DanceQ&A by dot point

Aural setting and staging: choosing and using accompaniment, sound and silence, and the physical setting (lighting, set, costume, staging configuration) so they support the movement and the choreographic intention.

Choreographic devices and structures: unison, canon, contrast, climax, highlights, repetition and motif, used within structures such as binary, ternary, rondo, narrative and episodic form to give a dance shape and meaning.

Motif and motif development: creating a movement motif from a stimulus and manipulating it through changes of action, dynamics, space and relationships to generate varied, coherent material.

The choreographic process: responding to a stimulus, generating and selecting movement material, structuring the work, and refining it through improvisation, rehearsal and editing into a complete solo or group dance.

Analysing and interpreting dance: describing the constituent features (movement, dancers, physical setting, aural setting) and interpreting how they combine to create meaning and communicate the choreographic intention.

Critical appreciation of own work: reflecting on and evaluating your own performance and choreography, identifying strengths and areas for improvement and justifying choices against the choreographic intention.

Evaluating professional works: making and justifying critical judgements about professional choreography and performance, set in their cultural, historical and choreographic context, supported by specific evidence.

Conditioning for dance: building strength, flexibility, mobility, stamina and core stability through targeted training, with appropriate nutrition, hydration, rest and recovery to support safe, sustained performance.

Expressive and physical skills: musicality, focus, projection, facial expression, phrasing, sensitivity to other dancers and spatial awareness, combined with extension, isolation, mobility and control, to communicate the choreographic intention.

Performing in a quartet: working as one of four dancers, maintaining spatial relationships, unison and canon, timing, contact and sensitivity to others while sustaining individual technical and expressive quality.

Technical skills and safe practice: posture, alignment, balance, coordination, control, flexibility, mobility, strength and stamina, and the warm-up, cool-down, hydration and floor-awareness habits that keep a dancer safe.

Appalachian Spring (Martha Graham, 1944): an optional set work within the origins of American modern dance, its choreographic intention, structure, Graham technique, aural setting, physical setting and context.

Contextual study of a set work: examining the choreographic intention, constituent features and the cultural, historical, social and production context that shaped a set work, and applying this in analysis and evaluation.

Giselle (Coralli and Perrot, 1841): an optional set work within the Romantic ballet period, its choreographic intention, two-act structure, movement, aural setting, physical setting and Romantic context.

Key practitioners and styles: the choreographers, performers and companies central to the areas of study, their distinctive choreographic styles, influences and signature works.

Rambert (Rambert Dance Company): the compulsory area of study, its history and development, key practitioners and the compulsory set work, including its choreographic features and context.

Rooster (Christopher Bruce, 1991): the compulsory set work within the Rambert area of study, its choreographic intention, structure, movement, aural setting and physical setting, and the context that shaped it.

Singin' in the Rain (Kelly and Donen, 1952): an optional set work within the development of American jazz dance, its intention, key numbers, movement, aural and physical setting, and the role of film.

Sutra (Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, 2008): an optional set work within the independent contemporary dance scene in Britain, its intention, collaboration, structure, movement, physical setting and aural setting.

The development of American jazz dance (1940 to 1975): its roots, key practitioners and works, defining choreographic features, and the cultural and historical context that shaped the style.