Dance

The Dance curriculum at HAB is designed to expand a student’s creativity through knowledge of dance as an art form, practice of performance, creation of choreography and cultural appreciation of professional dance works.

Dance in education has shown that dance challenges conceptions of intelligence and it can enrich the culture of the students by cultivating collaboration, respect and compassion.

Students study a cumulative curriculum, developing core disciplinary knowledge and the skills required to produce choreography and performance. The curriculum is planned cumulatively so that each year students add layers to this knowledge to further deepen their understanding of the skills and how to apply them successfully.

Students develop their substantive knowledge of Dance as an art form across historical, cultural and social contexts through exploration of dance practitioners and styles such as Merce Cunningham, Frederick Ashton, Matthew Bourne, Kate Prince, Akram Khan, contemporary, ballet, hip-hop, Indian and samba dance.

This range of dance practitioners allows students to interact with different dance styles, cultures and choreographic approaches, affording them the opportunity to explore the diverse offering Dance as an Art form has to offer within a creative world. They use this disciplinary knowledge to fuel their creativity and develop physical, technical and expressive skills to enable them to creatively problem solve, work effectively with others and produce dance performances and choreographies.

The curriculum develops hinterland knowledge through a working practice of movement experience. Students will acquire core knowledge of the human body through practice and performance, developing technical and physical skills their bodies need to produce high quality outcomes. Students build knowledge of how to develop and apply these skills to a range of stimuli and different dance styles through their curriculum experience at HAB.

The ambition is for students of HAB to leave with an appreciation for creativity, built on a strong foundation of practical experience, that enables them to apply their knowledge and skills in any job role. 

The curriculum plan for all years can be downloaded below.