HSC Dance Day

Throughout 2021 - 2022, St Andrews College has one senior student who has been studying Dance for the HSC and on Thursday 17th February, she attended the HSC Dance Day. Tijana Sammut has been travelling to St Agnes Catholic College each Thursday afternoon to study dance as part of a cluster of schools. She spends 3 hours a week with teachers from CAPTIVATE who work with students to unpack and study the Stage 6 syllabus. Prior to this course, Tijana also worked with the CAPTIVATE staff at St Andrews College in 2020 when they delivered the Certificate 1 in Dance course to Stage 5 students. Tijana has over 13 years experience as a dancer and is currently dancing 9 hours a week.

The HSC Dance Day is a chance for HSC Dance students to work with expert choreographers and experienced HSC markers on the 3 elements of Dance: Performance, Composition and Appreciation.

The day was divided into 3 sections based on the elements, was attended by students from several schools in the Parramatta diocese and hosted by St Agnes Catholic College.

Session 1 : Performance 

Presenter: Carla Cherrie

In this first session students focused on differentiating between core and major works. They started with a general warm-up led by Carla and were advised to be aware of personal strengths and how to use them advantageously. Students then learnt a sequence that included kinaesthetic awareness, balances and flexibility. Throughout the process, they discussed the elements of spatial awareness, dynamics and time and the need to be aware of said elements while performing.

Session 2 : Composition 

Presenter: Natasha Comelli

Composition is often the most difficult element of dance for HSC students. Natasha helped break down the process by outlining ideas on how to start choreographing. Students were guided through exercises to help them get started in creating their compositions as well as thinking critically about how and why they put the piece together. This included the use of motifs, structure (binary, ternary, collage, narrative) and play.

Session 3 : Appreciation 

Presenter: Melissa Cooper

The two pieces chosen for study this year are Juliet and Romeo - Max Ek (2013) and an Indigenous piece, Terrain - Bangarra Dance Theatre/ frances Rings (2012). Students were lectured via Zoom by Melissa, an experienced HSC Dance teacher and marker with over 20 years experience. She helped unpack the prescribed works set out for 2022 and explained how to go about answering exam questions by unpacking sample HSC papers. She paid particular attention to dance literacy and subject specific language with the goal of improving descriptions and structuring responses clearly.

Tijana found the day extremely valuable in assisting her to be successful in her HSC Dance course. She states: 

“During the HSC dance masterclass. I learned many skills that will help me achieve my goal for this upcoming year. The day was broken down into 3 sections which gave all of us students a better understanding of each section of the syllabus. I learned how to write and speak adequately as there is an interview and exam process as part of our HSC. I learnt how each core section is done and went into depth with understanding its context. I also enjoyed learning different routines from past HSC markers and ways to manipulate to make it my own routine.” 

We wish Tijana all the best as she works towards her HSC. The College will endeavour to showcase Tijana’s dances in upcoming Creative Arts events.