IB Dance

The 22-23 school year welcomed our second cohort of IB Dance students at Westwood High School. IB Dance is a group 6 elective for rising juniors. As it is a two-year course, dancers will not be able to join their senior year. Dance is offered at both the SL and HL levels. 

The Diploma Programme dance curriculum aims for a holistic approach to dance, and embraces a variety of dance traditions and dance cultures -- past, present, and looking towards the future. Dancers will be challenged as performers and creators, as well as dance historians and critics. 

Currently, IB Dance is stacked with Modern/Contemporary dance. Through teacher and counselor approval, it can also be conducted as an independent study so that students can participate in any dance team that Westwood offers, while layering their additional IB Dance studies on top of their team responsibilities. The group will meet during flex for lessons, discussions, and check-ins, but the majority of the work will be self-guided. Students considering IB Dance should be confident in their ability to manage their time and workload independently. 

The IB Dance course work is extensive. Dancers are encouraged to self-screen and reflect honestly if they have enough time to commit to the assessment components. Here are the assessment components for HL Dance and SL Dance respectively. 

The nature of the course is subject to change. As our program grows, IB Dance may eventually become a stand-alone course if there is enough interest to merit this.