Dance and Drama

Year 8 Dance – Dance Fundamentals

In Year 8 Dance, students are developing practical dance skills, creative thinking, and reflective understanding through performance, choreography, and analysis. They are focusing on building confidence, coordination, musicality, and expressive movement, with a strong emphasis on hip hop dance as the performance style.

Year 9 Dance – Jazz Focus

Year 9 Dance students are concentrating on Jazz as their core style this term. Students are engaging in both individual and collaborative learning activities that support creative thinking, technical development, and confident performance skills.

Year 7 Drama – Ensemble & Collaboration

In Drama, Year 7 students are beginning the year by developing strong ensemble and collaboration skills. They are learning to build teamwork and demonstrate group awareness while engaging in activities that introduce basic performance conventions.

Year 8 Drama – Ensemble Skills & Playback Theatre

Year 8 Drama continues to build on foundational ensemble skills with an introduction to Playback Theatre. Students are exploring how storytelling can be expressed through gesture and movement while learning about the roles and processes unique to Playback Theatre.

Year 9 Drama – Improvisation Skills

Year 9 Drama students are developing improvisation skills with an emphasis on spontaneity, creative risk‑taking and collaborative scene work. They are exploring status, character and relationships as they apply the “Yes, and…” principle to build short‑form improvisation structures.

Year 10 Drama – Poor Theatre Research

In Year 10 Drama, students are undertaking research into Jerzy Grotowski’s Poor Theatre, examining minimalist and actor‑centred performance techniques. Their work focuses on how physicality, voice and proximity can shape storytelling and how Grotowski’s ideas continue to influence contemporary practice.

Year 12 Drama – Viewpoints, The Crucible & Directing

Year 12 Drama students are engaging with Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints technique as they analyse spatial relationships, tempo and gesture within performance. They are applying these concepts to their study of The Crucible while also deepening their understanding of the director’s role in shaping dramatic meaning and performance outcomes.

Senior School Production

Rehearsals have now begun for the Senior School Production, A Voice in the Dark: A Salem Story. Students are working diligently during Monday and Wednesday afternoon rehearsals in preparation for the show’s performance in May.

Clare Talbot, Teacher in Charge - Drama & Dance