What do you need to know about Rambert as the compulsory area of study and set work?
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.
How AQA A-Level Dance treats Rambert as the compulsory area of study and set work for Component 2: the company's history and development, its key practitioners and works, and how to analyse and evaluate the set work in context.
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What this dot point is asking
For AQA Component 2 you study two areas of study: the compulsory one is Rambert (one of the longest-running and most influential British dance companies), and within it a compulsory set work. You must know the company's history and development, its key practitioners, and be able to analyse and evaluate the set work in context. The exam rewards detailed analysis of the set work itself; company history is the context that supports that analysis, not a substitute for it.
The company and its development
The company's development is part of what you study: its origins under Marie Rambert, its early base in classical ballet, its record of giving emerging British choreographers a platform, and its gradual shift toward modern and contemporary dance. Understanding where the company sat stylistically at the time the set work was made helps you read the work's movement style and aims, because a work made during the company's contemporary phase will reflect that direction rather than a classical-ballet aesthetic.
Studying the set work
Treat the set work as a case study in applying the appreciation skills: describe precisely, interpret meaning, judge effectiveness, and root your judgement in the company's and the work's context. The most common weakness in this question is candidates who know a great deal about Rambert as a company but cannot describe specific moments of the set work; the marks are in the detailed, evidenced analysis of the work, with company context used to explain its features.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20186 marksDescribe the development of Rambert from its founding to a contemporary company, and explain why this development matters for studying the set work.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark answer rewards an accurate account of the company's development plus its relevance to the set work.
- Founding and early identity
- Founded by Marie Rambert, the company began with a base in classical ballet and a strong record of nurturing British choreographers.
- Shift toward contemporary work
- Over time it moved away from a purely classical-ballet base toward modern and contemporary dance, commissioning new work from a range of choreographers.
- Why it matters
- Explain that this evolving identity shapes the style and context of the set work: knowing the company's direction at the time the work was made helps you understand its movement style and aims.
Markers reward an accurate developmental arc and an explicit link to interpreting the set work, not just company facts.
AQA 20218 marksDiscuss what a candidate must be able to do with the compulsory set work in Component 2, beyond knowing facts about Rambert as a company.Show worked answer →
An 8-mark "discuss" wants the distinction between company knowledge and set-work skill argued.
- Beyond company facts
- Knowing Rambert's history is necessary context but not the assessed skill; the exam rewards analysis of the set work itself.
- Required skills
- Analyse the constituent features (movement, dancers, physical setting, aural setting) with precise terminology; interpret how they communicate the choreographic intention; evaluate effectiveness; and place all of this in cultural, historical and choreographic context.
- The link
- Discuss that company history becomes useful only when used as context to explain features of the set work. Strong answers argue that detailed, evidenced analysis of the set work, supported by Rambert context, is what scores, and warn against answers that recite company history instead.
Related dot points
- 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.
How AQA A-Level Dance expects you to study a set work in context: its choreographic intention and constituent features, plus the cultural, historical, social and production context that shaped it, applied in Component 2 analysis and evaluation.
- Key practitioners and styles: the choreographers, performers and companies central to the areas of study, their distinctive choreographic styles, influences and signature works.
How AQA A-Level Dance expects you to know the key practitioners of your areas of study: their distinctive choreographic styles, influences, signature works, and how their style shaped the works you analyse for Component 2.
- 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.
How AQA A-Level Dance treats the development of American jazz dance (1940 to 1975) as an optional area of study for Component 2: its roots, key practitioners and works, defining features, and the cultural and historical context that shaped it.
- 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.
How AQA A-Level Dance Component 2 expects you to evaluate professional works: making justified critical judgements about choreography and performance, placing works in their cultural and historical context, and supporting judgements with specific evidence.
- 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.
How AQA A-Level Dance Component 2 expects you to analyse the constituent features of a dance (movement, dancers, physical setting, aural setting) and interpret how they combine to make meaning and communicate the choreographic intention.
Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Dance (7237) specification — AQA (2016)