Wangaratta Case Study

Dance meets science

With support from Creative Victoria through the Engaging Audiences The Australian Ballet spent two weeks in Wangaratta which included dance education workshops in schools, live performance and a week-long holiday residency in Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre.

Workshops were based on the STEAMDANCE program, which uses dance education to support learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Maths.

Through the interactive STEAMDANCE workshops, students achieve improved intercultural understanding, anatomical knowledge, critical and creative thinking, literacy, numeracy and problem solving.

The workshops also worked to address personal and social skills in encouraging making friends, developing resilience, working creatively, positive body images, team work and cooperation and culminated in a celebratory co-created student performance.

The related teacher professional development program provided teachers with tools to incorporate dance learning into teaching practices in other subject areas on an ongoing basis supported by digital resources.

As part of the program, Wangaratta students also had the opportunity to attend a live performance of Coppèlia by The Australian Ballet Dance Education team.