Thrive – High School Incursion Program

Stage 5 & 6 Dance Incursion Program

Designed by Melanie Palomares with Dance Makers Collective

Thrive is Dance Makers Collective’s workshop program for high school students to gain further skills in performance and/or composition.

STAGE 5 & 6

This workshop program is designed as a series of 2 workshops tied to outcomes in the Stage 5 & 6 Dance Curriculum. Each workshop is approximately two hours in duration, tailored to your school timetable needs, and targeted for students who are studying Dance from Year 9 to Year 12, and for respective teachers delivering this course.

Teachers can opt for a full-day of workshops or participate in one of the two areas of Performance or Composition.

Program 1: Performance-based Workshop

‍Year 9/10 Syllabus Outcomes Addressed
‍5.1.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.3.2

‍Year 11 Syllabus Outcomes Addressed
‍P1.1, P1.2, P1.3, P1.4, P2.1, P2.2, P2.3, P2.4, P2.5, P2.6

‍Year 12 Syllabus Outcomes Addressed
H1.1, H1.2, H1.3, H2.1, H2.2, H2.3

This Performance workshop will run for 2.5-3 hours (which can be tailored to each school’s start/finish times prior) with a scheduled short break.

In this workshop, students will participate in a technique-based dance class embedded with a range of body skills aligned with the syllabus. Emphasis will be placed on learning exercises which incorporate multitude of skills with varying complexity.

The second half of the workshop will focus more specifically on Kinaesthetic awareness and Temporal and Dynamic variation. Students will be facilitated through image-based exercises and experiential learning in order to develop their kinaesthetic awareness and apply this to their own Performance. They will also learn repertoire and explore first-hand, the temporal and dynamic variation within this choreography.

Students should gain a deeper understanding of how to apply these aspects of Performance to their own Performance works.

‍Sample Performance Workshop

• Contemporary Technique Class based on breath and release
• Learning repertoire/extended movement sequence
• Manipulating this sequence through different qualities of movement
• Musicality & Timing Exploration
• Discussion/sharing of experiences with links to performance quality & kinaesthetic awareness
• Break
• Performance quality workshop based on focus and lines of energy
• Sharing of experiences
• Composition task to develop kinaesthetic awareness & group spatial awareness

Program 2: Composition-based Workshop

Year 9/10 Syllabus Outcomes Addressed
‍5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.3.3

Year 11 Syllabus Outcomes Addressed
‍P1.1, P1.2, P1.3, P1.4, P3.1, P3.2, P3.3, P3.4, P3.5, P3.6, P3.7

‍Year 12 Syllabus Outcomes Addressed
H1.1, H1.2, H1.3, H3.1, H3.2, H3.3, H3.4

This Composition workshop will run for 2.5-3 hours (which can be tailored to each school’s start/finish times prior) with a scheduled short break.

In this workshop, students will participate in a series of Composition tasks which focus on the organisation of movement in relation to a chosen intent. Students will be facilitated through these tasks by learning choreography and then altering this material to generate new movement. Emphasis will be placed on qualities of movement (dynamics) and motif development into phrases and organisation of sequences.

Students should gain a deeper understanding of how to generate, organise and arrange movement in a more personalised way, and apply this to their own Composition works.

Sample of Composition Workshop

• Contemporary Technique Class focusing on qualities of movement & musicality
• Composition tasks based a one of the taught exercises, focusing specifically on dynamic qualities
• Partner composition task to establish relationships and develop spatial awareness
• Discussion/sharing of these experiences
• Break
• Group composition tasks with focus on aspects of Time
• Student observation during this task
• Discussion/sharing of experiences
• Link to Performance quality & how to apply these skills to their own Composition