Senior Phase Creative Arts

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What is Creative arts?

The subject Creative Arts provides exposure to and study of a range of art forms including dance, drama, music and visual arts (including design and crafts) from Grade R to Grade 9. The main purpose of the subject Creative Arts is to develop learners as creative, imaginative individuals who appreciate the arts and who have the basic knowledge and skills to participate in arts activities and to prepare them for possible further study in the art forms of their choice in Further Education and Training (FET).

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Specific Aims

The intention of Creative Arts is to:

  • develop creative, expressive and innovative individuals and teams;
  • provide learners with exposure to and experiences in dance, drama, music and visual arts;
  • provide access to basic arts education for all learners;
  • identify and nurture artistic talent, aptitude and enthusiasm;
  • equip learners with adequate basic skills to pursue further studies in the art forms of their choice;
  • develop an awareness of arts across diverse cultures;
  • expose learners to the range of careers in the arts;
  • develop arts literacy and appreciation;
  • develop future audiences and arts consumers; and
  • develop life skills through the arts.

Dance

The study of dance in the Senior Phase as part of Creative Arts focuses on providing opportunities for learners to experience the joy of dancing, to learn how to use their bodies safely, to develop their fitness for dancing and to develop sufficient basic skills to equip them for selecting Dance Studies as a subject in FET. Through improvisation and composition, learners of dance begin to explore and create their own movement sequences and begin to appreciate dance as a creative art. Since dance learning is both circular and linear, the same topics are repeated throughout the year, and in each subsequent year, with increasing complexity. Developing skills such as coordination, strength, flexibility, stamina, endurance and control takes a long time and requires regular practice.

Drama

The study of drama in Creative Arts gives learners tools to represent human experiences in dramatic form, through processes of participation, collaboration, exploration and presentation. Drama encourages the creative exploration of themes and issues, creates a safe context for this exploration, and provides opportunities to reflect on the insights gained in the process. Learners appreciate and interpret a wide range of dramatic works both published and created in the class. The focus on physical and vocal warm-up activities is vital because these activities not only help to prevent injury, but also develop physical awareness, coordination and strength over time. Since the body and voice are the primary means of communication and expression in drama, they must be used safely and effectively. An important aspect of drama is the development of classroom performances (through improvisation/playmaking processes) based on a specific stimulus. In drama, the learner explores the motivation and the relationships between people in a real, imagined or historical context, to help him or her understand the world. The learner is encouraged to make decisions and to take responsibility for those decisions within the safe context of the drama.

Music

The study of music in Creative Arts aims to develop the ability to perform a variety of vocal and instrumental music in group and solo contexts. In addition, learners are exposed to the written and aural language of music through reading and writing music. Furthermore, the subject aims to develop the ability to create new music through improvising and composing, using both conventional and non-conventional compositional techniques. The content also enables learners to become informed listeners of music by actively listening to a variety of music ranging from Western, indigenous and popular music. If learners wish to study Music in the FET band, special effort should be made for them to develop the ability to perform instrumentally or vocally at an elementary level and have a good sense of rhythm and pitch. They should also be able to read staff notation at the end of Grade 9.

Visual arts

Constant exposure to the content, concepts and skills of visual arts, through a range of different activities that vary in depth and breadth, will help learners develop a rich visual language and related skills. Critical and reflective thinking skills are developed, and learners reap enormous satisfaction from being able to express themselves in symbolic, visual ways. Progression in the visual arts is both cyclical and linear. Teaching should be age appropriate and sensitive to the development of genuine creativity. For those learners who wish to select FET Design or Visual Arts as subjects to study in the FET band, the study of Visual Arts in Senior Phase is crucial to equip them with the necessary foundational skills.