HSC dance provides students with a unique opportunity to study dance as an art form.
As dance students you will study three interrelated components: performance, composition and appreciation and develop the understanding of dance practice. The study of dance requires a combination of skills.
You need to have the critical ability to combine performance aspects with composition and appreciation.
It's all about the making and performing of movement as well as appreciating its meaning.
So what are the secrets to success in HSC dance we asked students from 2017 Selected For Callback, the showcase of exemplary HSC dance performance, for their advice.
The creativity and practical nature of dance were the things that made it enjoyable.
It was just incredible to be able to follow my passion at school and do it for my HSC.
It's practical I love being able to move around being able to Say something and have a conversation without actually speaking.
Agency dance has three compulsory areas; core performance, core composition, core appreciation as well as a major work.
You need to make the most of your strong points to perform at your best in your core performance. And if you choose major performance as your major work.
You've got to understand that what you can do other people can't do so you need to use what you can do and show it to the best of your ability.
So don't go putting in things that you're not necessarily strong at just because you want to do it because somebody else is doing it.
All of your performances and compositions require perseverance in the creative process. For me it's been a challenge just staying patient with myself and Working to my body and my strengths and weaknesses and not paying attention to what other people do and comparing myself.
One of the best people to guide you through the process is your teacher.
Your teacher's are really helpful in core performance in that they can showcase like your best parts about you as a dancer.
But they also like allow you to change and divert from the dance to work with your limitations.
Your teacher will also help you create a major study performance that works for you and your body.
The most important aspect of major performance is that you have a strong interpretation of your intent.
At the time of the choreography I was working a lot with my teacher and that really did help me to pinpoint and choreograph a dance that really shows off my qualities as opposed to just pushing me and doing the generic style.
Dance performances are physically demanding and you need to develop your strength flexibility and fitness.
The challenging parts of core performance was sustaining my endurance and stamina because it's very technical and you have to hold on to your core to be able to withstand some balances and elevation.
In terms of fitness because you have to do a lot of dances I'd say do different types of training.
Don't just do your regular classes for me endurance and stamina was a huge issue because I was a bit weaker so I did things like go on jogs to build up my cardiovascular endurance and I'd do strength training particularly on my legs so that I could build my Strengthen the jumps. If you've had an injury planning and preparation for your training is essential.
looking after my injury by going to the physio regularly doing exercises and like maintaining my body and knowing what suited my body so not choosing movements and exercises that would antagonize that.
It's not just physical preparation that's necessary. You also need to practice talking about your work.
It's really useful If you take notes constantly of your progress and development as a Performer plus your future goals so that you can talk about it in your interview.
You actually have to do an interview component to go with your exam So you actually have to be able to explain yourself and express yourself.
You got to remember these examiner's have not like you go in the exam, They have no idea what you've done leading up to this.
They've never seen this work before, they have no idea what you're you're gonna talk about and so you've got to make sure that you're really Succinct and you're telling them exactly what you want them to know.
You need to start from scratch when composing your core and major composition.
Getting your idea is just the first step in the process of composition.
There are lots of different techniques your teacher will help you with and coming up with your stimulus.
Fiona Robertson's major composition was about a homeless parent and a child.
I got my stimulus from a movie that I'd watched and I sat down with my dancers and I said this is what I want to do and We just started brainstorming and I found a song that I liked.
So we made some sections and we just kind of pieced everything together.
Jessica Hewitt started with an idea. For me, it's all in my mind. So I was very ideational.
So I was just trying to come up with concepts and I actually ended up for this one that I chose.
My piece is actually about blindness. I actually did a lot of improvisation with my eyes closed and just filmed it.
I was just moving and then I got parts of the video and put it into iMovie and like kind of made my dance from my information and then relearned it myself and then taught it to my dancer.
Jordan Houlihan's major study performance is about overcoming adversity.
It was inspired by watching a news report about someone who'd been paralyzed with accident.
His next step was developing a soundtrack.
I found a song that had a nice background and then I just got news reports and I edited them into this song so I could really just have that strong connection between the song and the dance just the news, of course to make the dance really authentic and real
See the vehicle upside down.
Obviously watching all the news reports and documentaries and everything, I saw the pain that all the individuals did go through and I just make sure that I just showed that through my performance and all the movements if I did incorporated my ideas to really get the moving piece across to the audience.
You Need to give yourself plenty of time to develop any major study and always be open to advice.
Get it started early like started early.
Make sure to get feedback from outside sources whether that be your dance teacher at school or another dance student.
Just definitely showing your dance teachers all the time in pace and then making sure you do listen to what they say because They obviously know better than anyone else.
I personally found it helpful to write down anything that my teachers told me so I could come back and reflect upon it.
Always try to remember that feedback is your friend.
Detaching yourself from your work is part of the creative process.
It's always helpful to see through other people's eyes to get a different perspective.
Criticism and feedback is incredibly important.
it's really good that Teachers are there to help you and that's something to really keep in mind because sometimes when you're getting told to work on a certain Part of the dance or change a certain part of the dance multiple times.
It can be really disheartening, It's difficult to hear someone like tweak it and say you need to change this. This part's not good.
So you need to find a balance between having your heart in it But not getting too attached to it that you get angry and not change it.
I like I like to Be able to understand what I'm doing wrong and what I need to improve. Take it with a grain of salt.
Really don't take it to heart it's all about improving and making that goal of achieving the best mark that you can. Cop it on the chin and then Apply it to yourself and it actually makes you a better dancer.
Sometimes the best advice you might get is surprisingly simple.
It might sound funny but to breathe because when I'm dancing, sometimes I just try too hard and I get all tense.
Try to remember that the practical components of HSC dance are just one part of the course.
It's important that you prepare well over the whole course and that you enjoy the process.
Be focused be ready to learn and ready to Teach as well.
Don't leave things to the last minute and really get on top of it earlier and if there are any troubles with your work and you Have time to change it. Practice practice practice. So really believe in your teachers believe in yourself and just take a hit at it. Don't let it stress you out to the point where it takes the joy out of it for you because
Dance hsc was definitely my most enjoyable subject
