It’s Our Language
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Elements of Dance
Dance has its own content, vocabulary, skills, and techniques, which must be understood and applied to be proficient in the art. The elements of dance are the foundational concepts and vocabulary for developing movement skills as well as understanding dance as an art form. All these elements are simultaneously present in a dance or even in a short movement phrase.
Next Steps
In order to understand and talk about the elements of dance, we
need to first be able to describe what we see when we watch a
video or a live presentation of dance. Use the photo to practice
describing.
1. What do you notice? ("I notice…")
2. What questions does this work of inquiry raise for you? ("I wonder…")
3. What meaning or understanding is intended or conveyed in this work?
Speculate on the meaning behind a work or what an artist, teacher, or
presenter wants learners to understand.
Body
The art of dance takes place in and through the human body.
In dance, the body is the mobile figure or shape, felt by the dancer, seen by others. The body is sometimes relatively still and sometimes changing as the dancer moves in place or travels through the dance area. Dancers may emphasize specific parts of their body in a dance phrase or their whole body.
When we look at a dancer's whole body we might consider the overall shape design; is it symmetrical? twisted? Another way to describe the body in dance is to consider the body systems—muscles, bones, organs, breath, balance, reflexes. We could describe how the skeletal system or breath is used, for example. The body is the conduit between the inner realm of Intentions, ideas, emotions and identity and the outer realm of expression and communication. Whether watching dance or dancing ourselves, we shift back and forth between the inner~outer sense of body.
Next Steps
Watch the video clip paying particular attention to how the dancers use their bodies.
As a group, discuss how the body is used and use the BASTE Analysis Worksheet to write out your descriptions.
Action
Action is any human movement included in the act of dancing—it can include dance steps, facial movements, lifts, carries, and catches, and even everyday movements such as walking. Dancers may choose movement that has been done before, or they may add their own original movements to the existing dance movement vocabulary. Dancers may also revise or embellish movement they have learned from others. Dance is made up of streams of movement and pauses, so action refers not only to steps and sequences, but also to pauses and moments of relative stillness. Movement that travels through space is broadly called locomotor movement in contrast to axial movement, which occurs in one spot.
Understanding and discussing action does not require extensive dance terminology since movement can be categorized and described according to its qualities. For example, while a “sashay” in American Square Dance might be called a “chassé” in Ballet or an “undercurve” in Modern Dance technique, we can also describe it as a “slide” since that essential characteristic is present in all those steps.
Next Steps
Watch the video clip and have a sheet of paper handy.
After seeing the video once, write down as many actions as you remember seeing.
Draw a line across your paper, then watch the video a second time and underneath that line, jot down the additional actions you notice as you watch the video this time.
Select an action word or term from the Dance Elements Organizer handout that you think might be in the video, and write it onyour paper with a circle around the word. Watch the video a third time to decide if you actually see that action in the dance.
Explain why or why not you see that action in the dance.
Speculate: What action(s) do you think the dancers might do next after the video ends?
Space
There are countless variations and combinations of ways that movement can occur in space.Dancers interact with space in myriad ways. They may stay in one place and move parts of their body or their whole body, or they may travel from one place to another. They may alter the direction, level, size, and pathways of their movements. Dancers may focus their movement and attention outwardly to the space or inwardly, into themselves. The line of travel may be quite direct towards one or more points in space or indefinite and meandering. The dance may take place in one corner of a stage or in a big open circle outdoors with the entire community surrounding the dancers.
Dancers may also orient their movement towards objects or in relation to natural settings. Sometimes dances are created for specific locations such as an elevator or on a barge for site-based performances. Spatial relationships between dancers or between dancers and objects are the basis for design concepts such as beside, in front of, over, through, around, near or far.
Next Steps
Watch the video clip.
As a group or using the BASTE Analysis Worksheet, describe the spatial relationships of the dancers to each other and their use of the dance space.
Time
The keyword for the element of time is when. Human movement is naturally rhythmic in the broad sense that we alternate activity and rest. Breath and waves are examples of rhythms in nature that repeat, but not as consistently as in a meter. Spoken word and conversation have rhythm and dynamics, but the patterns are characteristically more inconsistent and unpredictable.
Rhythmic patterns may be metered or free rhythm. Much of western music uses repeating patterns (2/4 or 3/4 for example), but the concepts of time and meter are used very differently throughout the world. Dance movements may also show different timing relationships such as simultaneous or sequential timing; or brief to long duration; fast to slow speed; or accents in predictable or unpredictable intervals.
Time may also be organized in other ways including clock time, sensed time, and event-sequence. Dancers may take sight cues from each other to start the next phrase or use a shared sense of sensed time to end a dance. They may even take cues from an event such as a train whistle during an outdoor dance performance. The inherent rhythms in our movement and our aural landscape are a rich source of variation in dance.
Next Steps
Watch the video clip, paying particular attention to how the dancers use time. Consider timing relationships as well as metered time.
As a group, discuss how the element of time is used in the performance and use the BASTE Analysis Worksheet to write out your descriptions.
Dig Deeper
Create four movements or gestures that easily link together to form a sequence with no musical accompaniment. Using just the element of time, develop two variations of your phrase. You may add music or other sounds in these variations, but at least one should be in silence. Perform the basic sequence with variations. Have the group respond by describing what they notice about the timing.
Energy
Energy is about how—it refers to the force of an action and can mean both the physical and psychic energy that drives and characterizes movement.
Choices about energy include variations in movement flow and use of force, tension, and weight. A run might be free flowing or easily stopped, and it may be powerful or gentle, tight or loose, heavy or light. A dancer may step into an arabesque position with a sharp, percussive attack or with light, flowing ease. Energy may change in an instant, and several types of energy may be concurrently in play.
Energy choices may also reveal emotional states. For example, a powerful push might be aggressive or playfully boisterous depending on the intent and situation. A delicate touch might appear affectionate or uncertain, or perhaps suggest concern.
Some types of energy can be expressed in words, others spring from the movement itself and are difficult to label with language. Sometimes differences in the use of energy are easy to perceive; other times these differences can be quite subtle and ambiguous. Perhaps more so than the other elements, energy taps into the nonverbal yet deeply communicative realm of dance.
Next steps
Watch the video clips to see how energy is used in each excerpt. Compare the use of energy in these dances through a group discussion use the Comparing Dance Elements or the Same & Different worksheet.
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