Performing Arts
Music Program
Our instrumental music and ensemble program is a significant part of the Ringwood Secondary College performing arts program, with regular concerts, competitions and tours throughout the annual calendar.
School Productions
Ringwood Secondary College has a proud tradition of annual productions and is committed to staging a full scale, large chorus musical in August each year. Over the past thirty years, Ringwood has produced entertaining shows such as Oliver, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, Anything Goes and Crazy For You, among countless others.
All students from Years 7 to 12 are invited to audition for the production each year, and the school usually accommodates about 80 students on stage. Lead roles are double cast where possible and each student will perform in an equal number of shows, increasing performance opportunities.
In December of each year, Ringwood Secondary College also stages a Junior Production. This is designed to provide further opportunities to students in Year 7 and 8 in particular, who may have been unable to make it into the cast of the main musical. The cast of about 70 produce a one act show, and pull it together in the last six weeks of the final term.
In 2015, the College’s Production of Oliver! was recognised by the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria as the Production of the Year in the Junior Division.
In 2017, Ringwood’s production of CHICAGO received ‘Production of the Year’ at the Lyrebird Youth Awards.
Drama
Drama is offered as a semester subject for all Year 7 students, focusing on the development of interpersonal skills through group work while exploring role, character, and relationships. Students analyze how dramatic elements and conventions across different styles are used to create the drama they make or experience. They describe how drama, including expressive and performance skills, and design elements, communicate ideas, perspectives, and meaning across cultures, time periods, and contexts, including the works of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Students learn how respectful approaches are applied in the creation, performance, and response to drama.
Students select and apply different styles and forms in their own dramatic works and enhance their practices by incorporating design elements. They document the creative process using appropriate drama terminology and manipulate dramatic elements and conventions to communicate meaning. They plan, rehearse, and present their works to a variety of audiences, demonstrating performance skills.
In Years 9 and 10, Drama becomes an elective, where students further analyse and evaluate the use of dramatic elements, performance skills, and style conventions in the drama they create, present, and experience. They work both independently and collaboratively to manipulate these elements and reflect on their own and others’ work. Using expressive techniques, students bring roles and characters to life in improvised, devised, and scripted performances. These electives provide a foundation for VCE Drama, offering a pathway into further study in the arts.
Dance
Dance is offered as an elective in Years 9 and 10, where students explore a diverse range of dance styles. They develop technical skills, learn routines, and have opportunities to choreograph their own work. Students engage in both independent and collaborative dance creation and performance, experimenting with different styles, ideas, and forms. They analyse and evaluate how the elements of dance, choreographic devices, and style-specific techniques are used in their own work and in performances they experience. Students explore how choreographers across cultures and contexts use dance to express, challenge, and communicate ideas, with a particular focus on how dance reflects and challenges perspectives on Australian identity, including the dances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Through creating and performing dances, students develop their ability to communicate ideas and meaning. They reflect on and critique their own and others’ work using relevant dance terminology, while applying production elements to enhance both devised and learnt works. Students plan, rehearse, refine, and perform dances for a range of audiences in both formal and informal settings, adhering to safe dance practices. These electives provide a solid foundation for VCE pathways, including VCE Dance and VCE VET Dance, with results contributing to the VCE ATAR.
Our Other Programs
