VAPA - Dance

Students learn basic classical dance techniques and terminology associated with the traditional class structure of ballet. Public performances may serve as a culmination of specific instructional goals. Students may be required to attend and/or participate in rehearsals and performances outside the school day to support, extend, and assess learning in the classroom. Students in this class may need to obtain (e.g., borrow, purchase) appropriate footwear and/or dance attire from an outside source.

Students develop intermediate-level classical dance techniques and terminology associated with the traditional class structure of ballet. Public performances may serve as a culmination of specific instructional goals. Students may be required to attend and/or participate in rehearsals and performances outside the school day to support, extend, and assess learning in the classroom. Students in this class may need to obtain (e.g., borrow, purchase) appropriate footwear and/or dance attire from an outside source.

Students broaden their classical dance techniques and terminology associated with the traditional class structure of ballet. Public performances may serve as a culmination of specific instructional goals. Students may be required to attend and/or participate in rehearsals and performances outside the school day to support, extend, and assess learning in the classroom. Students in this class may need to obtain (e.g., borrow, purchase) appropriate footwear and/or dance attire from an outside source.

Students are challenged in their application of classical dance techniques and terminology associated with the traditional class structure of ballet. Students may have an opportunity to explore contemporary ballet concepts of movement, as well. Public performances may serve as a culmination of specific instructional goals. Students may be required to attend and/or participate in rehearsals and performances outside the school day to support, extend, and assess learning in the classroom. Students in this class may need to obtain (e.g., borrow, purchase) appropriate footwear and/or dance attire from an outside source.

Students in this year-long, entry-level course, designed for those having no prior dance instruction, learn foundational skills in two or more dance styles. Their development of fundamental dance technique is enriched and enlivened through the study of works by a variety of diverse artists, developing genre-specific movement vocabulary and dance terminology, and building knowledge and skills related to somatic practices, dance composition, analysis of effort and outcomes, dance, history and culture, collaborative work, and rehearsal and performance protocols. This course may require students to participate in extra rehearsals and performances beyond the school day.

Students in Dance Techniques II, a year-long course, build on previously acquired knowledge and fundamental technical skills in two or more dance forms, focusing on developing the aesthetic quality of movement in the ensemble and as an individual.

Students in this year-long, intermediate-level course, designed for dancers who have mastered the basics in two or more dance forms, build technical and creative skills with a focus on developing the aesthetic quality of movement in the ensemble and as an individual.

Students in this year-long, advanced dance techniques class build on skills learned in previous dance classes to improve their performance in two or more dance styles. Students perform sequences of increasing complexity to advance their technical skills. Two or more forms, genres, styles, or techniques of dance (e.g., modern, ballet, jazz, folk, tap, hip-hop, ballroom) must be addressed in this course; aerobics instruction is not suitable for this course. This course may require students to participate in extra rehearsals and performances beyond the school day. Through the application, analysis, evaluation, and creation of complex ideas that are often abstract and multi-faceted, students are challenged to think and collaborate critically on the content they are learning.