Schools & teachers

Why take part

There are so many reasons to take part in the NZ Dance Challenge, as well as having a whole lot of fun, students will:

Learn about the elements of dance as well as experiencing firsthand, the positive impact exercise has on their mental and physical health.

Develop their social and emotional skills by working towards a common goal as part of a team. Their collaborative effort is then uploaded and shared with other schools, building a sense of belonging within your own school and amongst a community of participating schools throughout New Zealand.

Build self-esteem and confidence through their involvement in the New Zealand Dance Challenge. They need to commit to practicing the dance moves and could do this as part of a class time focus, a lunchtime group or even from home!

The New Zealand Dance Challenge provides a meaningful context for learning the moves to a choreographed dance. Unlike most sports in schools, the dance challenge removes the focus on competition and places the emphasis on coming together to have fun! The New Zealand Dance Challenge also provides a meaningful context to develop skills across key competencies. Schools have the option to utilise our teacher resources to teach Dance as part of an Arts Curriculum unit or to add a fun dance option to daily fitness.

We’ve made our resources and step-by-step video tutorials so simple to use, that teachers or students looking for leadership opportunities are able to run the Dance Challenge with ease.

Teacher resources

Our NZ Dance Challenge Teacher Resources have been specifically designed to align with the NZ Arts Curriculum. The content has been tailored to give students a deeper understanding of dance, and to help them develop their knowledge and abilities while enjoying the benefits of getting active and having fun!

Complete your registration to gain access to everything you need, including:

Our curriculum-aligned dance resources
Fun warm-up exercises
Step-by-step dance tutorial videos
Dance Along tutorial video
Judgement criteria rubric
Self Evaluation Activity
Video tips and tricks
Participation certificates

The NZ Dance Challenge has been designed so that anyone can run it. No dance experience is necessary! It may be taught as an in-depth, curriculum-based dance unit or a fun daily fitness programme. Customise how you utilise our resources to meet the needs of your students and to suit your teaching workload.

To get the most out of our curriculum resources, we suggest running a 30 minute session once a week, with short, regular practices of the Dance Challenge routine throughout the week. These practice sessions could be run in 5 minute bursts for daily fitness where the students follow the Tutorial Videos. Simply find a practice space, press play and students can dance along with our Dance Tutorial Superstars Molly & Poppy. All of the hard work has been done for you!

Teacher Testimonials

We have really enjoyed the programme! Many students have gained new skills and so much enjoyment!! I have absolutely loved seeing kids that aren’t able (for one reason or another) to participate in dance as an extra-curricular (after school) activity, be part of this and see them thrive through being part of this programme!

It was a wonderful way for our Year 8 leaders to demonstrate their commitment, passion and leadership in a common interest across all ages/levels of our school.

Imogen Mcdonald

Our Lady of the Assumption School
Christchurch

Our wider school community was delighted that we could use this opportunity to do something as a whole school. It has been so difficult to bring everyone together for our usual assemblies, music and cultural performances for our friends and whanau to enjoy. Being able to share on social media was the connection we needed – perfect for our families to realise and enjoy our enthusiasm for dance.

The kids were buzzing on the day we recorded the dance as a whole school. We’d rehearsed in class and as year groups (approx 100) but on the day we all dressed for the occasion and prepared for our drone video, it was super exciting. Children were dancing around the school all day!

Toni Griffin

Mangapapa School
Gisborne

Register your school for only:

$149

per school for our Term 1 & 2 2023 challenge

Including:

✓ 3 Tutorial Videos (Parts 1-3)
✓ Dance Along Video
✓ Teacher resources
✓ One video entry for the NZ Dance Challenge competition

The video entry can be of a group, a classroom, the entire school — you decide. All included in the flat rate registration price.

Next challenge starts 30th Jan 2023 and completed videos must be submitted before 17th July 2023.

Can’t submit before our close-off date? Don’t worry you can still participate – check out our FAQs below for more info.

Frequently asked questions

Why should we register?

Registering gives you everything you need to teach the NZ Dance Challenge routine. Extend your students knowledge and dance ability by using our teacher resources. A NZ Dance Challenge Certificate is available for all participants of the challenge. Submit your entry for the chance to win the challenge, a trophy, awesome prizes and most importantly have fun and enjoy all of the benefits that dance brings!

When is the next challenge?

Information about our next challenge can be found here.

How do I best use NZDC in my school?

The NZ Dance Challenge can be used however works best for your school. Options include running the NZ Dance Challenge as:

an in-class daily fitness programme
a Curriculum based Dance unit
a dance club run by students
a fun lunchtime activity

What age groups is it suited for?

Primary & Intermediate. The choreography is simple enough for primary school students to follow but there is the option to choreograph sections of each song to challenge older students too.

What dance experience do I/my students need?

The NZ Dance Challenge has been designed so that anyone can run it. No dance experience is necessary! Simply find a practice space, press play and students can dance along with our Dance Tutorial Superstars Molly & Poppy. All of the hard work has been done for you.

How will I know what to teach?

The tutorials have been helpfully broken down into 3 parts. The technical steps are explained in easy-to follow instructions. You can use your judgement for when to progress on to the next video based on how well the students are keeping up with the routine.

Can I link NZDC to the NZ curriculum?

If you are wanting to use the Dance Challenge as part of a series of curriculum aligned Arts exercises, you will find everything you need in our Teaching Resources.

The exercises have been designed to be used along with the dance tutorial videos. The content is tailored to give students a deeper understanding of dance, to help them develop their knowledge and abilities all while enjoying the benefits of getting active and having fun!

How long is each session?

This is up to you. We suggest a 30 minute session once a week, with the option to have regular practices each day. These could be run as 5 minute daily fitness sessions where the students follow the Dance Along Tutorial Video in class.

A suggested format to run a NZ Dance Challenge session:

1 - Warm Up
WARM UP ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

2 - Follow along with our Molly and Poppy
Follow the first few steps without the music.
It is common to need to repeat the steps a few times before trying with the music. As the students become more confident doing the steps, keep practicing and then extending them with more new steps.

Follow the same process for Parts 2 and 3

3 - Teach one of the dance exercises.
(This is an optional curriculum aligned extra. See our Teaching Resources for everything you need.)

4- Warm Down
WARM DOWN ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

The kids have learnt the routine… now what?

Don’t keep your students in the dark. Share our Judgement Criteria with them. Encourage them to think about audience, consider their dance

How do I submit my video?

It’s time to record your routine. After registering your school you will receive a info pack with all you need to know about recording your video and how to submit it . This will be easily done by sharing a folder with you where you can download your video.

Can I still participate if I don't submit a video? What if I'm late to produce my video?

Absolutely, you can still participate in the NZDC without submitting a video. You just, unfortunately won't be eligible to "win" that challenge or any of its related prizes.
If your video is received after our cutoff date, again you won't be eligible for any prizes but we'll still do our best to provide judging feedback for you and post it to our Youtube channel for others to see.