Curriculum secondary learners - Writing about dance

Writing about dance

Overview

To write well in dance you need knowledge about the subject. Knowledge about dance can be gained by:

- Reading - Investigating a variety of dance books, magazines, essays and articles on dance will help develop your general dance knowledge and vocabulary.
- Watching - Exposure to a variety of dance works through video/DVD and live performances can also increase your knowledge of dance. YouTube and social media is an excellent way to source dance material and watch excerpts of the choreographers’ works.
- Doing - By dancing and creating dances we develop a further understanding of the technical aspects of the dance, the choreographic process and how a work is created.
- Listening - Learning from others, such as your teachers, peers and dance instructors, will give you an insight into dance.
- Discussing - Talking about your work, the works of others and asking questions will help you gain further knowledge.
- Evaluating and analysing - Thinking critically about the works of others and your own material will also enhance your knowledge about dance and enable you to become familiar with the vocabulary, the process and the product.
- Asking - Questioning enables you to establish a better understanding as to 'why' and 'how' choreographers have made certain artistic choices.
- Writing critically - In critical analysis, you need to evaluate the work. You would be required to judge the merit or worth of the dance in relation to its effectiveness, and why you feel this. You would justify your opinions with evidence from the work, using specific examples.
- Writing descriptively - When writing descriptively you need to provide detailed and relevant examples from the work using technical and descriptive language. You should describe relevant components of the work such as motifs, the elements of dance, visual elements and form/structure.
- Writing reflectively - You would be required to suggest how the work delivers meaning. What ideas, feelings and images are expressed? What is your interpretation of the work? What is your interpretation based on?

Good writing

To write well in dance you need to be clear in your expression (so we know what you’re talking about by reading your words and meaning). This comes with practice and by reading the works of good authors and speakers. Ensure you use coherent and well structured sentences.

Writing about dance is about finding the relationships that help you to understand what dance is about. It is important for us to understand the why – why particular choices in movement, visual and aural aspects have been made. In order to do this you must develop and explore the relationships and connections in:

the use of the elements of dance
the contribution of the dancers, set, lighting and music
the context of the work
what has inspired the choreographer
the impact of the dance on the audience.

What makes a good essay?

Dance is a visual medium that explores space, time and dynamics in many ways. Relationships and connections are made in order to communicate the choreographer’s intent/concept.

Understanding the question

Understanding the question is probably one of the most difficult tasks. It means being able to decipher what the question is asking you to do.

Therefore it is important to:

read and reread the question
underline the keywords in the question
define the meanings of these keywords so you are clear about the question
keep your response relevant.

Example question: Discuss how Jiří Kylián has used space to communicate the intent of his work 'Sarabande'?

Keywords – discuss, Jiří Kylián, space, intent and 'Sarabande'.

You will need to ensure that you discuss ALL of the key words of the question in your response. Only addressing one or a couple of them will mean that your response will not adequately address the question.

Tips for writing a good essay

Write some notes or points that may help you to develop further ideas and may help develop the answer in logical form. Continue to refer to the question.
Select specific movement examples from the work that support the statements you make. Between two and five is sufficient.
Each paragraph is a detailed explanation of the how you are going to answer the question. Ensure that there is only one idea per paragraph with evidence and examples from specific work/s.
The points raised should be valid, in that they are going to answer the question, and will demonstrate the ‘how’ and ‘why’.
Avoid making sweeping, generalised or vague statements about the work. Be specific in describing the movement and the meaning. Use descriptive and technical dance vocabulary and use examples from the work or work/s to support your answer.
If you make a statement, support the statement with specific examples from the work/s.
At the end of each paragraph, make sure you link your statements back to the question specifically.
The marking guidelines ask for a structured response, not specifically an essay type response with an introduction, body and conclusion. The way in which you structure your response should be coherent and cohesive rather than a random discussion of ideas.

Developing sentences and paragraphs

A sentence should be well structured and to the point. It should contain the point that you wish to further discuss in order to answer the question and be supported by relevant example/s from the work.

Remember you must give examples of movement (using technical and descriptive vocabulary) and suggest how and why the movement communicates intent.

Familiarise yourself with the glossary of terms from the back of the syllabus. This may aid in your understanding of the terminology used in the syllabus and therefore the terminology used in the question.

A paragraph is a group of sentences about the same idea. A new idea starts a new paragraph. The S.T.E.E.L method is useful in constructing clear paragraphs to answer the questions.

Use the Elements of dance, movement, the compositional process and safe dance practice posters as a revision tool.

NSW Department of Education (2021) Dance [website], accessed 07/03/22.

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