Pulse Alive

Massed dance

The massed dance category in Pulse Alive will involve groups of students from NSW public schools joining together and learning the same choreography to participate in one of several massed dance items at the event.

How to apply

Applications are now open for schools to nominate to be part of the massed dance cast. Due to overwhelming interest, the closing date for nominations has been extended to the first week of Term 4.

Please complete the Pulse Alive 2025 – massed dance nomination form by Friday 18 October (Term 4 Week 1).

Eligibility and selection

Participation in massed dance is open to groups of students who currently attend a NSW public school from: 

  • Kindergarten to Year 6 in 2025 (primary dance)
  • Years 7 to 12 in 2025 (secondary dance).

Groups comprising students of all backgrounds and abilities are encouraged to nominate. We encourage the inclusion of students with a disability and will work with the school to ensure any modifications or special provisions required are met.

There is no audition video required to be part of the massed dance cast and no upper limit on the number of students each school can nominate. We encourage all schools to extend this opportunity to the widest range of students possible. 

Teachers will be informed of the final numbers accepted into the event once all applications close. Changes to nominated numbers may be required due to considerations around venue capacity for rehearsals and performances as well as ensuring access to the event is open to as many schools as possible.

At this time, teachers will also be informed if they have been allocated as Cast A (performance on Thursday 20 March) or Cast B (performance on Friday 21 March). As part of the application process teachers will be able to preference dates they are available for rehearsals and performances.

Please note, it is not possible for a student to participate in their school group for massed dance as well as another category. The only exception to this is students participating in their school group for massed dance and their school group for First Nations dance ensemble. In this case, students will need to pay a separate student resource fee for both categories.

Please note, this category is for groups from schools, accompanied by a teacher. Individual students wishing to participate in massed dance should apply via the individual dancer (massed dance) category.

Additionally, talented dancers should consider applying for the Pulse Alive Dance Company.

large group of students in a stadium, wearing yellow t-shirts and with one fist up above their heads, looking up

 

large group of students in a stadium, wearing purple t-shirts and with arms stretched out and legs akimbo

 

Important application information

To ensure the ongoing viability of the show, the Pulse Alive team introduced some changes to the nomination process for the 2024 event which remain in place for 2025:

  • Submission of the online nomination form commits your school to paying the student resource fee ($52 per student), whether or not you end up participating in the event. All schools who apply will be given access to the choreography and choral music resources, as well as provided with a t-shirt for each student who applies. It will not be possible to issue any refunds if students or schools withdraw after the closing date of the online nomination form.
  • The t-shirt order will form part of the nomination process – please ascertain your students' t-shirt sizes prior to submitting the nomination form. There may be limited opportunity for size swaps in early 2025 to accommodate changes in the make-up of your participating group.
  • To assist in this process, the Permission to publish and participate form for Pulse Alive 2025 is now available – this will enable you to send information out to your students so you can confirm numbers prior to submitting your online nomination form. These forms should be kept on file at your school and not returned to The Arts Unit.

Thank you in advance for your understanding around these changes. They have been put in place to ensure that Pulse Alive is able to continue providing these opportunities for equity and excellence in arts education well into the future.

Key dates

Date Term/week Details
Fri 18 Oct 2024 Term 4 Week 1 Nominations close and t-shirt orders due
Mon 21 Oct 2024 Term 4 Week 2 Schools informed of final numbers accepted and dance teaching resources distributed
Mon 24 Feb – Wed 12 Mar 2025 Term 1 Weeks 4 to 7 Preliminary rehearsal period. See below for specific rehearsal options.
Thu 20 Mar 2025 Term 1 Week 8 Performance day – cast A
Fri 21 Mar 2025 Term 1 Week 8 Performance day – cast B
large group of students in a stadium, wearing yellow t-shirts and with one arm above their heads, looking up
large group of students in a stadium stands, wearing orange t-shirts and with their arms above their heads

Rehearsals

Dates: See below for specific rehearsal options.
Time: 8:30 am – 3:15 pm
Venue: Netball Central – 2 Olympic Boulevard, Sydney Olympic Park

  • All schools involved in massed dance must attend a full day preliminary rehearsal in the weeks prior to Pulse Alive 2025.
  • As part of the nomination process, schools will be able to preference which cast they are part of and, therefore, which rehearsal they attend. Please see below for specific rehearsal options.
  • Confirmed rehearsal dates will be communicated to schools on acceptance into the show in early Term 4.
  • Each school will only be required to participate in one preliminary rehearsal per category they have applied for. 
  • Schools are expected to attend their preliminary rehearsal in person.  
  • Schools will be required to attend their preliminary rehearsal for the full day. Transport arrangements must be made to ensure schools arrive before the start of the rehearsal and are able to stay all the way through until the end of the rehearsal.
  • Provision will be made for schools more than 2 hours travel time from Sydney Olympic Park participating in massed dance to attend preliminary rehearsals virtually if required.

Preliminary rehearsal options

Teachers will be able to indicate their preferred rehearsal and performance dates as part of the nomination process.

Primary massed dance

Cast A (performance Thursday 20 March 2025)

Rehearsal options (choose one)

  • Monday 24 February (Term 1 Week 4) or
  • Tuesday 25 February (Term 1 Week 4)

Cast B (performance Friday 21 March 2025)

Rehearsal options (choose one)

  • Wednesday 26 February (Term 1 Week 4) or
  • Thursday 27 February (Term 1 Week 4)

Secondary massed dance

Cast A (performance Thursday 20 March 2025)

Rehearsal date

  • Monday 10 March (Term 1 Week 7)

Cast B (performance Friday 21 March 2025)

Rehearsal date

  • Wednesday 12 March (Term 1 Week 7)

Performance day

  • Performance day includes a compulsory final rehearsal, venue rehearsal and performance.
  • Schools should expect to be in attendance from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm on their performance day. Final schedule details will be communicated in early Term 1 2025.
  • All schools must attend these compulsory rehearsals in person.

Choreography

All choreography for the event will be distributed to schools by video link on Monday 21 October (Term 4 Week 2).

There will only be one preliminary rehearsal for each massed dance item in Pulse Alive – please see dates above for rehearsal options.

Before students arrive at their preliminary rehearsal, teachers must ensure that appropriate time is given at school rehearsals to learn:

  1. item choreography 
  2. finale choreography.
large group of students in a stadium, wearing pink t-shirts and with one arm above their heads, finger pointing up

Costume

The costume for all massed dance items will be as follows:

  • Coloured Pulse Alive t-shirt – this is the show t-shirt that is included within your student resource fee and will be a different colour depending on which item your school has been allocated.
  • Long black tights/pants – supplied by students. We are pretty flexible on what these are, as long as they are preferably full length. 
  • White socks – supplied by students.
  • White shoes with white soles – supplied by students. See photos for examples.

Any white shoes are fine as long as they also have white soles (this is so we don’t damage the flooring that we will be dancing on). It is fine if the top of the shoes have small sections that aren’t white – as long as white is the dominant colour). White shoes are available at a low cost from stores like Kmart and Big W.

A plain white shoe
A plain white shoe with minimal shapes of blue and red
A white shoe

As with previous years, an optional hoodie will be made available for ordering for students and staff that wish to do so. This information will be distributed in early Term 4.

Hair and make-up

Primary massed dance

Hair

  • Students with longer hair: High slicked ponytail with no hair on the face. Ponytail should be styled ie straightened, curled, etc
  • Students with shorter hair: Neat, styled hair off the face
  • Optional: coloured accessories to match colour of Pulse Alive t-shirt ie hair ties, glitter, ribbon, bows, gems, etc
  • See the hair tutorial section below for further guidance on appropriate hair styles.

Make-up

  • No make-up is required for students in primary massed dance

Secondary massed dance

Hair

  • Students with longer hair: High slicked ponytail with no hair on the face. Ponytail should be styled ie straightened, curled, etc
  • Students with shorter hair: Neat, styled hair off the face
  • Optional: coloured accessories to match colour of Pulse Alive t-shirt ie hair ties, glitter, ribbon, bows, gems, etc
  • See the hair tutorial section below for further guidance on appropriate hair styles.

Make-up

  • Make-up is optional. Should you wish for your students to wear it, please consider the following as a guide:
    • Base: stage makeup ie foundation, bronzer,
    • Additions: blush, brown/bronze toned eyeshadow, black eyeliner, black mascara and red lipstick
Image of performer displaying the hair style for performers in Pulse Alive with long hair

Hair tutorial

Students with longer hair

High, slicked ponytail tied tightly on the crown of the head

It is suggested you use:

  • A small amount of water to smooth the hair and flatten any flyaway hairs (no hair to be on faces including fringes)
  • Apply a small amount of gel and comb through the scalp, styling hair up into the high ponytail
  • Secure the ponytail with a minimum of 2 hair ties that match the colour of the hair or are clear
  • Spray into place with hairspray and secure any hair if needed with bobby pins

Students with shorter hair

Image of performer displaying the hair style for performers in Pulse Alive with short hair
Neatly combed and gelled hair

It is suggested you use:

  • A small amount of water to smooth the hair and flatten any flyaway hairs (no hair to be on faces including fringes)
  • Apply a small amount of gel then comb and style

Resource fee

There will be a resource fee of $52 per student

The resource fee assists with the costs involved in the conductors, choreographers and tutors working with the students, supports a number of music copyright costs and the creation of teaching resources and includes a Pulse Alive t-shirt, which will be worn by all performers as their costume during the event.

For school groups participating in massed choir, the resource fee will be direct debited in late Term 4, based on the number of students applied for during the nomination process. It will not be possible to issue any refunds if students or schools withdraw after the closing date of the online nomination form.

Third-party content attributions

Pulse Alive images, photographer: Anna Warr