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Careers in Dance

Ninth graders explore careers in dance — from performing roles like company dancers and musical-theater performers to related paths like choreographers, teachers, and dance therapists — seeing that dance skills open many doors.

Grade 9Careers50 minutes1 class periodArtistic ProcessExplicit teaching4 StandardsNCAS
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Name dance careers.
  • ✓Tell performing from related.
  • ✓Sort the careers.
  • ✓See dance’s paths.
Essential Question

Dance can be a career in many ways — on stage AND beyond it. What are the career paths in dance?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

Performing or Related?

Project this and sort each dance career into performing or related/behind-the-scenes.

💃 Sort each career — performing or related?Try it
🩰 Performing
💼 Related / Behind
Tap a career, then tap a bucket.
The Lesson · Artistic Process (Warm-Up · Explore · Create · Perform · Reflect)

50 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — On Stage and Beyond

5 min

Dance can be a career on stage AND beyond it — what are the paths?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show two dance careers.
  • Ask how they differ.
  • Warm up.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Look.
  • Wonder.
  • Warm up.
2

Explore — Dance Careers

12 min

Students explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Performing or Related?
  • Sort each one.
  • Discuss them.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort.
  • Discuss.
  • Name.
3

Create — Create

14 min

Students create.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Pick a career to explore.
  • List its skills.
  • Explain it.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Pick it.
  • List them.
  • Explain.
4

Perform — Perform

12 min

Students perform.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Share a career you like.
  • Say why.
  • Give critique.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Share it.
  • Say why.
  • Critique.
5

Reflect — Reflect

5 min

Students respond.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a dance career.
  • Say performing or related.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Say it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the National Core Arts Standards (Dance, HS Proficient).

NCAS
DA:Cn11.1.HSI

Connect dance to careers.

NCAS
DA:Cn10.1.HSI

Connect dance to life.

NCAS
DA:Re7.1.HSI

Perceive dance’s roles.

NCAS
DA:Cn11.2.HSI

Understand dance’s field.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Career picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “A ___ works ___.”
  • Use career examples.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with company dancer vs. teacher.
  • Sort one at a time.
  • Use pictures.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Research a career.
  • Explain needed skills.
  • Interview a dancer.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 💼Career cards
  • 💻Performing or Related?
  • 📋A careers chart
  • ✏️Pens
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

careera job pathcompany dancera professional performerchoreographerwho creates dancesdance teacherwho teaches dancedance therapistwho uses dance to help othersdirectorwho leads a companyperformingdancing for an audienceportfolioa record of your work
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Is a company dancer a performing or related career?
Performing.
QUESTION 2
Is a choreographer performing or related?
Related — they create dances.
QUESTION 3
Name a dance career.
Company dancer, backup dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, or dance therapist.

Reflect: a dance career.

Have students name one dance career they find interesting and one skill it needs. A printable careers sheet is in the Arts library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Careers in DanceFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Careers in DanceQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Careers in DancePrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: career, choreographer, company dancer, dance teacher, dance therapist, director, performing, portfolio
  1. a professional performer
  2. who teaches dance
  3. who uses dance to help others
  4. who leads a company
  5. who creates dances
  6. a record of your work
  7. a job path
  8. dancing for an audience

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Is a company dancer a performing or related career?
  2. Is a choreographer performing or related?
  3. Name a dance career.
Answer key — Part A: 1) company dancer · 2) dance teacher · 3) dance therapist · 4) director · 5) choreographer · 6) portfolio · 7) career · 8) performing
Part B: 1) Performing. 2) Related — they create dances. 3) Company dancer, backup dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, or dance therapist.