Year 8 Arts Electives

Dance

Dance Clips

Students will examine the development of dance video and film clips. Students will have the opportunity to create video clips similar to clips seen on programs such as Video Hits, MTV and Channel V. Students will work with a range of dance choreography techniques and learn about dance on location in areas other than the studio. Students will identify the relationships between sound, film and choreography. Within this collaborative dance-video unit, students will work in a variety of ways (individually, small group and ensemble) to create short film clips. Through these clips, students will explore a particular dance genre, type or picture.  Their clips will be comprised of dance, music and story; conveyed through movement.

Dance Makers

Students will study various aspects of modern dance and choreography. They will work in small groups to create dance pieces in a specific style of dance, acting as choreographers to groups of students from the Early Years Campus. Students will need to select suitable dance elements to communicate their movements in an expressive way. They will learn about the structure of a safe dance warm up and will develop and deliver one of their own. Students will be assessed on their written plan, their ability to identify muscle groups and the delivery of their warm up. They will work individually to study a dance choreographer and their dance making processes, presenting a research assignment on their chosen choreographer. Students will be able to work on their own technique and control of physical and expressive skills within the class. They will focus on skill development and improvement and will participate in learning a class dance to perform in front of an audience.

Drama

Stage Arts

Students start by devising their own work and learning the basics of physical dramatic expression. As the semester progresses, they gradually add new skills, such as, writing scripts, gesture, mime, defining the performance space to create fictional worlds, developing characters, creating atmosphere and clear story telling. As well as this, they learn how to solve staging problems by working together in small groups and then as a whole class ensemble when they perform a scripted piece for an audience. Students also keep a drama journal to reflect on their learning and achievements. Teamwork, problem solving and text analysis are all valuable skills that the students can improve in the drama class with enthusiasm, energy and a good sense of play.