Dance and Drama

The Preparatory School provides opportunity for students to develop literacies in Dance and Drama. Students have one class a week for two terms. story. Some of the choreography was student-led and some used learnt choreography. The work created was shared formally in the setting of the production.

Dance The focus of Dance education is for students to use this genre as a creative form of expression. Student-led choreography is the primary focus of the programme at St Andrew’s College.

Students in Years 1–6 continued to develop their skill in Dance with a focus on the elements of movement. They shared their class work informally with each other. There were no opportunities for sharing Dance formally during the year for these groups, except for Year 3, who created Dance to share as part of their inquiries.

Students in Years 7–8 focused on musical theatre; using Dance to communicate a message within the context of a wider Drama All students from Years 1–8 experienced Drama during the year.

Junior students created imagined worlds and worked in role to become experts based on picture book contexts. Placing students in a role as an expert allows them to apply thinking skills to solve problems rather than rely on an adult for the answers.

Students in Years 4–6 developed work using picture books and common human themes in a range of contexts, and focused on ways to develop a role. The students used space and facial

expressions to create meaning and learnt how to create tension within a scene.

Year 7–8 students worked with short scripts for the production. These were co-constructed and developed within class, with editing completed by Ginnie Thorner. The students used these scripts to explore the ways role can come alive using voice, body, movement, and space. Each class had students take on leading roles.

Production The biennial production was performed at the end of Term 2. All Year 7–8 students participated in creating and performing the work. The work was created as short pieces for each class. Each class produced a review-styled piece rather than an over-arching story. Six students took on technical roles. These students were mentored by a crew of senior students from the Secondary School. This was a positive aspect of the production process, and many of the mentors had been in technical roles as students in the Preparatory School.

D-squared For 15 years, the lunchtime group, D-squared, has met the needs of students wishing to do more Drama.

In the first semester, the group was the largest it has been with 45 students involved each week. The students worked on a specific musical theatre piece that was performed as part of the production. In the second semester, the group number settled at 25 regular students. There were many interruptions to the work which included the teacher being on medical leave (following an accident), and many sport and ballet clashes. This made the work difficult to sustain. The students benefited from working with the Head of Theatresports during Term 4.

The connection between classroom inquiry and Dance and Drama worked well for some classes. Going into 2020, it will be important to ensure that students have opportunities to perform their work in a formal setting.

Dance and Drama continued to provide an aesthetic opportunity for students to express thoughts and ideas. This was an important way for students to apply thinking skills, work collaboratively with others, and learn about the human experience.