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24 November, 2006 |
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Young dancers, musicians get ready for matric in 2008 About 325 young dancers and musicians will attend four-day workshops in Cape Town and Paarl next week (27 – 30 November, 2006) as they prepare to take Dance Studies and Music for matric in 2008. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has organised the workshops to provide Grade 9 learners with the opportunity of learning more about what is involved in the Further Education and Training (FET) curriculum for Dance Studies and Music. The learners are all attending new focus schools for Arts & Culture in the Western Cape. The WCED has established 10 Arts & Culture focus schools to provide better access to education in Arts & Culture, especially for learners in poor communities. The schools are among 28 focus schools established by the WCED across the province this year as part of the department’s Human Capital Development Strategy. The focus schools specialise in clusters of subjects, namely Arts & Culture; Business, Commerce and Management; and Engineering and Technology. The WCED expects focus schools to serve as pathfinders and lead institutions in their fields, offering quality education to nurture and train learners with exceptional talents, interests or aptitudes. "These schools are expected to become leading edge schools of excellence," said Ms Jennifer van Papendorp, Senior Curriculum Planner: Dance, Arts & Culture, at the WCED. "However, learners coming from a limited background in dance and music need intense support to enable them to learn at the appropriate level for Grades 10 – 12, to achieve the levels of excellence required." "In most cases the Arts and Culture focus schools are introducing dance for the first time and many have appointed new dance teachers." The WCED has therefore organised a bridging camp for Arts and Culture Focus School Grade 9 learners who have selected Dance Studies for Grade 10 for 2007. About 175 dance learners and their teachers will gather at the School of Dance of the University of Cape Town (UCT) from 27 – 30 November 2006 for a very full four-day workshop. They will all stay at UCT’s Tugwell residence. The learners will experience what lies ahead of them in the subject. The daily dance programme will include Body Conditioning, Ballet, Contemporary Dance, African Dance, Improvisation and Composition. They will also attend sessions on drumming, drama, anatomy, health care and dance history. In the evenings, the learners will experience professional dance performances, including Jazzart Dance Theatre's Guardian of the Flame at Artscape, Cape Town City Ballet’s Jikelezi and Dance for All at UCT School of Dance, and Fangs at the Baxter. Learners will each receive a dance tog bag with dancewear and other necessities. Meanwhile, about 150 Grade 9 learners from the Arts & Culture focus schools will meet at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl from Monday, 27 November to Friday, 30 November. "The learners will experience some of the excitement they can expect as they study Music for matric in 2008, under the new national curriculum for Further Education and Training (FET) in schools," said Franklin Lewis, Senior Curriculum Planner: Music, at the WCED. Experienced music teachers will facilitate the sessions ranging from serious classical to indigenous African music and jazz improvisation. In addition to learning about Music, the camp will provide plenty of time for music-making by the learners through performance in formal sessions and concerts in the evening. The schools are among 28 focus schools established by the WCED across the province this year as part of the department’s Human Capital Development Strategy. The focus schools specialise in clusters of subjects, namely Arts & Culture; Business, Commerce and Management; and Engineering and Technology. For further information on the Dance Studies camp, contact: For further information on the Music camp, contact: | |
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| © 2006 WCED |