material 

Conventions of performance – application of symbol, transformation of time, place and character.  

Dramatic Elements and Performance Skills. 

Creating for an audience – learning how to create meaning for an audience through performance techniques 

Music Performance

Successful completion of Year 10 Music is highly recommended for students wishing to undertake this subject.  A minimum of one year of private instrumental lessons is also recommended for students

Units 1, 2, 3 & 4

Course Description:      

This study enables students to:

  • develop and practise musicianship
  • perform, compose, arrange and improvise music from diverse styles and traditions
  • engage with diverse music genres, styles, contexts and practices
  • communicate understanding of cultural, stylistic, aesthetic and expressive qualities and characteristics of music
  • explore and expand personal music interests, knowledge and experiences
  • use imagination, creativity and personal and social skills in music making
  • access pathways for further education, training and employment in music
  • use electronic and digital technologies in making and sharing music and communicating ideas about music
  • participate in life-long music learning and the musical life of their community.

Assessment:                     

The course uses the following assessment methods:

  • Performance Examinations
  • School Assessed Coursework (e.g. tests, folios, multimedia presentations).
  • Aural and Written Examinations

Expected Skills:               

The student must be able to:

  • Develop skills on a given instrument/voice for rehearsals and performances for a wide range of purposes/audiences;
  • Work within the given ensemble format to develop a repertoire of works across musical styles appropriate to the ensemble;
  • Critically analyze professional and class-based performance work in written and oral form.

Special Course Commitments:  

All Students are expected to undertake private tuition on their given instrument/voice either through the College Instrumental Music program or private teacher/music school.  Students may be asked to perform at College Functions (e.g. Open Night, Assemblies and College Production) and are required to attend at least one professional musical performance/concert outside of school for a concert review as part of the course design.

Theatre Studies

 

Units 1, 2, 3 & 4

Course Description:      

This study enables students to:

•    acquire knowledge of theatre, including its styles, traditions, purposes and audiences

•    interpret playscripts through engagement in the production process

•    creatively and imaginatively explore and experiment with theatrical possibilities

•    develop and apply stagecraft knowledge and skills to interpret playscripts

•    develop an understanding of themselves as theatre makers and practitioners

•    develop an appreciation of theatre and its significance as an art form

•    apply skills of theatrical analysis and evaluation to their own production work and that of others

•    participate in the theatrical life of their community.

The study is made up of two:

  • Unit 1: Pre-modern Theatre
  • Unit 2: Modern Theatre
  • Unit 3: Playscript Interpretation
  • Unit 4: Performance Interpretation

Assessment:                    

Consists of the following:

  • Performances - Ensemble and Solo
  • Folios of Production Processes and Stagecraft which can include multimedia presentations
  • Exams - Written and Performance
  • Performance analyses
  • Unit 3&4 students will be externally examined for monologue interpretation

Expected Skills:               

Students are to demonstrate performance skills and critically analyse production elements and performances.

 

Special Course Commitments:

Students are required to attend performances outside school hours. This will be an extra cost to subject fees, dependant on the show, location and timing.