Dance is born out of culture and context, and so evolves as society does. While culture can be interpreted widely, the universal language of dance empowers learners to recognise the increasing diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand and build connections across cultures.

Dance is centred on the learner, allowing them to connect with who they are by developing confidence, wellbeing, and their own artistic identity. Teachers facilitate their access to dance, foster their expression, and give them the skills to communicate and share their culture or cultures. 

Dance encourages the celebration of uniqueness. It enables learners to be comfortable with, and to value, cultures and ideas that are not their own. All ākonga come with their own culture, whakapapa, and indigeneity that can be expressed and connected with through movement. 

Dance is tightly interwoven with the fabric of society, and nurtures one’s sense of identity. All learners are empowered to explore dance types or styles they are familiar and connected with (ones that are part of their whakapapa). For example, ākonga in Aotearoa New Zealand are able to access and benefit from mātauranga Māori and te ao Māori. 

Dance also provides space for ākonga to become familiar with dance forms outside of their immediate experience, under the guidance of their kaiako or other dance experts.

Dance is a vehicle for forming and sustaining relationships. These are multi-faceted and holistic – with others, with oneself, and with the environment. Nurturing relationships is a continuous and active process. It is integral to the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of self. 

Through shared moments, experiences, and collaboration, learners can gain a sense of belonging, community, and identity. Diverse identities, abilities, and roles are respected and celebrated, creating a foundation for collaboration and interdependence – valuing and learning from one another. Roles in the group can take many forms in this context and are not fixed (such as who leads and who follows).

Dance is the essence of embodiment (being in your body) and learning within Dance is engaged through movement. As an embodied language, it has its own literacy where ākonga write the message and purpose of a dance with their bodies, and read dance with their eyes and minds. 

Dance vocabulary is active. It involves steps, sequences, patterns, and ways of moving which can be personal or particular to a dance form. Through moving and observing movement, learners explore and transform ideas into expressive works that communicate meaning. 

The language of dance nurtures culture. Through dance, learners can value, sustain, and reflect stories, narratives, whakapapa, and tikanga. 

With teacher facilitation, learners can research concepts, interpret the work of others, appreciate other cultures, and examine and resolve ideas. Through increasing literacy, they can find and develop their own movement vocabulary to express ideas and identity.

Dance education empowers learners to find and use their voice through curiosity and exploration. They gain skills for life by exploring, communicating, critiquing, challenging, questioning, negotiating, and testing meanings and ideas. Through whakawhanaungatanga, a safe and respectful space is created to support this. 

Dance enables learners to move beyond their comfort zones, encouraging them to be creative, take risks, express alternative viewpoints, and create impact through composing and performing movement. It gives a framework to provoke deep discussions about culture, identity, and society. This in turn creates a bridge between Dance and other disciplines and contexts.

Dance education is a holistic experience not limited to physicality and movement. It is a powerful tool for developing valuable and transferable social, physical, and cognitive skills. Learners develop social skills, enabling them to work in class groups, teams, and in their dance communities. Dance heightens awareness of the body and increases the quality of personal and physical wellbeing. Creative and critical thinking and problem-solving abilities are fostered. 

Dance is a unique medium for learning about self and identity, building self-confidence, and developing resilience and perseverance. Ākonga will gain a better sense of their own personal perspectives, beliefs, tastes, style, aspirations, and ways of doing things. They have a safe space to design and organise movements and structures, as well as to communicate and justify their intentions behind the sequences they compose and perform. These sequences could demonstrate stylistic techniques and movements usually associated with particular dance types or styles, or include personal ways of moving that emerge from improvisation and creative work. This in turn encourages ākonga to explore movement sequences and ideas freely and be able to see themselves in their performances and choreography.