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Grade Nine Through Twelve-Proficient

Visual and Performing Arts: Dance Content Standards.

Note: The proficient level of achievement for students in grades nine through twelve can be attained at the end of one year of high school study within the discipline of dance after the student has attained the level of achievement in dance required of all students in grade eight.


Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills Unique to Dance

Students perceive and respond, using the elements of dance. They demonstrate movement skills, process sensory information, and describe movement, using the vocabulary of dance.

Development of Motor Skills and Technical Expertise
  • 1.1 Demonstrate refined physical coordination when performing movement phrases (e.g., alignment, agility, balance, strength).
  • 1.2 Memorize and perform works of dance, demonstrating technical accuracy and consistent artistic intent.
  • 1.3 Perform in multiple dance genres (e.g., modern, ballet, jazz, tap, traditional/recreational).
Comprehension and Analysis of Dance Elements
  • 1.4 Demonstrate clarity of intent while applying kinesthetic principles for all dance elements.
Development of Dance Vocabulary
  • 1.5 Apply knowledge of dance vocabulary to distinguish how movement looks physically in space, time, and force/energy).

Creating, Performing, and Participating in Dance

Students apply choreographic principles, processes, and skills to create and communicate meaning through the improvisation, composition, and performance of dance.

Creation/Invention of Dance Movements
  • 2.1 Create a body of works of dance demonstrating originality, unity, and clarity of intent.
Application of Choreographic Principles and Processes to Creating Dance
  • 2.2 Identify and apply basic music elements (e.g., rhythm, meter, tempo, timbre) to construct and perform dances.
  • 2.3 Design a dance that utilizes an established dance style or genre.
Communication of Meaning in Dance
  • 2.4 Perform original works that employ personal artistic intent and communicate effectively.
  • 2.5 Perform works by various dance artists communicating the original intent of the work while employing personal artistic intent and interpretation.
Development of Partner and Group Skills
  • 2.6 Collaborate with peers in the development of choreography in groups (e.g., duets, trios, small ensembles).

Understanding the Historical Contributions and Cultural Dimensions of Dance

Students analyze the function and development of dance in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting human diversity as it relates to dance and dancers.

Development of Dance
  • 3.1 Identify and perform folk/traditional, social, and theatrical dances with appropriate stylistic nuances.
  • 3.2 Describe ways in which folk/traditional, social, and theatrical dances reflect their specific cultural context.
History and Function of Dance
  • 3.3 Explain how the works of dance by major choreographers communicate universal themes and sociopolitical issues in their historical/cultural contexts (e.g., seventeenth-century Italy, eighteenth-century France, the women's suffrage movement, dance in the French courts, Chinese cultural revolution).
Diversity of Dance
  • 3.4 Explain how dancers from various cultures and historical periods reflect diversity and values (e.g., ethnicity, gender, body types, and religious intent).

Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works of Dance

Students critically assess and derive meaning from works of dance, performance of dancers, and original works according to the elements of dance and aesthetic qualities.

Description, Analysis, and Criticism of Dance
  • 4.1 Describe how the qualities of a theatrical production contribute to the success of a dance performance (e.g., music, lighting, costuming, text, set design).
  • 4.2 Apply criteria-based assessments appropriate to various dance forms (e.g., concert jazz, street, liturgical).
  • 4.3 Defend personal preferences about dance styles and choreographic forms, using criteria-based assessment.
Meaning and Impact of Dance
  • 4.4 Research and identify dances from different historic periods or cultures and make connections between social change and artistic expression in dance.
  • 4.5 Identify and evaluate the advantages and limitations of viewing live and recorded dance performances.

Connecting and Applying What Is Learned in Dance to Learning in Other Art Forms and Subject Areas and to Careers


Connections and Applications Across Disciplines
  • 5.1 Demonstrate effective use of technology for recording, analyzing, and creating dances.
  • 5.2 Apply concepts from anatomy, physiology, and physics to the study and practice of dance techniques.
Development of Life Skills and Career Competencies
  • 5.3 Explain how dancing presents opportunities and challenges to maintain physical and emotional health and how to apply that information to current training and lifelong habits.
  • 5.4 Explain how participation in dance develops creative skills for lifelong learning and well-being that are interpersonal and intrapersonal.
  • 5.5 Examine the training, education, and experience needed to pursue dance career options (e.g., performer, choreographer, dance therapist, teacher, historian, critic, filmmaker).
Questions: State Board of Education | 916-319-0827 
Last Reviewed: Tuesday, August 2, 2016
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