Dance & Drama

Rehearse and perform confidently in a range of dramatic forms and styles - using voice, movement, physicality and emotional understanding in order to clearly communicate character, story and overall concepts/ideas within any given piece.

EXCEEDING:
Rehearsal ethic is clear: on task, considering alternative playing options, taking risks and making appropriate changes. Performance is confident and shows motivation and thought behind it. Students’ perform using their voice and physicality appropriately and with confidence and clarity in an attempt to marry them with the emotional psychology of a character within the confines of that characters situation. Students work with others effectively staying in character and listening to others on stage. Performances are rounded with a clear opening and closing and attempt to show a character’s emotional trajectory.

SECURE:
Rehearsal ethic is assured and motivated. Performance uses voice and movement with enough confidence to convey a sense of character. Students’ performances are confident within themselves and they fulfil their role within the context of the piece. Characterisation shows an appreciation and understanding of emotional depth.

DEVELOPING:
Rehearsal is one dimensional in places; without development and with less of an appreciation for how scenes/characters can be changed and sculpted. Performance is motivated but often without emotional depth. Occasionally emotional depth is misjudged and work with others can be misguided. An appreciation of what the role of a character in the context of a scene is, is sometimes/often lacking.

Create, Improvise and Devise dramatic work, designed specifically within the confines of the theatrical form.
Understanding the appropriateness of when to use comedy and tragedy to greatest effect.
Demonstrating work which attempts to make us think and/or feel.
Using imagination and flare in opportunities for improvisation and in turn demonstrating an understanding of the needs in any given scene or improvised situation.
EXCEEDING:
Students demonstrate the ability to create work individually which is challenging and specifically uses the elements of the theatre/context of a play. Improvisations are met with confidence, flare and an ability to react to a new situation with fresh awareness. Students are able to collaboratively devise, taking time to consider the dramatic and theatrical needs of their chosen area and acting upon them with sophistication, sensitivity and an emotional understanding.

SECURE:
Students create work individually which is solid and rounded – the work fulfils the remit and demonstrates a secure understanding of the task and a need for imagination and creativity. Students improvise with confidence, reacting appropriately to situations and understanding the needs of a scene and other characters within it. Students devise pieces which demonstrate imagination and clarity of meaning. They demonstrate an understanding of the dramatic needs of a piece and where it is placed in a theatrical context.

DEVELOPING:
Students create the basis of a scene/character/piece but often fail to bring it to a dramatic standing point or conclusion. Students may show understanding and motivation but the execution of reacting within the confines of an improvisation can be lacklustre or misguided. Devised pieces lack dimension and often can’t be fixed within a dramatic or theatrical context – the student sometimes misses what is required to make a concept or idea ideal/relevant for the stage.

Having access and exposure to great dramatic works both on the page and in performance and understanding the context of these works. Being able to articulate this context as knowledge and showing appreciation of work regardless of taste.

EXCEEDING:
Students use a wide range of vocabulary to demonstrate, not only their taste for different types of dramatic work, but their appreciation of all dramatic work and what sort of effect that work can have on audiences. There is a clear retaining of the background behind pieces; students articulate knowledge of the role these pieces play within other contexts (Socially/Politically/Historically/etc). Students happily, and with vigour, ponder, question and explore dramatic texts and performances.

SECURE:
Students identify pieces and are able to securely and with confidence praise and critique pieces. Students are also able to appreciate work regardless of their own taste and make an effort to understand how a piece or performance has come into existence – why it is here and why it had endured. Contextual elements are understood and explored.

DEVELOPING:
Students identify pieces but are often unable to separate their own taste and critique from an appreciation of how and why other audiences might enjoy a certain piece of performance. Some knowledge of the wider context can be seen but there are gaps in that knowledge which sometimes effect a student’s overall understanding and appreciation of a certain piece or performance.