IB Diploma Programme Dance SL (first assessment 2016; 2014 guide). This topic equips the COMPOSITION side of the externally assessed composition and analysis task (40% at SL): two dance works totalling 6-10 minutes composed by the student, plus an analytical statement on the processes of composition and analysis of one of the dances. Composition is taught as craft: motif, development, form and contrast serving intention, content and form. This handout teaches the compositional toolkit, the development methods and the reflective statement. All worked examples are original.

Must-know for composition and choreography:

A motif 动机 is a movement cell: the smallest phrase that carries the dance's intention, small enough to transform and recognisable enough to anchor the work. Composition grows by development 发展 of the motif: repetition (the cell returns, meaning accumulating), variation 变奏 (timing, dynamics or facings changed), transposition (the cell moves to a new body part or level), retrograde 逆行 (the cell performed backwards), and accumulation (cells stacked into longer phrases). The discipline: every development is a choice that serves the intention; decoration that develops nothing is cut.

Worked example. “Reach”, a trio: the motif is a reach that collapses at the elbow. Repetition seven times with shrinking range reads as exhaustion; variation in dynamics (sudden against sustained) reads as resistance; retrograde (collapse first, reach last) closes the work by reversing its story.

Form is how the work organizes time: the compositional structure 编创结构 (statement, departure, return; ABA; theme and mutations) must be audible to the eye: the viewer should feel the return. Within a work and across the submitted works, contrast 对比 runs at two scales: inside one dance (levels, tempo, density, dynamics) and ACROSS the submitted works: the two must contrast in subject matter or compositional approach, or the submission reads as one work twice.

Worked example, continued. The second work “Doorframe” contrasts “Reach” completely: unison walking material, no floorwork, motif built from a stopped gesture rather than a flowing reach; the third “Counting House” contrasts again by structure (accumulation only, no retrograde).

The statement analyses the processes of composition and analysis of ONE of the dances: not a diary but an account of decisions: which compositional problems arose (the collapse reading as injury rather than exhaustion), which solutions were tried and chosen, and what the making taught for future development. Key terms and concepts of composition are applied, sources attributed.

Worked example, concluded. The “Reach” statement: the problem (the collapse read as accident), the trials (slower collapse, weighted collapse, silent collapse), the chosen fix (the weighted collapse with the breath audible), and the lesson (a motif's meaning is set by its development, not its shape).

• The motif small, recognisable, intention-carrying (motif).

• Development methods chosen to serve intention, decoration cut (development).

• The return legible; contrast within and across works (contrast).

• The statement analysing decisions and problems, terms applied (statement).

• The worked “Reach”, “Doorframe”, “Counting House” set understood (worked). Boundary notes: the examiner must see the making: compositional decisions visible, sources attributed, the performance interpreted. All worked examples are original.

IB Diploma Programme Dance SL (first assessment 2016; 2014 guide). This topic equips the externally assessed DANCE INVESTIGATION (20% at SL): a formal written report of no more than 1 500 words analysing the similarities and differences between two dance styles drawn from different dance cultures and/or traditions, one familiar and one unfamiliar to the student. This handout teaches the comparative method, the elements to compare and the report. All worked examples are original.

Must-know for world dance studies:

The dance investigation 舞蹈调研 compares two styles from different dance cultures 舞蹈文化 or traditions 传统, one familiar to the student and one unfamiliar: the pairing must have contrast value (styles so alike that the comparison is decorative) and shared instruments (so the comparison is fair: both have communicative movement to analyse). The unfamiliar style is studied through research AND physical engagement: the course's physical and theoretical understanding.

Worked example. A student trained in studio contemporary (familiar) investigates hula kahiko (unfamiliar): both use the torso as the primary communicator, but the training, function and transmission differ.

The comparison runs on the dance elements 舞蹈要素: actions (what the body does), space (level, direction, pathway), dynamics (weight, time, flow), relationships (to partners, group, audience). Each similarity or difference is then explained through context 文化情境: the historical context of each style and its current context (who performs it, where, for whom, how it is taught).

Worked example, continued. Element: both styles centre the torso (similarity); context: contemporary isolates the torso as trained mechanics for an audience that watches, while hula kahiko's torso carries text (the hands speaking the chant), performed within a living ceremonial practice (difference explained by function and transmission).

The report is formal written work of at most 1 500 words: a comparison with a spine (the two styles named, the elements chosen, the contexts researched), sources attributed throughout. The discipline: every claim about a style is evidenced (described movement, cited source); the similarities and differences are analysed (explained by context), not listed; and the conclusion weighs what the comparison taught, including the student's physical engagement with the unfamiliar style.

Worked example, concluded. The report's conclusion: studying hula kahiko physically changed the student's own contemporary practice (the torso as carrier of meaning, not only of technique): the investigation's finding is a connection, not just a catalogue.

• Two styles, different cultures, one familiar and one unfamiliar (styles).

• Claims made through the elements, described and evidenced (elements).

• Historical and current contexts researched, differences explained by them (contexts).

• The comparison analysed, sources attributed, engagement included (report).

• The worked contemporary-and-hula investigation understood (worked). Boundary notes: the examiner must see the making: compositional decisions visible, sources attributed, the performance interpreted. All worked examples are original.

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.