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Elements of Dance
Author: John Morris

Students show literacy in the discipline through understanding and demonstrating concepts, skills, terminology, and processes. This comprehensive resource includes documents and videos for each of the Elements of Dance.

Time - All dancers move in time
  • Stillness – still/moving
  • Tempo – fast, slow, speeding up/slowing down (video resource)
  • Rhythm – musical (3/4, 4/4), breath, pulse (video resource)
Space - All dancers move in or through space
  • Stage directions – traditional directions used by performers while on stage (video resource)
  • Personal Directions – front, back, sides, diagonals, up, down (video resource)
  • Pathways – curved, straight, zigzag (video resource)
  • Formations – lines, circles, chaos (video resource)
  • Levels – high, middle, low (video resource)
Energy/Force - All dancers move with energy/force/effort
  • Strong/light - contrast of strength and lightness of effort (video resource)
  • Direct/indirect - contrast of changes in direction or dynamics. Different from tempo (video resource)
  • Flow – free/bound - how energy is made (video resource)
  • Sharp/Smooth - contrast in movement qualities (video resource)
  • Swingy/Bouncy - contrast in movement qualities (video resource)

Body 
  • Body parts – head, neck, shoulders, ribs, hips, pelvis, knees, ankles, feet, arms, elbows, wrists, hands, whole  body (video resource)
  • Shapes – large/small, wide/narrow, straight/round, angular/twisted, symmetrical/asymmetrical (video resource)
  • Locomotor movements – walk, run, hop, jump, skip, leap, slide, crawl, roll (video resource)
  • Non-locomotor movements – bend, stretch, twist, reach, turn, melt, fall, kick, push, pull, slash, float, glide (video resource)

dance_elements_one_page.pdf
File Size: 58 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

dance_elements_with_descriptions.pdf
File Size: 66 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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For More Information 

Argy Nestor, Director of Arts Education
Maine Arts Commission
207/287-2713 direct line

argy.nestor@maine.gov

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