Welcome to Reigate College’s Dance Department.
My name is Helen Patterson and I’m currently the course leader for Dance A Level. We’re so pleased you’ll be coming to Reigate College to study Dance and we’re looking forward to you joining our busy department at the beginning of the academic year.
Over the coming months, I’d like you to complete a series of tasks and activities to prepare you for the start of the course. These tasks should all be completed independently at home, but you’ll have the chance to talk about what you’ve learnt with other Dance students when your lessons begin in September.
The tasks are organised in three distinct steps and should all be completed by Choices Day on 25 August 2026. This is to give you the best insight into what the courses will be like and/or help prepare you for them.
Please note, some Course Leaders (for example for Music) may release their tasks earlier, as they may form part of the College’s audition process. If this applies to you, you’ll be notified separately.
New Starters Course Tasks and Activities
| Release date | Suggested Completion Dates | |
| Explore your Subject | 1 June | 1 July |
| Get Going | 1 June | 1 August |
| Aim High | 1 June | 1 September |
Dance helps to communicate a message and incites feelings and emotions in its audience in different ways. It comes in many different forms that demonstrate the varied approaches and styles that have existed and evolved over time.
Exploring the subject of Dance will help you to build on these variations and the thought processes behind the choreography, to help you on your path to becoming a choreographer or professional dancer.
Choreography and performance – a case study
As you’ll be aware, performance is a significant part of Dance programmes and at Reigate College, our successful Hot Feet Dance Show is choreographed by students annually and enjoyed by all. The dance ‘Cage of Bones’ has previously been performed, which is a great example of how you can work with a piece of professional repertoire and make it your own.
TASK Watch ‘Cage of Bones’ by Travis Wall and Maddie Ziegler through the following Youtube link:
For their Hot Feet performance, Reigate College students used the original choreography from the duet to create a group piece.
TASK Think about how you would go about creating a group piece from the ‘Cage of Bones’ duet.
Researching choreography and choreographers
Following on from the above exercise, you should try to expand your knowledge of choreography.
TASK Please research and watch some more examples of choreography on YouTube. Here are the names of four choreographers you should include in your research:
- Award-winning Bob Fosse choreographed the stage musicals Chicago and Cabaret among others. Find and watch some of his choreography, such as ‘Cell Block Tango’ (from Chicago) and ‘The Rich Man’s Frug’ and ‘Big Spender’ (from Sweet Charity). (You can find out more about him and his relationship with actress and dancer Gwen Verdon by watching the eight-part drama Fosse/Verdon, currently available on BBC i-player)
- Phillip Chbeeb is a hip hop choreographer who fuses contemporary together with hip hop. Take a look at his dance video ‘Slip’
- Jerome Robbins was an American choreographer and dancer, behind many successful Broadway shows including West Side Story, The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof. Watch some of his famous dances from West Side Story
- American dancer and choreographer Travis Wall specialises in contemporary dance and jazz. You might like to watch his ‘Cage of Bones’ dance again now
TASK: Once you’ve researched each of the above choreographers and watched some examples of their work, please write a paragraph on each one. You should detail their style of dance, their achievements and what you personally think influences them from watching their work.
Please list at least three research methods you’ve used when completing this activity.
Finally, in preparation for starting the course, we’d like you to carry out the Skills Audit below. This will form part of the unit of study on developing skills and techniques.
SKILLS AUDIT
TASK Please answer the following questions giving as much detail as possible. Remember, this is to get an accurate picture of your experience so far so you can build on it during the course – there are no right or wrong answers!
- What choreographic experience do you have? This could include any teaching you’ve been responsible for or leading. If none say none!
- What technical experience do you have? What physical skills can you do; how flexible are you; what do you need to work on?
- What are your main dance achievements to date? What have you done that you consider to be good practice?
- What assessments or examinations have you taken? If none say none.
- What performance experience have you got?
- What do you want to do for a career? Do you want a career in Dance? If not, can you say what you do want to do? You may not know at this stage.
- Who are your favourite choreographers and why?
- Which is your favourite performance that you’ve seen and why?
- What do you hope to get out of taking this Dance course?
Welcome back.
The tasks are designed to develop your knowledge and understanding of contemporary dance technique, ahead of starting the course in September.
1. Please watch the following videos on Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Jose Limon.
As you watch them, please record five facts about the choreography or technique of these pioneers of contemporary dance. Your notes should be written up in a Word document, or if you don’t have access to a PC, just write your answers into a notebook. Either way, please bring your findings with you at the beginning of the Autumn Term.
2. For your second task, please watch the three additional videos below and write a paragraph about the use of the following dance components – as they appear in each film: Action, Space, Dynamics and Relationships.
Martha Graham/ Diversion of Angels
Doris Humphrey/Water Study/Momentum Dance Co
Merce Cunningham/Pond Way
Understanding different training routes
If you want a career in Dance, it’s important to be able to put yourself in the place of a professional dancer when you’re thinking about which training routes to choose. The following task has been designed to help you do that.
TASK 1: Please work through the numbered points below to compare and contrast different training routes:
- Firstly, find the links to two prospectuses offering dance training in the UK. You should try to choose contrasting schools, for example one contemporary (such as Laban Trinity) and one more established (such as Italia Conti Musical Theatre).
- Now write a paragraph on the two training routes offered. You should include references and images or quotes.
- Think about the types of training they offer and whether they would suit you personally? Write a paragraph explaining why/why not.
- Now select two professional dancers of your choice and compare and contrast their training routes.
- List three strengths of the training each dancer undertook.
- Imagine you have an audition for one of the dance schools you chose. Write a paragraph explaining how you would prepare.
Self-evaluation
Being able to evaluate your own performance is a really important discipline to get into in order to help you improve.
TASK 2: Think about a recent dance performance you took part in. Please write a personal reflection on your approach to the development of your creative interpretation. Why did you make the decisions you did about your role as a dancer? What improvements could you have made?
Head of Dance
