Dance and Drama

From the Co-ordinator of Dance and Drama

Firstly, I would like to welcome Mrs Rebekah Humphries who has replaced Ms Eaton whilst she is on maternity leave. We wish Ms Eaton all the best for this exciting time for her and her family.

We are looking forward to an eventful term ahead for the Dance and Drama Department. A few important dates for the diary:

Friday 31 May - Elective Drama Excursion – NIDA
Thursday 20 June - Junior Performing Arts Evening – The Great Hall - 6.00pm [5.30pm Doors open]
Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 June - HSC Drama Evening – PAC – 6.00pm
Wednesday 26 June - HSC Dance Trials – The Great Hall
Thursday 27 June - Stage 6 Drama Excursion to see the production - ‘Stolen’ by Sydney Theatre Company

Elective Dance Incursion – 'Dance Dr.' Performance and Workshop - Tuesday 9 February

Reflection by Poppy (Year 9 Dance)

Last Term, on Tuesday 9 April, the 'Dance Dr.' company performed for the accelerated dance students. These professional dancers performed for 40 minutes and showcased their contemporary and improvising abilities. Their beautiful, unique way of dancing further broadens the students' ideal image of dance all together. They then sat us down and we talked about "what makes a good dancer and athlete all together." This included topics such as good lifestyle choices, e.g. sleep, nutrition, free time activities.

We further learnt more about safe dancing and all the other aspects of everyday life that affect your dancing. The Year 9 students especially could relate this back to what they are currently learning in the classroom. They taught us that what you eat even a week or two before a performance could still impact you, good nutrition is extremely vital for an elite dancer or any type of athlete in general. Eating a wide range of the food groups is very important for high energy levels while rehearsing. A good sleep schedule is also vital for recovery and making sure your body is ready to train just as hard for the following training sessions. Again, the Year 9’s who are currently learning about safe dancing techniques to reduce injury, like how to land and dance properly and safely so see this in proper everyday scenarios.

The Dance Dr. Company, after their performance, revealed that some of the show was improvisation. We learned that the way to make improv as seamless as possible is to keep the flow but also not to be scared of pauses, to pause and to hold a pose or movement is not a bad thing and can actually give the piece just as much as quick fast tempo movements. Unfortunately, I personally was not able to participate in the practical workshop portion of the incursion but it looked amazing and the dancers further learned about correct dancing techniques. The students got to try to put their new improvising abilities to the test following the short dance they learned. After doing it a few times they gained confidence and eventually got the hang of it.

To sum up, all the stage 5 dancers had an amazing time, gaining helpful knowledge about all aspects of athleticism from the professional dancers and getting to see the wonderful performance they put on.

Year 9 Drama – New Masks

Mrs Wenman's Year 9 Drama classes have started a unit of work on the style of theatre that is the Commedia Dell’arte. This is a comedic and masked theatrical form characterised by improvised dialogue and a cast of colourful stock characters that emerged in northern Italy in the fifteenth century. Year 9 Drama will be exploring this performance style throughout Term 2.

Last year the department purchased a new set of the Commedia stock character masks. This is very exciting, and Year 9 Drama had a wonderful lesson trying on the masks to explore some of these wildly intriguing characters.

Dance and Drama Junior School Term 2

What’s happening in the weekly Dance and/or Drama classes in Junior School for Term 2? All Junior School students will be working on their class performance items in preparation for the Junior School Performing Arts Evening to be held on Thursday 20 June 2024.

Kindergarten Dance: Students put their developed movement skills into practice- through preparing, rehearsing, and performing dance. Students learn and experience stage performance expectations.

Year 1 Dance: Students develop and learn the skills of remembering and recalling repetitive dance movement combinations for dance performance.

Year 2 Dance: Students learn and rehearse movement combinations involving a variety of body skills for a stage performance. Students perform without assistance.

Year 3 Dance: Students develop and learn skills of performance with more complex combinations, involving a range of spatial relationships and formations.

Year 4 Dance: Understanding that social, cultural, and historical dances have a purpose. Study a range of Folk dances such as Bush Dance, Tarantella, Cossack, and Mexican Hat

Year 5 Dance rotations in Performing Arts: Students continue to observe and learn about dance and dance styles within musicals They experience and explore characteristics of various dance styles through appreciation of the historical development and technique classes.

Year 5 Drama rotations in Performing Arts: Students will continue to participate in a range of practical workshops to develop improvisation skills and promote the ability to communicate meaningful characters, roles, or situations. They will engage in script reading and performing which aim to build self-confidence.

Year 6 Dance rotations in Performing Arts: Students continue to study Musical Theatre style, capturing choreography and movement for stage. Students work collaboratively with peers and teachers to develop and perform meaningful movements to communicate a character or theme in stage performances.

Year 6 Drama rotations in Performing Arts: Students continue to learn about developing creative narratives through the medium of stage. They will learn about developing characters and script reading which they will implement into performances.