IB Dance

Students work both individually and in collaboration to experience the creative process as a way of learning to transform ideas into action through intellectual curiosity and creative thinking. The IB Dance curriculum is designed to help students come to appreciate the value and importance of researching, creating, preparing and presenting, and critically reflecting as modes of learning and communicating. In the process, students gain a richer understanding of themselves, their personal cultural perspectives, and cultural ideas and practices in the global community. The assessments that together comprise the IB exam score are the Composition and Analysis (two for SL dance works composed by the student, along with a written statement to accompany one of the dances), the Dance Investigation (a written report of 1500 words for SL), and the Performance (a combination of solo/duet and group performances).

IB Dance embraces a variety of dance traditions and dance cultures, both current and past, while also encouraging students to look towards the future through the lens of dance. Performance, creative, and analytical skills are developed through the creation and performance of dance and through research and writing assignments. Students come to understand dance as a set of practices with their own histories and theories, and to understand that these practices integrate physical, intellectual, and emotional knowledge, while simultaneously experiencing dance as an individual and collective exploration of the expressive possibilities of bodily movement. The course aims to help students understand and appreciate mastery in various dance styles and to use dance to create a dialogue among cultures.

The SL dance curriculum requires that a student take the three required mods of Advanced Dance Studies & Performance (ARP110F) in both 11th and 12th grades. In addition, all IB Arts students attend the IB Arts Block, which meets for 45 minutes weekly throughout the academic year.

Min-Max Credit Hours: 6.0-10.0