Dance Set Works and Analysis

What this page covers

This unit collects study material on professional dance works. Most of it is mind maps and flashcards, made by a community of over 100 contributors. Several resources are fact files. The Swansong Fact File mind map lists the choreographer, music, costume design and lighting design. The Nutcracker Fact File does the same for Matthew Bourne's production. Others focus on a single work, such as Infra by Wayne McGregor and Ghost Dances 1981.

Where to start

Pick one work and begin with its fact file or overview map. That gives you the people involved, the company and the first performance. Then move to flashcards. The deck Rosas Danst Rosas - Dance GCSE AQA asks who choreographed the piece, which company made it and what style was used. GCSE Dance A Linha Curva does the same for another work.

1. Read a fact file mind map for your chosen work.
2. Work through a flashcard deck on the same work.
3. Take a quiz, such as Swansong Sections Quiz or Still Life Choreography.
4. Return to the map for anything you missed.

Using quizzes and maps together

Maps show how a work fits together. Quizzes show what you can recall without looking. Use them in turn. If a quiz question about lighting or costume goes wrong, open the matching map and look at that branch. The set is a small one for quizzes, so flashcards do much of the testing work. Decks like AQA Dance Nutcracker Key Information split the facts into lighting, set design, costume and motif.

Comparing works

Some resources look across works, for example Ghost Dances and Nutcracker Similarities and Differences. These help when a question asks you to compare. Teachers can use any of these maps and decks as ready-made starting points for lessons or homework.

Where it sits

This unit belongs to the strand Choreography, Dance Works and Dance Production, within Performing arts (theatre, dance). Choose a work you are studying, open a map, and see how far the flashcards take you.