Dance as a GCSE Subject

[apskaps]

Hi, My daughter is a serious studious sort who loves dance. We had options evening today and she gets to choose only 2 subjects for GCSE. Initially she wanted to choose Design and Technology (along with Geography which she is sure about), turns out now she isn't that keen and wants to look at Dance as a GCSE subject.

The school is new to us and so they don't really know her enough to advice. Has anyone's child taken dance as a GCSE subject who can help us evaluate? Wouldn't want her overall grades to drop because of this, equally if thats what she wants, is it fair to make her take a more 'serious' subject?

Plans to study Aeronautical engineering to put it in perspective and is a set 1 kind of child. Is that the right decision for her. Please help!

If she works academically hard at her other subjects then a more practical subject can be a break from it all. It's still hard but in a different way. Ultimately she is still a child and her future is still tangible, letting her do subjects that inspire her is IMHO more important at this age.

I did dance gsce and then went on to do A level too as long as it doesn't compromise her other subjects let her have some fun!

I was an oxbridge student and did drama. Having a creative subject ia an excellent balance.

My only concern (not knowing anythimg about dance gcse) is are the top grades available if you aren't already doing alot of dance out of school.

I have the same fear for my daughter who is interested in music but hasnt been learning since she was 2/hothoused etc...

So are there only 2 truly free choices?
Doesn’t she have to take one creative subject anyway?
I was really academic and took cookery and like pp have said it was good to have a very different subject.

Its good to get your body moving in the day too so as a parent id be pleased about the extra exercise.

Whilst I would have thought D&T would be more useful for Aero than Dance I don't see any problem with doing one non-facilitating subject at GCSE. Presumably you've looked at the typical uni entry requirements so know what she needs to be aiming for in her GCSEs and A levels?

I went to a Southampton aeronautical engineering offer holders day last year with DC, they said they don’t mind if you have Dance at A level as your 3rd A level as long as you have A* A in maths & physics. I don’t know if there is an A level in dance but it made enough of an impact on me for me to remember him saying it. At my dcs school all students have to do a creative subject.

What are her compulsory subjects?

I wouldn’t overly advise GCSE dance unless it’s a case of a child who really doesn’t want to do anything else. My son is doing Btec dance but he’s not academic (although there is significant written content in the gcse) and struggles to engage. My daughter on the other hand is now training to be a dancer and she didn’t do GCSE.

The practical content is fairly low standard for those who dance outside of school but marking can be inconsistent and you can be at the mercy of others in the group who are lower ability in dance.

Saying that however, if you are doing 8 academic GCSEs it can be good to do something for pure enjoyment. It also depends how it’s taught. If it’s a school with a proper dance teacher it can be an engaging course, if it’s an add on to the PE department it’s a different matter.

My DS took GCSE dance. It is hard to access top grades if they don’t have dance training outside school. My DSs dance school actually run the GCSE course and enter the students through a local school exam centre. He is very academic and considering oxbridge, now studying for A levels and has chosen to do A level dance although he still trains as a dancer 14+ hours per week and loves it!

• chosen NOT to do A level dance that should say!

She has to do all 3 sciences, advance level maths, english and 2 foreign languages (French and Latin). Her scores on maths and physics are pretty high and are high on Geography too. No, the documents don't say a creative subject is compulsory. She has so far done dance outside school just for fun.

What kind of dance does she do outside of school and to what standard.

GCSE dance is quite heavy on contemporary and choreography (with meaning behind it) and you also have to perform as a duet or trio.

She's done Acro dance and contemporary for about 2 years - very difficult for me to say what her ability is, she does seem alright. The institute she was with did not believe in certification/exams so she has none of the LAMDA's or levels. They said she was good and the performances were nice so thats all I have by way of ability! I don't want to confuse a hobby with a career choice yet don't want to limit her if she does have the talent. So confusing!!

So no ballet then?

GCSE is around Grade 4/5 Level in terms of practical so not overly high but it’s difficult to grade if she hasn’t done syllabus classes.

Was the contemporary proper Graham/Cunningham eat al technique or more creative dance? Two years isn’t long but if her analysis skills are good she could bring her grades up on the written paper.

What does the GCSE Dance teacher say?

I don't want to confuse a hobby with a career choice yet don't want to limit her if she does have the talent. So confusing!

Doing it as her last subject for GCSE won't make it a career choice though. It will just give her a more physical and creative option.
Perhaps she should see the dance teacher and 'audition' for her to get advice?

I agree with Teen Times Two. Dance will not be a career choice and it won’t make any difference as to whether she goes on to do Aeronautical Engineering! Also there are not facilitating subjects at GCSE!

If she is interested, do it. My DDs were required to do an Art subject and it makes for a good spread of GCSEs. Her choices are very Maths/science heavy and light on essay subjects so adding one with written work and creativity isn’t a bad thing!

My daughter did GCSE and A level dance as a requirement of her or sscholarship alongside her IB. She did lots of dance outside of school timetable from a young age including ballet, tap, jazz and a little ballroom. I am not sure it would have been so easy to secure the highest grades without the additional extracurricular training. She danced about seven hours lessons outside of the timetable plus the odd weekend and summer schools. Extra when rehearsing for exams or Shows. Plenty of others doing the same. That clearly isn’t the case for everyone studying dance GCSE, but if it’s an A/A* shes after, needs to understand the competition and benchmarks.

I’d talk to the teacher about practicing, about theory but mainly about training. My experience is that unless a school employs a couple of specialist dance teachers they tend not to intervene too much in technique and that core ballet training is lacking. That does impact on performance ability. If it’s a non specialist PE teacher or drama teacher leading then I’d look at results if it’s particularly important for university entrance - although it rarely is.

It’s good to have a balance, to throw in something physical and creative. You can always support it with additional lessons.

Thank you everyone, this has been super helpful. She is meeting the GSCE dance teacher on a one-to-one at school today to discuss ability/suitability. I've checked and found out that the school has a very reputed dance programme. We have relocated recently so still getting our bearings, will sign her up for dance classes and Ballet (which she wants to resume) out of school and reading all the posts, I think it will do her good to get her head out of all the academic stuff occasionally and do something more creative for herself. Thanks again!

If she likes contemporary and wants to learn choreography then GCSE dance will be fine. Most of the course is based around that.
The course is designed so that even people with no previous dance experience can do the GCSE if they want to. So depending on the individual school and the background and training of the GCSE dance teachers it may not be at a level that she finds particularly challenging.