Blue Sky Dance program set to enhance creative expression of regional students over the next three years.

Hundreds of regional Victorian students are set to engage in exciting dance education experiences with Blue Sky Dance, a new program designed and delivered by Ausdance VIC and funded by the Victorian Department of Education.

Blue Sky Dance features a hybrid model of delivery integrating streamed and face-to-face learning. The program will see outstanding dance educators engage with primary students across Victoria’s rural regions over the next three years.

Ausdance VIC is delighted to be awarded this project by the Department of Education which will allow us to showcase best practice dance education aligned to the Victorian Curriculum F-10: The Arts, Dance.  Just as music supports student learning in mathematics, we know that Dance can support the building and consolidation of literacy and language skills. Ausdance VIC’s Blue Sky Dance will focus on these areas and guide students to create expressive dances using choreographic tools, Dr. Katrina Rank, Director of Education and Lifelong Learning, Ausdance VIC.

Besides providing meaningful lessons to students who might otherwise miss out on Dance as a subject, Blue Sky Dance has been designed by Ausdance VIC to equip teachers with skills, knowledge, understanding, and terminology to enable them to more confidently lead dance as a subject in the Victorian Curriculum. They will also learn to use choreographic and dance teaching methods by actively engaging in sessions and facilitating the streamed component in their own classrooms, adds Dr Katrina Rank.

Funded by the Victorian Department of Education as part of the Rural and Regional School Reform, Blue Sky Dance is a blended Arts Education Program. It will be delivered across fifteen rural and regional primary schools each year during 2021-2023, with a focus on Dance as a subject within the Victorian curriculum. A team of experienced and qualified dance educators will deliver the program both virtually and face-to- face to primary students in years three to six.

Ausdance VIC is Victoria’s recognised peak body for dance, supported by Creative Victoria.