Dance

Welcome to the Ridgeway Dance faculty. We pride ourselves on giving our students a wide range of opportunities and training to develop their love for Dance in addition to the many social and health benefits the subject offers. We offer a varied curriculum that explores different styles of dance and provide our students performance opportunities throughout the year.

Welcome to the Dance Department – Head of Performing Arts: Mr D Edmonds

We are very proud of our Dance students at Ridgeway Academy and have high standards and expectations in all aspects of their work. One example of this was in January 2020 our Year 10 GCSE Dancers performed an extremely powerful piece based on the Cambodian Genocide at the Holocaust Memorial Event at the Campus West Theatre, Welwyn Garden City.

Dance helps students develop a number of skills:

Visual appreciation of dance and choreography
Balanced judgement
Information gathering and assessment
Ability to work on your own or as part of a team
Communication

Key Stage 3

Students study a range of units within Key Stage 3 aimed at developing their choreography, performance and appreciation skills. They are introduced to different dance styles including:

Street Dance
Jazz
Contemporary Dance
Capoeira

It also enables students to explore a range of cultural dances such as African, Troika, Bollywood and Russian. Students also gain an understanding of how these have developed over time.

Key Stage 4

Students follow the AQA GCSE Dance course. 60% of the course is practically assessed through three pieces of work, two assessing performance skills and one assessing choreography skills. The remaining 40% of the course is theory based and is assessed in a 1 hour and 30 minute written examination paper.

Through the GCSE course, students develop skills, knowledge and understanding of dance as a choreographer, performer and critic through:

Applying and adapting a wide range of skills and techniques effectively in performing and choreographing dance, including the ability to improve;
Creating dances for a range of purposes and in response to different stimuli;
Developing the ability to analyse, evaluate and appreciate dance;
Students also develop their appreciation of the contribution of dance to their personal and social health, fitness and wellbeing and develop awareness of the range of opportunities and pathways available in dance.

Theatre visits are an integral part of the course giving the students the opportunity to study live professional dance. We also organise professional practitioners to work with our students; choreography and dance workshops, technique classes after school. We have a fantastic partnership with Sandringham School’s Dance Department which gives our students the fantastic opportunity of performing at the Sandpit Theatre.

Students also have the opportunity to study dance as part of their Core PE programme in Years 10 and 11. Other opportunities include Ridgeway Dance Company, the annual Whole-School Musical and the Gym and Dance Display. All provide quality experiences for our students to be involved in and perform.

Yr 10 Dance RA Curriculum Map 2022-23

Yr 11 Dance RA Curriculum Map 2022-23

After school clubs are available: Key Stage Three Dance Club, Musical Theatre club and Ridgeway Dance Company.

Year 9 students who opt for GCSE Dance are invited to attend Contemporary technique dance lessons in the summer term after school.

Annual events include: the Whole-School Musical and the Gym and Dance Display. These provide quality experiences for students to be involved.

Ridgeway Academy | Everybody can Achieve

Herns Lane, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL7 2AF

Telephone: 01707 351350
Absence Line: 01707 351350 Extn: 3315
Email: admin@ridgeway.herts.sch.uk

Alban Academies Trust

Ridgeway Academy is part of the
Alban Academies Trust