VCE Dance Sentence Structure - What Where How Why - link to other terminology

Sep 20, 2026

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VCE Dance Sentence Structure provides a repeatable writing framework for analysing solo dance works and achieving consistent terminology use. It breaks responses into What (subject and subheading), Where (chronological formal structure sections), How (physical and technical skills with sub-mini structures), and Why (justified expressive intent). The guide also emphasizes linking to additional VCE dance terminology for extra marks and staying flexible as question types change.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

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Pages3

Reading Time8 min

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VCE Dance sentence structure

WHAT (subject and subheadings)

WHERE (chronological sections of the work)

HOW (physical and technical skills)

WHY (justified expressive intention)

Link to other terminology

Example and sentence structure exercise

VCE Dance Sentence Structure –What, What, Where, How, Why + link to other terminology Using the sentence structure each time you write in VCE Dance will ensure that you use the correct terminology and say the right things to get you maximum marks. Make sure you are clear about your lists of terminology and have a copy of the VCE terminology lists while you work on this. The lists we are going to work With on this worksheet are Body Actions, and Physical and Technical Skills and Elements of Movement. Remember sentence structures can change depending on the type of question souse this as your base and be prepared to be flexible depending on the question. Example You are analysing a solo dance work about flying in a written outcome- in this dance work there is a jetè (pictured above) . The question asks you to analyse the use of 1 Body Action used to communicate the expressive Intention in the solo dance. WHAT–The First WHAT is usually the subject that the question asks you about – it is always the heading of the list. It is there to tell the assessor WHAT you are going to write about. HINT: Sometimes the question can trick you and ask you to write about one of the sub headings within the list. You need to know the terminology well enough to know which list each bit of terminology comes from. The question might look like. Analyse the use of Elevation to communicate the expressive Intention in the solo dance. For both questions the first WHAT is the Same. What: Body Action WHAT–The second WHAT is refining the topic more specifically for the assessor to one of the subheadings in the list. In this case the dancer is doing a leap –this is the Body Action of Elevation. Lists of Terminology can have more than one heading so sometimes there will be 3 or 4 WHATS you need to write about to show the assessor that you know what you’re talking about. A Good example of this is: Elements of Movement Time Speed WHAT: Elevation WHERE–This refers to where in the choreography the movement or phrase takes place chronologically. Usually atthe start of an exam or written outcome you will be asked to define the Formal Structure and where each section begins and ends in the dance work. Let’s say this dance is in Ternary form and has 3 sections – Section A, Section B, Section A. The dancer performs this Jetè as she enters the stage at the start so the WHERE is in section A at the start of the dance. WHERE: section A at the start of the dance HOW: Refers to the Physical and Technical skills involved in the movement. How does the dancer actually make that movement happen? When you get to HOW you need a little sub mini structure because you are writing about some new terminology. WHAT: Physical Skills WHAT: Flexibility WHAT: Technical Skills WHAT: Lengthening the Hamstrings and quadriceps. Every time you describe a movement it is a great idea to describe the Physical and Technical skills involved in that movement. Physical and Technical skills are different concepts but are ALWAYS go together. HOW: by using the Physical skill of Flexibility by using the Technical Skill of lengthening the hamstrings and quadriceps. WHY: why did the choreographer choose this movement? Unless it is our own choreography we can only make justifiable statements about how we interpret the movement. Your opinion might be different to your friends but as long as you can JUSTIFY it and the assessor thinks it is plausible and linked to the generally accepted Expressive Intensions then it will gain marks. This is the main question you are answering so it should take up about half your answer. So you have to explain why this particular Body Action communicates the Expressive Intention of Flying. WHY: Because she is high up in the air in this Elevation and she is literally ‘Flying’. The Choreographer has chosen this Body Action to communicate the concept of flying. LINK TO OTHER TERMINOLOGY: in every question, there is an extra mar

FAQs

What are the main parts of the VCE Dance sentence structure?

The framework is based on WHAT, WHERE, HOW, and WHY, with an additional requirement to link to other VCE terminology for extra marks.

How should you write the WHAT in a VCE Dance analysis question?

The first WHAT is the subject/heading the assessor wants; sometimes questions refer to a subheading, so you must know which terminology list the item comes from.

What goes under HOW, and how do physical and technical skills work together?

HOW explains how the movement is executed. It uses a mini-structure to describe physical skills and then technical skills, and the document notes these are always discussed together.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Blitz