Topic: Australian Bush Dance

Context:
Who: Level 5
When: In conjunction with Humanities (History) focusing on the 1850s Gold Rush
Where: School Hall
What: Students required to learn and create Australian Bush dances appropriate for this time in Australian history.
Why: Integrated as a part of Australian History unit
Theme:
Student focus on social/partner dancing.
Exploring dance in lines similar to Western Bush dances.
High paced dancing using traditional western folk music.
Learning outcomes the children will be able to.
Cognitive (Intellectual/artistic):
Make links between dance styles of the 19 th century with the history topic.
Create an appropriate dance based on the style Australian Bush Dance.
Psychomotor (Thinking/Physical):
High paced dancing.
Technique focus (heel before toe)
Affective (Emotional/Social/Cultural):
Working cooperatively with other students.
Assessment
Students will be assessed on their final performance on Australian Bush Dance, ability to work in a team and finally
a reflection on Australian Bush Dance.

AusVELS
Level 5: Arts (Dance)
in Dance, students mirror the movements of a partner and then perform the same movements expressing
contrasting emotions
Level 5: History
The impact of a significant development or event on a colony; for example, frontier conflict, the gold rushes, the
Eureka Stockade, internal exploration, the advent of rail, the expansion of farming, drought. (ACHHK095)

WHAT - content

HOW strategies and approaches

Warm up
Management of children in the space safely for each activity?
Students required to
Large space to move around.
watch clips on
Performances will be spread over the length of space provided.
Australian Bush
Dance. Although clips Establishing rules and expectations of behavior in each activity?
are recent,
Expectations and rules will be set out at the beginning.
explanation is
Signals previously discussed when they need to stop and listen to instructions.
required on where
they originated from
Monitoring safe movement practice of physical skills in each activity
and further
Individual steps will be practiced to ensure proper form is used.
information such as
Ensure students are aware of their personal space (not pushing or pulling others).
classes that
Tight core and bent knees.
participated I these
social dances.
Aesthetic Awareness
How will you plan to facilitate the development of their movement/character response
Physical Warm up:
through the use of?
students to move

through space at
random. Fast walk,
progressing to polka
with a focus on heel
leads to introduce
technique.

Exploring and
developing ideas
(creating & making)

Loud clear voice.

Students provided with feedback from teacher and peers.
Terminology used: Polka, skipping, tempo and rhythm.

Each section of the lesson will take 10-15 minutes will complexity of movements as
required.
Choreography activity to take approx. 30 minutes.
References:
Bush Dance, 2009, YouTube, 29 September 2015, < http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=GnvGVommNvM>
Dreessens, J, 2012, Teaching culture through dance, Deakin University, Deakin Cloud,
retrieved 29 September 2015 <
https://d2l.deakin.edu.au/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?
ou=108145&tId=1486889>

Practicing their voice,

physical (technique)
and social skills

Development Exploration
Students shall be
partnered up with
another students of
the opposite sex and
begin in lines
opposite partner
where steps will be
demonstrated. Time
for practice will be
given to students to
understand the
principles of bush
dancing.
Students will work in
groups of 6 to 8 to
develop their own
Bush Dance to a set
piece of music.
Use of
I.S.A.R.E
Improvisation,
Selection of
movement,
Arrangement of

AusVELS 2015, The Arts, Level 4, VCAA, retrieved 29 September 2015, <,
http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Level4>.

movement,
Refinement of
movement,
Evaluation of
movement.
Culminating
Dance/Play
Each group will
present at once and
then individually
Students are required
to provide feedback
on their performance
as well their peers.

Discussion
Memory integration
Open-ended
questions
Where would you see
these dances be
performed?
What other types of
social dances can
you think of?
How do these dances
differ from each
other?
What styles are
similar to Australian
Bush Dance?
Closure
Lead into a cool
down.
Calming music to
relax the body and
stretch out muscles.
Discussion on how
style is related to the
Gold Rush and other
parts of the Australian
culture.
Lecturer in Primary Arts Education (Dance/Drama): Jacqui Dreessens
jacqui.dreessens@deakin.edu.au
Tel: (03) 5227 2231 ext: 72231