VCE Dance

VCE Dance involves students as performers, choreographers and audience. It provides
students with the opportunity to discover the ways in which movement can be used to communicate and express creative ideas. In VCE Dance, students will learn about the dancer’s body and practices to safely develop physical skills through systematic and regular dance training. They will also develop and refine their choreographic skills to create and perform their own solo and group dance works.

Students will learn new movement vocabulary and analyse dance works created by celebrated Australian and International choreographers. They will analyse ways that ideas are communicated through dance and how dance styles, traditions and works can influence dance practice, the arts, artists and society more generally.

VCE Dance Units 1, 2, 3 & 4 are taught by a VCE Dance Registered Provider.

Requirements

  • Students must have been learning dance for at least 4 years. It is recommended that students
    complete Unit 1 & 2 prior to commencing Units 3 & 4.
  • To study Units 1 & 2 students must be in Year 10 or 11 at Secondary School.
  • Students must attend a minimum of 90% of enrolled classes. Medical certificates are required if
    absent.
  • Students must wear appropriate dance wear to all classes.
  • Students must be available for all SAC dates as set out at the start of the year.
  • 2-hour face-to-face workshop combined practical and theoretical per week during school terms
  • 3 hours per week of dance technique classes at a dance studio during school terms
  • 2-3 hours of work during allocated free periods at school per week during school terms
  • 1.5 hours of homework per week
  • Term 1 + 2 Holidays: 3-4 hours homework
  • Term 3 Holidays: 8 hours homework and a Trial Examination

VCE Dance Teacher

Vanessa Johnson began her dance training at 2 years of age at Sefra Burstin Dance Studios. There she received technical dance training in a wide range of styles as well as completing all Examinations in ATOD Ballet, Jazz and Tap. In 2008, Vanessa moved to Ballarat to study at Federation University completing her Bachelor of Arts (Music Theatre). Throughout this time Vanessa taught at several dance schools across Ballarat and Melbourne as well as working for Federation University, teaching Dance, and was part of the audition panel for the Bachelor of Arts Music Theatre Course.

Vanessa completed her Master of Teaching (Dual Strand; Primary Classroom and Secondary;
Dance, Drama and Theatre Studies) in 2012 and since then has worked for Hampton
Park Secondary College and Sacred Heart Girls’ College. She is currently a House
Coordinator and Dance/Drama Teacher at Mentone Grammar where she has been
teaching for 10 years.

Vanessa is a critical friend of The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
Authority (ACARA) and has been working with The Victorian Curriculum and
Assessment Authority (VCAA) in 2023 to review the F-10 Dance Curriculum for Victoria.
Vanessa is an experienced VCE Dance Performance and Written Assessor.