Grade 9 Creative Arts is the final year of the Senior Phase and demands the highest level of technical skill, critical thinking and creative independence. Learners produce a substantial body of practical work, engage deeply with South African and global art traditions, and develop the ability to critically analyse and write about art forms. Grade 9 Creative Arts prepares learners for the specialist arts subjects of the FET Phase.
- Visual Art: advanced composition — rule of thirds, golden ratio, focal point, negative space
- Life drawing: figure drawing with proportion, gesture, foreshortening
- Printmaking: complex multi-colour relief or screen printing process
- Visual Art practical: substantial mixed media or printmaking portfolio piece
- Music: advanced notation — complex rhythms, compound time, transposition
- Harmony: triads, chord progressions — I, IV, V, vi — in major and minor keys
- Music performance: solo or ensemble — Grade 9 level AMEB equivalent pieces
- Art history: Modernism and Post-Modernism — key movements and artists
- Drama: Brecht vs Stanislavski — Epic Theatre vs Method — theory and application
- Physical theatre: devised work using physical storytelling, mime, mask
- Script writing: structure a short original script with dramatic arc and subtext
- Drama practical: perform a devised or scripted piece for an audience
- Dance: choreographic forms — binary, ternary, rondo, theme and variation
- Contact improvisation and partnering — trust, weight sharing, flow
- Dance practical: choreograph and perform a group piece with clear concept
- Performance critique: written analysis of own and others' work using correct terminology
- Visual Art: South African contemporary art — themes of identity, memory, politics, environment
- Curate a mini-exhibition of own work with artist statements for each piece
- Music: world music traditions — Indian classical, African drumming, Latin, American blues
- Music: arrangement — take a melody and arrange it for a small ensemble
- Drama: community theatre and applied drama — Theatre for Development (TfD) in SA
- Dance: global dance traditions — flamenco, bharatanatyam, Afro-contemporary — context and features
- Comparative analysis essay: compare two artworks or performances across cultural contexts
- Interdisciplinary project: combine at least two art forms in one creative response
- Visual Art: final portfolio — select, mount and present best 5 pieces with written reflection
- Music: end-of-year performance — solo and ensemble, including an original composition
- Drama: final scripted performance — full production elements including design brief
- Dance: final performance — group piece demonstrating all Grade 9 skills
- Arts showcase: present to a wider audience
- Final art criticism essay: 500-word formal analysis of a professional artwork or performance
- Peer and self-assessment: structured reflection on creative growth
- Prepare for FET Arts subjects: what each subject requires
Artist statements show your thinking. For every major practical piece, write a short statement: what you made, why you made it, what you learned. This is assessed.
Art criticism: describe → analyse → interpret → evaluate. Use this four-step structure every time you write about an artwork or performance.
Grade 9 performance must show intention. Every movement, line and gesture should be a deliberate choice. Explain your choices if asked.
Know at least three SA artists in depth. For Visual Art: Kentridge, Muholi, Bester. For Music: Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Sibongile Khumalo.
Your portfolio tells your story. A strong portfolio shows growth, range and reflection. Include work from different terms and explain what you learned.