Dance: Elements of Dance

What are the elements of dance?

Learning in dance involves students using and understanding the elements of dance. (Creative Arts K – 6 Syllabus, p.17)

Today in the lecture we looked at the elements of dance

• Space – (This element looks at Shapes: Is it symmetrical & asymmetrical?/ Levels: Is it high, medium, low?/Dimension: forwards, backwards, up, down, left, right /Pathways: curved, linear, zigzag /Personal or General/Environment)
• Time – (This element looks at Tempo /Metric pattern/Duration/Rhythm/Beat)
• Dynamics – (This element looks at Movement quality/Energy/Force/Effort actions: Is it strong, sudden, sustained or percussive?)
• Action –(This element looks at Shape/Style)
• Relationships – (This element looks at relationships within a Solo/Duet/Small group/ Ensemble/ Whole class/prop )
• Structure – (This element looks at form and unity within the dance composition)

Focus Questions

 

We also looked at the following focus questions that can be used as an appreciation assessment of the learner’s understanding of the dance elements.
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• Identify 3 symmetrical shapes in the dance.
• Identify 3 interesting and original asymmetrical shapes in the dance.
• Are any of these shapes repeated throughout the dance?
• Have any of these shapes been varied throughout the dance?
• How does the dancer use space (direction, level, and dimension) in the dance?
• How do the dancer’s movements relate to the beat and rhythm of the music?
• How would you describe the way (quality of movement) in which the dancer performs the actions?
• What were the interesting shapes?
• What concepts could we add to the movements?

 

The following video was put together by our tutor based on our work of the day.

 

 

References

Board of Studies NSW. (2006). Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. NSW: Board of Studies NSW.