Dance

A dual-part programme of pre-professional training and critical engagement in dance. Poet WB Yeats wrote ‘How can we know the dancer from the dance?’ - this question lies at the heart of what you’ll consider, choreograph, experience and perform in Dance A Level. Collaborate with future creatives and emerging artists. Become the ‘mover and shakers’ of tomorrow’s world!

Subject Information

This subject is all about how you create, perform and engage with dance as an art form. It requires you to adopt the mind-set of a professional dancer, choreograph and writer. You work both as an individual and a group. You also engage in set works of dance by acclaimed historical and contemporary choreographers, analysing and evaluating generic motifs and techniques.

A Level Dance at Chesterton aims to empower you with the skill, the knowledge and confidence to be what Deborah Bull CBE calls a “thinking dancer”. The teachers and practitioners you work with will nurture the artistry within you, so that you are a creative leader who might thrive in future relationships at work and in life. The emphasis will be on practical exploration, and we will work together to encounter unforgettable performances, so that individual outcomes and shared experiences reflect our highest hopes.

Those who are considering pursuing dance further, as well as those with a keen interest in theatre, management, health and fitness, therapy, cultural history, and the place of the arts in modern times should definitely consider this. The Dance course here can uplift your outcomes and enhance your lifestyle.

Course Details

The exam board for our programme is AQA. We follow their linear structure, which leads towards two assessed components:

Component 1: Performance and choreography

Here you will perform a solo which is linked to a specified practitioner (eg. Christopher Bruce). This will also be associated with a particular area of study (eg. Rambert Dance Company 1966- 2002) and will last 2 – 3 minutes. Your teacher or a dance artist can direct it.

Additionally, you will dance in a quartet in a performance lasting between 3- 4 minutes. This piece will be based on a dance style studied during the course.

Finally, you will choreograph a group piece, inspired by a stimulus: anything from board game ‘Snakes and Ladders’ to the movement ‘Black Lives Matter’.

Your work here will be assessed through a practical exam towards the end of the two-year programme. The assessment will be out of 80 marks and will count for 50% of the overall A Level grade.

Component 2: Critical engagement

Here you will undertake a written exam. This will assess your knowledge, understanding and critical appreciation of two set works from the syllabus.

One will be a compulsory set work (eg. ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ by Donen and Kelly 1952) linked to an area of study (eg. American Jazz Dance). The other will be an optional set work corresponding with an area of study which can be chosen from a list of four (eg. the romantic period of ballet or the independent contemporary dance scene in Britain from 2000 – current). Your response will incorporate analysis of both technical features and anatomy, as well as artistic evaluation.

The exam lasts 2.5 hours. It is arranged in two sections and it contains 100 available marks. It’s worth the remaining 50% of the overall grade.

In addition to the A Level course, we offer:

  • Opportunities to take part in masterclasses and workshops with celebrated professionals [Chesterton has established links with world famous choreographer Cathy Marston], among others.
  • Chances to perform in extra-curricular performance events and musicals; Chesterton company Achilles’ Heel has toured to Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Oxford University; our most recent NT Connections production at the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton, was professionally reviewed with the critic’s acclaim for its “incredible physical creativity…”].
  • Regular training for dance school auditions with experienced professionals like local dance artist and London Contemporary first-class graduate Amy Holly.
  • Theatre trips to see cutting-edge dance at Sadler’s Wells; the Royal Opera House; the Barbican and The Place in London; as well as smash-hit productions in the West End;
  • More local trips to see innovative and touring companies; Chesterton students have frequently received reduced price tickets at Cambridge Arts Theatre and the Cambridge Junction, including ‘Industry Days’.
  • We plan to extend our annual performers’ retreats to Burwell House and introduce residential visits in which sixth form arts students might collaborate on extended projects.
  • Spaces for rehearsal and performance at Chesterton are plentiful, from the dance studio equipped with a mirror wall, sprung floor and bars; to the newly built Atrium Theatre with Harlequin dance mat [we have also staged performances in promenade and as outdoor productions including sponsored shows at a local luxury housing development!].
  • A level students will also have access to state-of-the-art LED and halogen lighting fixtures in our performance spaces; plus sound equipment and a large store of costumes and props.

 

In summary, Chesterton will offer a boutique-like centre for excellence in dance. We aspire to mirror the best of professional practice and nurture each individual student who forms a vital part of it.

You can expect personalised provision from a team of passionate, experienced and diverse dance practitioners. The ethos will be one which balances hard work with team play, with a vision of dance combining tradition with what’s exciting and new.

Subject Specific Entry Requirements

A good grade in GCSE drama (9 – 6) will provide you with a strong foundation for A Level dance, but is not a necessary entrance requirement here.

Those beginning the course without GCSE dance should have experiences of dance outside of school; and/or you might have good GCSEs in Drama, Art, English Literature, Film Studies, History and/or Languages.

Where could Dance take me?

A Level Dance naturally leads to a degree in Dance or other related subjects, as well as professional diploma training for a future career within the arts sector.

Did you know that for every £1 of salary paid by the arts and culture industry, an additional £2 is generated into the wider economy? Being a professional in performing arts means to play an important role in supporting the UK’s wider commercial creative industries, such as film production, agency management, advertising and design here and overseas.

Dance can additionally lead to other exciting vocations and careers which are similarly fulfilling and lucrative: your teachers will be able to name countless A Level dance students who have become academics, consultants, producers, administrators, journalists, sports therapists and even teachers themselves!

It can also, of course, be the starting point for a successful working life as a dancer or choreographer, as former Chesterton students can currently testify!

So, what’s to lose? Why not become one of them?

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