A Level Dance

A Level Dance

A-level Dance is a dynamic qualification which encourages students to develop their creative and intellectual capacity, alongside transferable skills such as team working, communication and problem solving. All of these are sought after skills by higher education and employers and will help them stand out in the workplace whatever their choice of career.

This specification reflects both historical and current dance practices, making it more relevant, and inspires a lifelong passion and appreciation for dance.

Component 1

Solo 

Students must develop and apply the knowledge, understanding and skills required to perform as a soloist in the style of a specified practitioner. 

Quartet

The quartet performance is a collaborative choreography by the student, teacher and other dance artists. 

The dance can be performed in any dance style relevant to the defined genres highlighted in Critical Engagement.

Choreography

Students must learn how to create an original piece of group choreography, which lasts for a minimum of three minutes to a maximum of four minutes, for three, four or five dancers, in response to an externally set task.

To translate their dance ideas into choreography, students must develop and apply practical knowledge and understanding of choreographic processes, including:

• researching, developing and experimenting with dance ideas through studio and non-studio investigation

• the rehearsal process.

Component 2

The set works and areas of study provide an appropriate focus for students to critically engage with dance and understand the interrelationship between the creation, presentation and viewing/appreciation of dance. 

The areas of study cover the genres of modern dance, ballet and jazz dance, offering a breadth of study. For the purposes of this specification, these genres are defined as follows.

• Modern dance: a form of theatrical dancing which began in the early 20th century, originally in opposition to the formality of ballet. As the dance form has developed, this distinction has become less evident. The term ‘modern’ has in some cases been replaced with other labels, eg contemporary.

• Ballet: a form of dancing which focuses on the technique and style of the danse d'école, using the port de bras, the five positions of the feet and turn-out of the legs.

• Jazz dance: a form of dancing based on African origins. It focuses on the use of complex rhythms and techniques which include the isolation of body parts. Throughout the 20th century a wide range of jazz dance styles has evolved, eg lyrical jazz dance and urban dance.

Rambert Dance Company 

Set work: Rooster (Christopher Bruce , 1991)

Compulsory area of study: Rambert Dance Company (formerly Ballet Rambert) 1966–2002

Named practitioners

• Glen Tetley (1926–2007)

• Robert North (born 1945)

• Richard Alston (born 1948)

• Siobhan Davies (born 1950)

• Ashley Page (born 1956)

American Jazz Dance

Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)

American jazz dance 1940–1975

For their selected set work students must know and understand:

• the significance of the character of the dance

• the subject matter(eg theme or topic) of the dance and its treatment.

• the form of the dance (eg phrases, sections) and its effectiveness in communicating the subject matter

• the Constituent features of the dance and their relevance in embodying the subject matter

• the choreographic approach (the particular technique, movement style and choreographic style) of the choreographer

• the influences affecting the development of the choreographer

• the origins of the dance

• the relationship between the dance and its context

• the importance of the dance in the development of both the choreographer and the genre

• the similarities and differences between the dance and other works by the choreographer.