IB Diploma Programme Dance SL (first assessment 2016; 2014 guide). This topic equips the internally assessed PERFORMANCE (40% at SL): one or two dances (solo, duet or group, at least one a solo or duet) in any style, performed by the student at an open showing to show proficiency and expressive ability appropriate to the dance, totalling 3-6 minutes with at least half devoted to solo and/or duet work, submitted on video. This handout teaches the performance kit, the interpretation discipline and the showing. All worked examples are original.

Must-know for performance:

The performance programme 演出曲目 is built under rules that discipline the choice: one or two dances in any style or styles, at least one a solo 独舞 or duet 双人舞, totalling 3-6 minutes, with at least half the time devoted to solo and/or duet work. The programme shows RANGE (styles or moods contrasted) rather than the same dancer twice.

Worked example. A programme of two: the solo “Reach (one)” (2 minutes) and the group “Counting House” (2 minutes): 4 minutes total, 2 minutes of solo work, the half rule satisfied exactly.

Proficiency is CLARITY: in space (line and pathway finished, not approximate), in time (the phrase's rhythm held, including its silences), in dynamics 力效 (weight, time and flow changing as the work demands), and in movement qualities 动作质感 (the how of the movement: sustained against percussive, collapsing against suspended). The discipline: technique serves the dance's intention, never displays itself: a triple turn that blurs the phrase is a fault, not a flourish.

Worked example, continued. In “Reach (one)” the shrinking repetitions must shrink in RANGE but keep their clarity: the audience must see that the reach is smaller, not sloppier.

The discipline of communicative expression 交流表达 runs two ways: to the other performers (the duet's timing is a conversation, not a countdown) and to the audience (the open showing 公开展示 is a real performance with real viewers, not a videotaped rehearsal). Reading each dance's intention sensitively is interpretation 诠释: the same phrase danced as aggression and as grief are different interpretations, and the choice must be legible.

Worked example, concluded. At the showing, “Doorframe for two” is interpreted as negotiation: the stopped gesture lands off the beat, the walkers never look at each other until the final unison: the intention legible from the back row.

• The programme: one or two dances, one at least solo or duet, 3-6 minutes (programme).

• At least half the time in solo and/or duet work (half-rule).

• Clarity in space, time, dynamics and qualities; technique serving the dance (skills).

• Expression to partners and audience; each intention interpreted and legible (expression).

• The worked two-dance programme and its showing understood (worked). Boundary notes: the examiner must see the making: compositional decisions visible, sources attributed, the performance interpreted. All worked examples are original.