Question 1

What is NCEA AS 91595 about?

Accepted Answer

This written exam standard asks Year 13 students to show they understand how dance has developed in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Students choose one question from four options and write a detailed response. The topics they can choose from include Black Grace Dance Company, an established New Zealand choreographer (someone with 20+ years of work, like Neil Ieremia), how social media has shaped dance styles in New Zealand, or a cultural dance form. It is worth 4 credits and is assessed in an end-of-year exam.

Question 2

What do students need to do for AS 91595?

Accepted Answer

1. Choose ONE question from four options in the exam 2. Write a detailed response about how dance has developed in New Zealand, focusing on your chosen topic 3. Support your answer with specific evidence — for example, names of dance works, dates, descriptions of movement, quotes from critics, or names of dancers 4. Explain not just what happened, but why it mattered and how it shaped the development of dance in New Zealand 5. Most students pick Question 2 (an established choreographer), with Neil Ieremia being the most common choice — make sure you know your topic deeply

Question 3

What's the difference between Achieved, Merit, and Excellence for AS 91595?

Accepted Answer

Achieved: You describe and briefly discuss key aspects of your chosen topic. You show some knowledge, give a few examples of dances or other work, and link them to the question. You avoid just retelling a biography. Merit: You go further by explaining why things happened and what impact they had. You back up your points with specific details like titles of works, years, movement descriptions, or quotes. Your response clearly shows you understand the significance of your topic to New Zealand dance. Excellence: You make insightful connections between dance works, stages of development, and what was happening in society at the time. Your whole response is well-structured, selective, and every point ties back to the heart of the question. Your evidence is detailed and used to build a persuasive, perceptive argument.

Question 4

What mistakes do students typically make in AS 91595?

Accepted Answer

1. Writing only a biography of a choreographer instead of discussing their significance to New Zealand dance 2. Giving an incomplete or only partial answer — not fully addressing what the question actually asks 3. Forgetting to connect descriptions of dances back to the discussion the question requires 4. Not recalling enough specific details (e.g., names of works, dates, events) to support explanations 5. Choosing a topic with very limited available resources, which makes it hard to show enough depth of knowledge

Dance in Aotearoa

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