Dance (Version 8.4)

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Rationale

This rationale complements and extends the rationale for The Arts learning area.
Dance is expressive movement with purpose and form. Through dance, students represent, question and celebrate human experience, using the body as the instrument and movement as the medium for personal, social, emotional, spiritual and physical communication.

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Aims

In addition to the overarching aims of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, dance knowledge, understanding and skills ensure that, individually and collaboratively, students develop:

body awareness and technical and expressive skills to communicate through movement confidently, creatively and intelligently

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Structure

Learning in Dance
Learning in Dance involves students exploring elements, skills and processes through the integrated practices of choreography, performance and appreciation. The body is the instrument of expression and uses combinations of the elements of dance (space, time, dynamics and relationships) to communicate and express meaning through expressive and purposeful movement.

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Example of knowledge and skills

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Foundation to Year 2

Foundation to Year 2 Band Description

In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.

In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.

They explore the arts and learn how artworks can represent the world and that they can make artworks to represent their ideas about the world. They share their artworks with peers and experience being an audience to respond to others’ art making.

As they experience the arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.

As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, forms and processes, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make early evaluations of artworks expressing what they like and why.

Students learn about safe practices in the arts through making and responding safely in the different arts subjects.

They experience the role of artist and they respond to feedback in their art making. As an audience, they learn to focus their attention on artworks presented and to respond to artworks appropriately. In Foundation to Year 2, students learn to be an audience for different arts experiences within the classroom.

In Dance, students:

  • become aware of their bodies and learn about the body bases, parts and zones used in dance
  • explore space, time, dynamics and relationships as they make and observe dances
  • explore locomotor and non-locomotor movements and use these fundamental movement skills in their own dance
  • experiment with simple technical and expressive skills and begin to learn about choreographic devices through selecting and organising movements in their own dances.

Foundation to Year 2 Content Descriptions

Explore, improvise and organise ideas to make dance sequences using the elements of dance (ACADAM001 - Scootle )
Critical and Creative Thinking

Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
  • Imagine possibilities and connect ideas

Reflecting on thinking and processes
  • Transfer knowledge into new contexts

Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
  • Identify and clarify information and ideas
  • Organise and process information

Numeracy

Recognising and using patterns and relationships
  • Recognise and use patterns and relationships

  • exploring fundamental movements safely to improvise dance ideas, for example, running in a race, jumping like a frog, stomping like a giant, rolling like a log, falling like an autumn leaf, floating like a cloud, gliding like a bird
    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Imagine possibilities and connect ideas

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Organise and process information
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas

    Numeracy

    Estimating and calculating with whole numbers
    • Estimate and calculate

    Using spatial reasoning
    • Visualise 2D shapes and 3D objects

    Recognising and using patterns and relationships
    • Recognise and use patterns and relationships

    Using measurement
    • Estimate and measure with metric units

    Personal and Social Capability

    Self-awareness
    • Understand themselves as learners

    Self-management
    • Become confident, resilient and adaptable

    Social management
    • Make decisions

  • Considering viewpoints – forms and elements: For example – Which levels are you using in your dance? What sort of movements did the dancers perform? What are they wearing? What kind of music are they dancing to?
    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

  • exploring movement possibilities in response to a stimulus, such as imagery, music and shared stories
    Literacy

    Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing
    • Navigate, read and view learning area texts
    • Interpret and analyse learning area texts

    Visual Knowledge
    • Understand how visual elements create meaning

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

    Composing texts through speaking, writing and creating
    • Compose spoken, written, visual and multimodal learning area texts

    Personal and Social Capability

    Self-awareness
    • Understand themselves as learners

    Social management
    • Make decisions

    Self-management
    • Become confident, resilient and adaptable

    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Reflecting on thinking and processes
    • Transfer knowledge into new contexts

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Imagine possibilities and connect ideas
    • Consider alternatives

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

  • experimenting with the elements of space, time, dynamics and relationships through movement, for example, considering levels, tempo and dynamics
    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Consider alternatives
    • Seek solutions and put ideas into action

    Numeracy

    Estimating and calculating with whole numbers
    • Estimate and calculate

    Using spatial reasoning
    • Visualise 2D shapes and 3D objects

    Recognising and using patterns and relationships
    • Recognise and use patterns and relationships

    Using measurement
    • Estimate and measure with metric units

    Personal and Social Capability

    Social management
    • Work collaboratively
    • Make decisions

    Self-management
    • Become confident, resilient and adaptable

    Self-awareness
    • Understand themselves as learners

  • taking photos or videoing dance sequences to view and extend their dance ideas
    Literacy

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

    Composing texts through speaking, writing and creating
    • Deliver presentations
    • Compose spoken, written, visual and multimodal learning area texts

    Visual Knowledge
    • Understand how visual elements create meaning

    Personal and Social Capability

    Social management
    • Make decisions

    Self-awareness
    • Understand themselves as learners

    Self-management
    • Become confident, resilient and adaptable

    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Organise and process information
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Seek solutions and put ideas into action
    • Consider alternatives

    Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability

    Managing and operating ICT
    • Select and use hardware and software

    Creating with ICT
    • Generate solutions to challenges and learning area tasks

Use fundamental movement skills to develop technical skills when practising dance sequences (ACADAM002 - Scootle )
  • practising and responding to a range of fundamental movements to music, for example, walking, running, marching, galloping, skipping, crawling (locomotor); bending, stretching, twisting, turning (non-locomotor)
    Personal and Social Capability

    Self-awareness
    • Develop reflective practice
    • Understand themselves as learners

    Self-management
    • Become confident, resilient and adaptable
    • Develop self-discipline and set goals

    Numeracy

    Using measurement
    • Estimate and measure with metric units

    Recognising and using patterns and relationships
    • Recognise and use patterns and relationships

    Estimating and calculating with whole numbers
    • Estimate and calculate

    Using spatial reasoning
    • Visualise 2D shapes and 3D objects

  • practising fundamental movements to begin to develop technical skills of body control, posture, strength, balance and coordination, and responding to teacher’s feedback
    Numeracy

    Using measurement
    • Estimate and measure with metric units

    Recognising and using patterns and relationships
    • Recognise and use patterns and relationships

    Estimating and calculating with whole numbers
    • Estimate and calculate

    Using spatial reasoning
    • Visualise 2D shapes and 3D objects

    Personal and Social Capability

    Self-management
    • Become confident, resilient and adaptable
    • Develop self-discipline and set goals
    • Work independently and show initiative

    Self-awareness
    • Develop reflective practice
    • Understand themselves as learners

  • Considering viewpoints – meanings and interpretations: For example – How are you communicating the ideas or intention in this dance? forms and elements: Which levels are you using in your dance?
    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

  • developing awareness of and taking responsibility for safe dance practices, for example, being aware of self and others in the dance space, moving with care, respecting others dancing in the space; awareness of the boundaries of the dance space; awareness of their bodies’ needs, for example, getting a drink after dance activities for hydration
    Numeracy

    Using measurement
    • Estimate and measure with metric units

    Estimating and calculating with whole numbers
    • Estimate and calculate

    Using spatial reasoning
    • Visualise 2D shapes and 3D objects

    Recognising and using patterns and relationships
    • Recognise and use patterns and relationships

    Personal and Social Capability

    Self-management
    • Develop self-discipline and set goals
    • Become confident, resilient and adaptable

    Self-awareness
    • Develop reflective practice
    • Understand themselves as learners

    Social management
    • Work collaboratively

    Ethical Understanding

    Exploring values, rights and responsibilities
    • Explore rights and responsibilities

  • recognising and accepting a teacher’s or classmates’ constructive feedback
    Personal and Social Capability

    Social awareness
    • Appreciate diverse perspectives

    Literacy

    Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing
    • Interpret and analyse learning area texts
    • Listen and respond to learning area texts
    • Navigate, read and view learning area texts

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Organise and process information
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas

Present dance that communicates ideas to an audience, including dance used by cultural groups in the community (ACADAM003 - Scootle )
Intercultural Understanding

Interacting and empathising with others
  • Communicate across cultures

Recognising culture and developing respect
  • Explore and compare cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices
  • Develop respect for cultural diversity

Personal and Social Capability

Self-management
  • Work independently and show initiative

Social management
  • Communicate effectively
  • Work collaboratively
  • Make decisions

  • presenting a learned sequence of movements or performing simple dances, individually or as a group, to classmates, teachers and parents
    Numeracy

    Using spatial reasoning
    • Visualise 2D shapes and 3D objects

    Using measurement
    • Estimate and measure with metric units

    Estimating and calculating with whole numbers
    • Estimate and calculate

    Recognising and using patterns and relationships
    • Recognise and use patterns and relationships

    Personal and Social Capability

    Social management
    • Work collaboratively
    • Make decisions
    • Communicate effectively

    Self-management
    • Work independently and show initiative

  • expressing ideas to an audience through movement, for example, showing contrasting dynamics by stamping heavily and tip-toeing lightly, or using movement qualities such as slow controlled sinking to the floor to express melting ice and sharp jerky movement to express a robot
    Personal and Social Capability

    Social management
    • Communicate effectively
    • Work collaboratively
    • Make decisions

    Self-management
    • Work independently and show initiative

  • Considering viewpoints – meanings and interpretations: For example – What did this dance make you think about? Did the dance movements remind you of anything? How are you communicating the ideas or intention in this dance?
    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

  • exploring the movements in dances with representatives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, for example, creating movements that represent animals from their region
    • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Imagine possibilities and connect ideas
    • Seek solutions and put ideas into action

    Reflecting on thinking and processes
    • Transfer knowledge into new contexts

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Organise and process information
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas

    Intercultural Understanding

    Recognising culture and developing respect
    • Explore and compare cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices
    • Develop respect for cultural diversity

    Interacting and empathising with others
    • Communicate across cultures

    Personal and Social Capability

    Self-management
    • Work independently and show initiative

    Social management
    • Make decisions
    • Communicate effectively
    • Work collaboratively

  • using expressive skills to engage the audience, for example, looking out to audience and using facial expression
    Personal and Social Capability

    Social management
    • Communicate effectively

    Self-management
    • Express emotions appropriately
    • Work independently and show initiative

    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Reflecting on thinking and processes
    • Transfer knowledge into new contexts

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Seek solutions and put ideas into action
    • Imagine possibilities and connect ideas

    Literacy

    Composing texts through speaking, writing and creating
    • Compose spoken, written, visual and multimodal learning area texts
    • Use language to interact with others
    • Deliver presentations

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

  • presenting their dance in a digital format
    Personal and Social Capability

    Social management
    • Communicate effectively
    • Make decisions
    • Work collaboratively

    Self-management
    • Work independently and show initiative

    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Seek solutions and put ideas into action

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Organise and process information
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas

    Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability

    Creating with ICT
    • Generate solutions to challenges and learning area tasks
    • Generate ideas, plans and processes

    Literacy

    Composing texts through speaking, writing and creating
    • Compose spoken, written, visual and multimodal learning area texts
    • Use language to interact with others
    • Deliver presentations

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

    Visual Knowledge
    • Understand how visual elements create meaning

Respond to dance and consider where and why people dance, starting with dances from Australia including dances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACADAR004 - Scootle )
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
Intercultural Understanding

Interacting and empathising with others
  • Consider and develop multiple perspectives
  • Communicate across cultures

Recognising culture and developing respect
  • Explore and compare cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices
  • Develop respect for cultural diversity

Literacy

Visual Knowledge
  • Understand how visual elements create meaning

Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing
  • Interpret and analyse learning area texts
  • Listen and respond to learning area texts
  • Navigate, read and view learning area texts
  • Comprehend texts

Word Knowledge
  • Understand learning area vocabulary

Critical and Creative Thinking

Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
  • Organise and process information
  • Identify and clarify information and ideas
  • Pose questions

Personal and Social Capability

Self-management
  • Express emotions appropriately

Social management
  • Make decisions

Social awareness
  • Appreciate diverse perspectives

  • identifying where they might experience dance in their lives and communities, for example, considering how dance sustains and communicates cultural knowledge
    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

    Intercultural Understanding

    Recognising culture and developing respect
    • Develop respect for cultural diversity
    • Investigate culture and cultural identity
    • Explore and compare cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices

    Reflecting on intercultural experiences and taking responsibility
    • Reflect on intercultural experiences

    Interacting and empathising with others
    • Communicate across cultures
    • Consider and develop multiple perspectives

    Personal and Social Capability

    Social awareness
    • Appreciate diverse perspectives

    Literacy

    Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing
    • Navigate, read and view learning area texts
    • Interpret and analyse learning area texts

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

  • Considering viewpoints – evaluations: For example – Why are these people dancing? Where are they dancing? Where is this dance from?
  • recognising that dance can show that people have different feelings about the world based on their experiences of the environment and other people
    • Sustainability
    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

    Personal and Social Capability

    Social awareness
    • Appreciate diverse perspectives

    Self-management
    • Express emotions appropriately

    Literacy

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

    Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing
    • Navigate, read and view learning area texts
    • Interpret and analyse learning area texts

    Intercultural Understanding

    Recognising culture and developing respect
    • Investigate culture and cultural identity
    • Explore and compare cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices

    Interacting and empathising with others
    • Consider and develop multiple perspectives
    • Communicate across cultures

  • exploring and responding to dances they make and view, for example, considering what the dance made them think about or how the dance made them feel
    Personal and Social Capability

    Social awareness
    • Appreciate diverse perspectives

    Self-management
    • Express emotions appropriately

    Literacy

    Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing
    • Interpret and analyse learning area texts
    • Navigate, read and view learning area texts

    Composing texts through speaking, writing and creating
    • Compose spoken, written, visual and multimodal learning area texts

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Consider alternatives

    Reflecting on thinking and processes
    • Transfer knowledge into new contexts

  • recognising patterns of movement in dances they make, perform and view using their own words and learnt dance terminology
    Personal and Social Capability

    Self-management
    • Become confident, resilient and adaptable
    • Work independently and show initiative

    Social management
    • Make decisions

    Self-awareness
    • Understand themselves as learners

    Literacy

    Word Knowledge
    • Understand learning area vocabulary

    Composing texts through speaking, writing and creating
    • Compose spoken, written, visual and multimodal learning area texts

    Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing
    • Interpret and analyse learning area texts
    • Navigate, read and view learning area texts

    Critical and Creative Thinking

    Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
    • Identify and clarify information and ideas
    • Organise and process information

    Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
    • Imagine possibilities and connect ideas

    Numeracy

    Recognising and using patterns and relationships
    • Recognise and use patterns and relationships

    Using spatial reasoning
    • Visualise 2D shapes and 3D objects

  • Considering viewpoints – What sort of movements did the dancers perform? What are they wearing? What kind of music are they dancing to?

Foundation to Year 2 Achievement Standards

By the end of Year 2, students describe artworks they make and those to which they respond. They consider where and why people make artworks.

Students use the elements and processes of arts subjects to make and share artworks that represent ideas.

By the end of Year 2, students describe the effect of the elements in dance they make, perform and view and where and why people dance.

Students use the elements of dance to make and perform dance sequences that demonstrate fundamental movement skills to represent ideas. Students demonstrate safe practice.


Foundation to Year 2 Work Sample Portfolios