Introduction to literacy in Dance

This section is focused on literacy in Dance.

The information and resources address the reading and viewing, writing, and creating and speaking and listening modes across the Dance curriculum.

Literacy in Dance and Dance literacy

Literacy in Dance involves:

• understanding, communicating, embodying, and expressing Dance knowledge and practices
• viewing, listening, reading, speaking, and writing practices that students use to access, understand, and communicate Dance knowledge.

Dance literacy refers to the understanding of dance practices across three domains:

• the kinaesthetic domain – exploring movement
• the choreographic domain – creating dances
• the critical domain – making meaning and interpreting dance, from the perspectives of both performer and viewer (Hong, 2000).

Dance literacy is “an integral component that contributes to the total education of a dancer” (Posey, 1998, p. 120).

Literate demands in Dance education

Literacy in dance requires the development of dance language. Dance language refers to forms of verbal and non-verbal communication that connect spoken and written language to corresponding movements.

Verbal forms of dance language include specific linguistic features and structures. Communication and writing in Dance require students to create texts that support and analyse movement.

Verbal forms of Dance language include:

• vocabulary
• symbolic representation
• choreographic codes and conventions
• spoken and written text structures used in Dance (Backer, 2007).

Non-verbal forms of dance language also have specific features including modes of delivery, accents and nuances which are essential to understanding and communication (Stock, 2001).

Non-verbal forms of Dance language include:

• sign language (codified movement systems)
• action language (movements other than recognisable signs or symbols)
• object language (display of cultural, genre and specific terms) (Knapp, 1972).

Texts in Dance are often multimodal and may include images, graphics, film, and written components. Students learn how different modes work together to create meaning.

In Dance, students must:

• draw visual representations of movement
• write recounts and reviews of performances
• identify and explain influences on performances
• analyse and reflect on interpretations of their own work and that of others.

The explicit modelling of the features and structures of specific text types supports students to develop their understanding and communication of dance practices.

Literacy in the Victorian Curriculum: Dance

Literate practices are embedded in the rationale of the Victorian Curriculum: Dance.

Students must engage in active listening, viewing, and reading of multimodal texts, and responding to and interpreting multimodal texts in spoken and written forms.

According to the Victorian Curriculum: Dance, students develop:

• expression of movement with purpose and form
• body awareness and technical and expressive skills to communicate through movement confidently, creatively, and intelligently
• aesthetic, artistic, and cultural understandings of dance in past and contemporary context sits relationship with other arts forms and contributions to cultures and societies
• respect for and knowledge of the diverse purposes, traditions, histories, and cultures of dance by making and responding as active participants and informed audiences.
• questioning of the use of the body and movement as a medium for communication
• the ability to respond to own and others dances by viewing, describing, reflecting, analysing, and evaluating (VCAA, n.d.).

The Victorian Curriculum: Dance is structured around four independent strands, each of which involves making and responding to dance. The 'Respond and interpret' strand emphasises reflecting, questioning, and analysing multimodal texts as choreographer, performer, and audience. Dance students must:

• select and notate movement vocabulary
• refine their work in response to feedback
• evaluate and refine performances.

In Dance, students explore, express, and communicate ideas, and thereby develop their dance knowledge.