In creative arts, students discover a variety of art forms through a study of dance, drama, music and visual arts.
The Key Learning Area Creative and Performing Arts consists of Drama, Music, Visual Arts & Photographic and Digital Media. This page contains detailed information about each of these subjects. The CAPA Faculty has dedicated, talented and highly trained teachers who provide students with opportunities both within and beyond the classroom.
Dance
Dance provides students with opportunities to experience and enjoy dance as an art form as they perform, compose and appreciate dance. In an integrated study of the practices of performance, composition and appreciation, students develop both physical skill and aesthetic, artistic and cultural understandings. The course enables students to express ideas creatively and to communicate physically, verbally and in written forms as they make, perform and analyse dances and dance forms.
What will students learn about – and learn to do?
All students study dance performance, composition and appreciation. They will learn about the elements of dance (space, time and dynamics) and how they are used in, and link, the three practices. They will learn about performing dances with an awareness of safe dance practice, dance technique and performance quality. They will learn about how dance expresses ideas, feelings and experiences as they construct dance compositions to communicate ideas. They learn about people, culture and society as they study and analyse dance performances, compositions and dance works of art.
Students will learn to develop an articulate body as they perform a range of dances in a variety of styles with a working knowledge of safe dance practice. They will learn to structure movement as they compose dances to express their ideas, feelings and experiences. They will learn to use the language of dance and to describe movements using the elements of dance as they view, discuss, read and write about dance. Drawing from their experiences gained in performing, composing and appreciating dances, they will learn to make connections between the making and performing of the movement and the appreciation of its meaning.
Drama
Drama is a dynamic and practical subject which explores the elements and forms which have shaped performance throughout history. Students learn about the elements of drama through:
- Making drama, from play building exercises to style workshops
- Performing drama and contributing to dramatic performance in all areas including acting, production, direction and technique
- Appreciating drama, through watching, viewing and studying various popular drama forms
- Working with others to develop problem solving skills, stage presence and confidence.
What will students learn about – and learn to do?
The 100 hour course explores units of playbuilding, a specific style of theatre performance and a close appreciation of a playscript. The 200 hour course provides more detailed insights into theatre performances and develops key theatrical skills.
Drama is a subject which helps students develop interpersonal and communication skills. Students also develop skills in public speaking which is useful in any employment field. This course would suit students with interests in: acting, sound and light management, event management and directing.
Main topics covered in Stage 6
- Improvisation, Play-building, Acting
- Elements of Production in Performance
- Theatrical Traditions and Performance Styles
- Australian Drama and Theatre (HSC Core content)
- Studies in Drama and Theatre (HSC Course)
- Group Performance (HSC Core content)
- Individual Project (HSC Course)
Music
All students should have the opportunity to develop their musical abilities and potential. As an art form, music pervades society and occupies a significant place in world cultures and in the oral and recorded history of all civilisations. Music plays important roles in the social, cultural, aesthetic and spiritual lives of people. At an individual level, music is a medium of personal expression. It enables the sharing of ideas, feelings and experiences. The nature of musical study also allows students to develop their capacity to manage their own learning, engage in problem-solving, work collaboratively and engage in activity that reflects the real world practice of performers, composers and audiences.
What will students learn about – and learn to do?
In the elective course, students will study the concepts of music (duration, pitch, dynamics and expressive techniques, tone colour, texture and structure) through the learning experiences of performing, composing and listening, within the context of a range of styles, periods and genres.
In Music, students learn to perform music in a range of musical contexts, compose music that represents the topics they have studied and listen with discrimination, meaning and appreciation to a broad range of musical styles. The study of the concepts of music underpins the development of skills in performing, composing and listening.
Main focus in Stage 6 Course
In the Preliminary and HSC courses, students will study the concepts of music through the learning experiences of performance, composition, musicology and aural within the context of a range of styles, periods and genres. Students study three topics in each year of the course. In addition to core studies, HSC students select three electives from any combination of performance, composition and musicology. Students selecting Composition electives will be required to compile a portfolio of work as part of the process of preparing a submitted work.
Photographic and Digital Media
Photographic and Digital Media provides opportunities for students to enjoy making and studying a range of photographic and digital media works. Photographic and Digital Media enables students to investigate new technologies, cultural identity and the evolution of photography and digital media into the 21st century.
What will students learn about – and learn to do?
Students learn about the enjoyment of making different kinds of photographic and digital media works in still, interactive and moving forms. They learn to represent their ideas and interests with reference to contemporary trends and how photographers and filmmakers make photographic and digital media works. Students learn about how photographic and digital media is shaped by different beliefs, values and meanings by exploring photographic and digital media artists and works from different times and places, and relationships in the art world between the artist – artwork – world – audience.
Students learn to make photographic and digital media works using a range of materials and techniques to build a Photographic and Digital Media portfolio over time. They learn to develop their research skills, approaches to experimentation and how to make informed personal choices. Students also learn to investigate and respond to a wide range of photographic and digital media artists and works in making and critical and historical studies. Students learn to interpret and explain the function of and relationships in the art world between the artist – artwork – world – audience to make and study photographic and digital media artworks.
Photography, Video and Digital Imaging
Photography, Video and Digital Imaging offers students the opportunity to explore contemporary artistic practices that make use of photography, video and digital imaging. These fields of artistic practice resonate within students’ experience and understanding of the world and are highly relevant to contemporary ways of interpreting the world. The course offers opportunities for investigation of one or more of these fields and develops students’ understanding and skills, which contribute to an informed critical practice.The course is designed to enable students to gain an increasing accomplishment and independence in their representation of ideas in the fields of photography and/or video and/or digital imaging, and understand and value how these fields of practice invite different interpretations and explanations.
Students will develop knowledge, skills and understanding through the making of photographs, and/or videos and/or digital images that lead to and demonstrate conceptual and technical accomplishment. They will also develop knowledge, skills and understanding that lead to increasingly accomplished critical and historical investigations of photography and/or video and/or digital imaging.
Modules may be selected in any of the three broad fields:
- wet photography
- video
- digital imaging
Visual Arts
Visual Arts provides opportunities for students to enjoy the making and studying of art. It builds an understanding of the role of art in all forms of media, both in the contemporary and historical world, and enables students to represent their ideas and interests in artworks. Visual Arts enables students to become informed about, understand and write about their contemporary world.
What will students learn about – and learn to do?
Students learn about the pleasure and enjoyment of making different kinds of artworks in 2D, 3D and/or 4D forms. They learn to represent their ideas and interests with reference to contemporary trends and how artists including painters, sculptors, architects, designers, photographers and ceramists, make artworks. They also explore how their own lives and experiences can influence their artmaking and critical and historical studies.
Students learn to make artworks using a range of materials and techniques in 2D, 3D and/or 4D forms, including traditional and more contemporary forms, site-specific works, installations, video and digital media and other ICT forms, to build a body of work over time. They learn to develop their research skills, approaches to experimentation and how to make informed personal choices and judgements. They learn to record procedures and activities about their artmaking practice in their Visual Arts diary.
Students learn to investigate and respond to a wide range of artists and artworks in artmaking and critical and historical studies. They also learn to interpret and explain the function of and relationships in the art world between the artist – artwork – world – audience to make and study artworks.
Stage 6 Visual Arts
In the Preliminary and HSC course Visual Arts students need to produce:
- artworks in at least two expressive forms and use of a process diary
- a broad investigation of ideas in art making, art criticism and art history.
- development of a body of work and use of a process diary (HSC Course)
- a minimum of five case studies (HSC Course)
- deeper and more complex investigations in art making, art criticism and art history (HSC Course).
Visual Design
Visual Design plays a significant role in many applied creative fields. This course provides students with opportunities to explore and understand the nature of good design practice, conceptual knowledge, technology, the role of the artist as designer and the value and meaning of visual design artworks in society and the role of the audience as consumer in these contexts.What will students learn about?
Students learn about the pleasure and enjoyment of making different kinds of visual design forms including print, object and space-time. Much of a student’s knowledge of the world and concepts of identity come from the print, object and space-time design that surrounds them.
What will students learn to do?
Students will learn to investigate visual design in greater depth and breadth and these opportunities enable students to understand and explore the nature of visual design as a field of multiple disciplines grounded in artistic practice. In this course students will be provided with opportunities to engage with practice (making and critical and historical interpretations), the conceptual framework and the four frames in making and interpreting visual design works.
Stage 6 Course:
Visual Design Stage 6 builds on related studies in Visual Design Stage 5 and Visual Arts Years 7–10; however, it is not a prerequisite to have studied any of the arts subjects in Stage 5. Visual Design also allows students to enhance their study of the Higher School Certificate courses in Visual Arts and Design and Technology. The following modules are covered:
- Graphic Design
- Wearable Design
- Product Design
- Interior/Exterior Design
Studying the creative arts, students learn to appreciate, compose, listen, make and perform. Each art form has its own unique knowledge and skills, elements or concepts as well as a capacity to inspire and enrich lives.
Students must study 100 hours of both music and visual arts during Years 7 to 10. They also have an opportunity to further develop their knowledge and skills in other art forms through elective subjects including drama, dance, photography and visual design. Students can then select from a range of courses in Years 11 to 12.