Study sessions

WHAT MIGHT THE EXAM BE ABOUT?

We never know what questions will be in the exam, it changes every year. However they have given some ideas as to what you must be 'familiar' with for the 2025 exam. Take a look here:
Level 3

For 2025 they have outlined that level 3 students SHOULD be familiar with:
• use of space
• sound / aural design
• motif development. 

Lets look at what exam terminology is used in a Dance exam. Knowing what these words mean will help you understand what the question is asking from you.

-Describe: state what you saw on stage
-Explain: unpack what you saw on stage through a specific focal point
-Discuss: expand and form an argument about what you saw on stage through links to a wider context

HOW TO UNDERSTAND A TWO OR THREE PART QUESTION
The structure of the exams change from year to year and exam writers (usually) use either of the following formats:
-Part A: Describe and Part B: Explain OR Discuss. 
-Part A: Describe; Part B: Explain; Part C: Discuss.

If the question is a two part question that just means that the examiner is wanting you to “Explain” and “Discuss” at the same time. Instead of chunking up your answer, you can provide more fluidity in your writing by linking your explanation to the discussion, with perception.

If the question is a three part question, do not mix up your explain and discuss answers. Plan them out so you do not repeat yourself in each section. 

Study session 1
-learn the basic information

-watch the show
-meet the choreographer

-what is Rotunda about
-choreographic intention
-key ideas in Rotunda
-stimuli

BASIC INFORMATION YOU MUST KNOW:
Title of Dance: Rotunda
Section we are focusing on: Tāwhirimatea
Choreographer: Shona McCullagh (recipient of MNZM & Arts Laureate)
Dance Company: NZDC/New Zealand Dance Company
Date of performance: 2015 (Premiered in 2013, toured to Holland in 2014 and NZ in 2015 to mark the cetenary of WW1)
Dance style: Contemporary

Set design: Joe Bleakley
Costume design: Jane Holland
Musical director: Don McGlashan (recipient of Arts Laureate)
Tāwhirimatea composer: Gareth Farr (recipient of Arts Laureate)
Tupua solo composer: Don McGlashan
Dramaturg: Michelanne Forster
Lighting designer: Paul O'Brien

Dancers:
Tupua Tigafua (Leader)
Carl Tolentino (Thinker)

Chrissy Kokiri (Questioner) 

Gareth Okan (Boy)
Justin Haiu (Clown)

Hannah Tasker-Poland (Girl)

Lucy Lynch (Justin's Sister)

Katie Rudd (Poet/Dreamer) 

ROTUNDA
This first section is going to discuss information related to the entire work.  It is essential to comprehend the whole work.

For your exam, you will only write about one section "Tāwhirimatea." We will learn about this specific section as we go. The later study sessions will focus purely on this section. 

WATCH THE DANCE HERE:

Click here for the trailer
Click here to watch an introduction to Rotunda. Shona explains the title of the work.
Click here to watch a video about the music. It will help you understand the important of the Music in this work.

Click the 3 parts below to watch the full length work "Rotunda"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Click here to watch the section "Tāwhirimatea"

Click the 3 parts below to watch Shona discuss the section "Tāwhirimatea"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3  

OTHER VIDEO RESOURCES
Click here to watch Shona discuss the opening "Tupua's solo"
Click here to watch rehearsal footage of "Tupua's solo"
Click here to watch an interview about the background of Rotunda

Click the 2 parts below to watch footage on the making of Rotunda
Part 1
Part 2  
Click the 2 parts below to watch an interview with Dramaturg: Michelanne Forster
Part 1
Part 2 

WHAT IS ROTUNDA ABOUT?
Rotunda is a full-length dance work created by Shona McCullagh in collaboration with the dancers of the New Zealand Dance Company.

Rotunda celebrates the role brass bands have played in New Zealand society since 1845. It also commemorates the sacrifices and transformation of men and women int he First World War. It remembers the 18,500 New Zealanders who gave their lives and the 106,000 more who departed NZ as innocent, eager, young men and returned home damaged by the horrors of war.

From a population of 1 million, almost half of the 124,211 NZ men who served in W1 were either killed or wounded.

July 28 2014 marked one hundred years since the start of the First World War in Europe, and in the four years following, numerous events took place to observe the centenary of the war.

Rotunda is a dance to remember and honour the enormous courage, bravery and sacrifice of NZ men who served "King and Country" in WW1.  It honours the brave, hard-working stoic women who supported them. The dance shows how war affected our ancestors and continues to affect us a century later. It raises the question: "What has the human race learned since 1914?"
(Rotunda education resource, 2015, p.13)


Click here to read the programme notes from Rotunda

Click here to watch an interview about the background of Rotunda

Rotunda definition: a round building or room, especially one with a dome. New Zealand has numerous rotunda memorials, particularly those commemorating soldiers and bandsmen who served in World War I.

CHOREOGRAPHIC INTENTION OF ROTUNDA
Intention 1: Rotunda is a dance to honour the enormous courage, bravery and sacrifice of the New Zealand men who served “King and Country” in the First World War, and the courageous, hard-working, stoic women who supported them. (Stoic means a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining)

Intention 2: Rotunda portrays the emotional transformation of men and women in the war.

Intention 3: Celebrate the role brass bands have played in New Zealand society since 1845.

Intention 4: to show how Contemporary Dance can be a powerful tool of communication of human experience.

CHOREOGRAPHIC INTENTION OF THE SECTION TĀWHIRIMATEA

Tāwhirimatea portrays the response of men and women to the announcement of war in 1914. The dance represents the energy and atmosphere of a naive young country knocked by the winds of war, on the brink of adventure and huge social change.

We see glimpses of excitement by the men, and concern from the women, but the overarching mood is one of energy, anticipation and preparation.

The name of the dance Tāwhirimatea comes from the title composer Gareth Farr gave to the musical composition which Shona has chosen for the dance. In Māori mythology, Tāwhirimatea is the god of weather and climate, including thunder, lightning, wind, clouds and storms. Shona has interpreted the idea of Tāwhirimatea to mean the swirling, shifting winds of massive social change, as well as the turbulent, changeable climate of Aotearoa.

We can draw a parallel between the dangerously changeable climate of Aotearoa which frequently claims the lives of boaties, trampers and mountaineers, and the great unknown of war and the threat it presents to the peace and stability of a small island nation at the bottom of the globe.

Click the 3 parts below to watch Shona discuss the section "Tāwhirimatea"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3  

KEY IDEAS IN ROTUNDA
There are several important ideas in Rotunda.

Important ideas are themes that you may write about in the exam. A question might ask you to discuss an important idea and connect it to a range of things such as a motif, a design aspect or the use of a dance element.

Click here to learn about the important ideas of Rotunda. Remember to make your own copy of the doc, so you can complete the tasks and revise your work later on. 

STIMULI FOR ROTUNDA

There are a range fo stimuli used to inspire Rotunda. The key stimuli are listed below.
-personal story
-identity
-title/rotundas
-Brass bands
-The First world War


Click here to learn more about the above stimuli in-depth.

Click here to complete revision tasks on the Stimuli.
This is essential to gain a strong foundational understanding of what this work is about.
Tip: You may choose to tackle a different section of this revision task each day.

STIMULI ACTIVITY: CLASS JIGSAW

As a class we are going to learn a bit more about WW1. We are going to split up in to 4 groups and research one of the following topics:

-On the battlefield: trench warfare & conditions for soldiers
-At the front & medical corps
-Women during the war & conscientious objectors
-Effects of war: shell shock & impact at home

Click here for some starter points and resources to help with your research

We will then upload all of our work here to be part of your future revision notes.

The aim of this is to enhance your research and understanding of the First World War.

Study session 2
-revision from last session

Tāwhirimatea:
-watch the section again & Shona discussing it
-choreographic intention
-response task

-practice questions

Revision

• Click here to complete a revision worksheet on the information from study session 1 (make your own copy of the document).  If you do not know any of the answers, then go back to study session 1 to find the answers.
  
  

• Click here to complete a reflection worksheet. This is all about forming an opinion on the dance, and trying to use 'greater thinking' to relate it to wider-world issues and ideas.
  
  

• Reflection task: (complete in your notes)
  -can you remember what the choreographic intentions are?
  -can you remember at least three different themes ideas of the entire work?
  -can you remember the five main stimuli for this work?
  
  If you could not answer all of these, please relook at the documents below:
  -choreographic intentions
  -themes/key ideas  
  -stimuli 

Tāwhirimatea

• Click here to watch the section "Tāwhirimatea"
  
  

• Click the 3 parts below to watch Shona discuss the section "Tāwhirimatea"
  Part 1
  Part 2
  Part 3  
  
  

• Click here to complete an initial response task to Tāwhirimatea

Choreographic intention of Tāwhirimatea

• Reflection task: (complete in your notes)
  -Click here to rewatch Shona discussing the choreographic intention for Tāwhirimatea
  -Collect a list of key words and phrases that stand out to you from the interview
  
  Consider Shona's starting question for Tāwhirimatea: "If war has been declared, how would people react then, not now, but then?"
  -Bullet point some facts about how people in 1914 reacted to the announcement NZ would follow Britain into war.
  -What was involved in preparing for war? What needed to happen?
  
  You may need to research to find your answers...
  
  

• Choreographic intention: Male and Female response to war
  This is a point of discussion for this piece. It is the choreographic intention....  this should trigger you to have an opinion, a reaction... how do the male and female responses differ? What is the point of us considering this?
  
  Click here to complete a short exploration task of this part of the choreographic intention "the response of men and women to the announcement of war." 

WRITING PRACTICE

• Read an exemplar exam from the last page here
  
  

• Complete a practice exam here. Get your work checked by the teacher. You can email or hand it in person. You can email or hand it in person. You may only complete 1 or 2 questions, still seek feedback!
  
  

• Extension task:
  Click here and complete question 9 and question 11

Study session 3
-Roles of the dancers

Structure of the whole work:
-Accessibility
-Narrative structure
-Literal & Abstract movement
-Tupua's solo (opening of the entire work)

-Structure of Tāwhirimatea
-What is unity?
-Climax of Tāwhirimatea

-Key theme and ideas of Tāwhirimatea

-Revision task

ROLES OF THE DANCERS

• Click here and watch from 13.20min to listen to Shona explain the characters
  
  

• Click here to study the roles of the dancers. Who are they? What do they symbolise? What are the relationships?
   

• After completing the activity above consider:
  Why do you think Shona chose Justin to be the dancer who lost his life on the battlefield?
  Write your answer in your revision notes

UNITY: AN ESSENTIAL PART OF STRUCTURE FOR TĀWHIRIMATEA

Unity is an important principal in choreography. Unity means the dance feels like a whole with all movements contributing to the idea and intention of the dance. 

All parts of the dance - movement, choreography, sound, costume, light and staging - are unified or integrated into one whole.

A unified choreography is the product of a number of factors, including:

• Developing and Resolution of ideas (this is explored in study session 4 below)

• Repetition and Variation (this is explored in study session 4 below)

• Contrast

• Climax (discussed below) 

Reflect:

How did the dance show unity (connection as a whole) through movement, sound, relationship and space elements?

Which choreographic devices (repetition, variation, contrast, climax) helped the dance feel complete or whole?

CLIMAX IN TĀWHIRIMATEA

Shona describes the canonned lifting duet as the culmination, or climax, of Tāwhirimatea, before the coda at the end.

The climax is the most intense, exciting or important point in a dance.

Climax may created by:

1. Progression in music or lighting

2. Contrast with previous sections of the dance

3. A steady progression or increase in the dance elements e.g. increasing:

-size of movement

-quantity of energy

-amount of space used (eg progressing from non-locomotor to locomotor movement, personal space to general space)

-tempo

-unison (progressing from non-unison)

KEY IDEAS IN TĀWHIRIMATEA

The overarching themes of the Tāwhirimatea section are:

-the emotional responses to war of each gender i.e. gendered response to war

-the relationship between the genders

From these 2 themes, 7 key ideas emerge - these are explored in the document linked below.

For the exam, you should choose 2-3 key ideas that you really understand, and see in the dance. That way you can use these in your exam answers. 

Remember a question might ask you to discuss an important idea and connect it to a range of things such as a motif, a design aspect, the use of a dance element, structure, use of space... literally anything!

1. Click here to learn the key ideas in TĀWHIRIMATEA.  These are:

Key idea 1: Changing social climate
Key idea 2: Constant change
Key idea 3: Relationship between Women

Key idea 4: Repressed emotion
Key idea 5: Loss of personal control/loss of innocence
Key idea 6: Into the unknown

Key idea 7: Separation of Genders & Women in war

2. Click here to remind yourself about the key ideas in the WHOLE work of Rotunda.

REVISION TASK

We have focused on the structure and key ideas explored in Tāwhirimatea.

Click here  to complete this revision worksheet on both. Remember to make your own copy or copy/paste in to your revision notes. If you cannot complete this worksheet, please re-do study session 3. 

Study session 4
-revision: literal & abstract movement

MOVEMENT IN TĀWHIRIMATEA
-2 key sequences (plus 3 additional)
-4 gestural motifs

DEVELOPMENT IN TĀWHIRIMATEA
-development of motifs
-developing ideas + linking to motifs
-developing ideas + linking to duets
-resolving ideas: partial and full resolutions

REVISION TASK

Go back to study session 3 and revise what the difference between literal and abstract movement is.

When you are writing your exam, it is a good idea to explain if the movement you are describing is literal and abstract:
-If it is literal it is most likely one of the 4motifs, which have a clear meaning.
-If it is abstract, it means the movement could have multiple interpretations, and you are trying to convince the reader of yours. 

THE 2 KEY SEQUENCES

There are 2 key sequences in this section that I would talk about:

1. The Fibonacci sequence

2. The Ostinato sequence
   
   

Click here to revise when these sequences happen, what they look like and the meaning behind them.
Both are repeated at least twice in the section, which tells us the sequence is trying to communicate something to us.

There are 3 other sequences that you could consider discussing:

1.  Mens sequence

2. Womens sequence

3. Walking pattern

Click here to revise when these sequences happen, what they look like and the meaning behind them.
All 3 of these are repeated at least twice each and again, have specific meaning attached to them.

Tip:
If you are going to discuss the walking pattern as a key sequence, ensure you do not cross in to information about the 4 motifs (as these are performed whilst the women walk at one point). Instead, just focus on the actual walking patterns the women do before the motifs, and then the repeated walking sequence at  6.11min.

THE 4 GESTURAL MOTIFS

There are 4 motifs in the section of Tāwhirimatea. They are gestural, which means they are literal movement that has a specific meaning.

The 4 motifs are:
1. Pointing motif
2. Silent scream
3. Open palm
4. Thigh slap

Click here to learn about the original versions, and how some are "developed" through the work

RESOLVING IDEAS
1.  Partial Resolution
2. Full Resolution

Two sets of ideas are developed and resolved in Tāwhirimatea:

1. The emotional responses to war of each gender
2. The relationship between the genders

1.Partial resolution:

1. The emotional responses of the genders are resolved in the climax of the cannoned lifting duets.
We see acceptance on the part of the women, courage by the men, and commitment to each other to move forward together, despite the fact they will be on different sides of the globe.

As discussed in the structure document here the cannoned duet is the climax, but be aware it is also a partial resolution as it addressed "the emotional responses to war of each gender."

It is a partial resolution because some of the developed ideas are "settled" and find closure, but the dance is not concluded yet.

The cannoned duet resolves ideas about the community's emotional responses to war. We have seen:

-Men's naivety and blind enthusiasm (Into the unknown section)

-Women rally strength and support (Pointing phrase)

-Fear of losing Justin, premonition (Lucy's solo)
-Community faces invisible danger (Directed focus)

The cannoned duets resolve the tensions and uncertainties we have seen so far in a demonstration of commitment and support. With these duets the women accept the men are leaving and let go. The men commit to their womenfolk before venturing courageously forth into the unknown.

2. Full resolution:

2. The coda seems to resolve the relationship between the genders. We have seen the women's sequence and men's sequence performed seperately. In the coda the two sequences are performed simultaneously to achieve resolution.

After intertwining and connecting physically in the cannoned duets, the dancers return to performing in gender groups, but sharing the same space. It is as if they are co-existing, negotiating around each others needs. On stage, the dancers negotiate their way around the others physical needs for space, as required per each sequence. This seems to parallel the idea of working around each others logistical needs as they prepare for the men to leave.

In the final moment the women roll stage right as the men travel stage left and Tupua jumps powerfully over Katie. This moment portrays the physical seperation of the genders, a final splitting of the gorups. In the narrative of the dance this suggests the departure of the men. 

The dancers run across the stage to stand in a circle facing outward, each individually facing their future, knowing they have the commitment of the community behind them. 

Reflection:

-How are gender responses to war resolved emotionally and physically in Tāwhirimatea?
-How is the relationship between genders resolved?

Study session 5
-revision tasks

DESIGN ASPECT: SOUND/MUSIC (AURAL DESIGN)
-describing the music
-features of the music
-instruments
-dopplers

-musical summary

-relationship between music & movement (musicality, dynamics, unity)

-form an opinion on aural design

REVISION TASKS

So far we have learnt some important details about:
-motifs and key sequences
-the development of these motifs
-the development of key ideas
-the resolution of key ideas
-choreographic intention
-dancers and their roles

Click here to complete 3 short revision tasks on these things.

Remember, this is your chance to practice writing in your own words... to explain your understanding and point of view with clear evidence from the dance. 

DESIGN ASPECTS OVERVIEW

Shona collaborated with a team of designers to create Rotunda. Shona decided the vision and intention for the dance and the design team contributed their thoughts and ideas. From those offered, Shona selected ideas which would best support her vision/intention for the dance.

The design team included:
Jane Holland - Costume Designer
Don McGlashan - Musical Director
Gareth Farr -  Composer of Tāwhirimatea
Paul O'Brian - Lighting Design
Joe Bleakey - Set Design
Michelanne Forster - Dramaturg (someone who gudies the choreographer through the creative process, supporting them to clarify ideas and construct narrative) 

Study session 6
-Other design aspects:

-example of how to "describe" a movement

-how to draw & annotate your work

OTHER DESIGN ASPECTS

Click here to learn about the costume, props, stage design and lighting

Click here to complete essential revision questions on there. 

HOW TO DRAW & ANNOTATE

Study session 7
-QUIZLET & KAHOOT

-Critic reviews

-Extra practice questions

-Extra resources

CRITIC REVIEWS

• It is important to quote critics in your work when you are answering a "discuss" questions.

• Make sure the quote is relevant to the point you are making.

• Make sure you mentioned who wrote it and where it was published.

• Using a quote can help press your own point -it shows you have researched the work, which it turns shows you must have a deep understanding of it. Yes you need your own opinion/perspective, but having references to back up your ideas is what creates a Merit & Excellence level answer.

Click here for a list of Theatrereviews. I recommend the one by Sheree Bright
Click here for the review by Clothesline
Click here for the review on Dancetabs

 Any questions or concerns? Please contact your teacher:
Miss Samuel: jsamuel@ormiston.school.nz