Fine Arts

Goal

All MCPS students should have the opportunity to engage with and explore dance:

• Kinesthetically.
• By using a wide variety of stimuli that are authentic to the choreographic process in order to create work that is personally meaningful and unique.
• By being presented with opportunities to make choices and to solve creative problems that are open-ended with the possibility of multiple solutions.
• By applying knowledge from other contents when creating, performing, and responding to dance.
• From a wide range of historical styles including contemporary works.
• Developed by artists of diverse backgrounds. 
• Through the varying roles that dance plays within our own culture and in other cultures around the world.
• By applying 21st century and literacy skills to think about and discuss choreographic works.
• Through conversations about dance choreography, meaning, and influence.
• By creating and preparing dance for performance.

Courses

The MCPS Dance Curriculum is aligned to the National Core Fine Arts Standards and the Maryland Fine Arts Standards.  These standards are sequential, build 21st century concepts and skills, and address the core competencies identified in the MCPS strategic framework. 

• Dance courses should be taken in sequence when possible to provide students with the most appropriate instructional environment and to achieve the learning goals outlined in the curriculum. 
• Students should be provided the opportunity to take a dance course every year in alignment with Fine Arts COMAR language.  This allows students with access to advanced courses and multiple opportunities/pathways in dance.  Dance courses in High School levels 2-4 are identified as advanced level and provide opportunities for students to pursue rigorous and challenging studies that require abstract and higher-order thinking skills.  An additional quality point will be added to grades of A, B, and C in these courses to determine a student’s WGPA and may be counted towards the MCPS Certificate of Merit diploma endorsement.

Dance Courses

Resources

MCPS Dance Showcase