Dance is movement through space in time with energy. A big definition for a very fun thing to do! We all love to move around, so here are some definitions to help you understand dance movement better.

Click on My Vocabulary to write in the dance words you want to put in your dictionary.

dance careers – Here you'll find out about the many different kinds of jobs there are related to dance.

warm-up – Dancers always warm-up their bodies before
they start to dance. Warm-ups have stretches and movement to strengthen the body. Click on dance warm-ups to find three warm-ups.

axial - or non-locomotor movement is movement that
happens around the body, in your personal space. Twisting, turning, reaching and bending are axial movements. You can combine axial movement with locomotor movement that travels through space. Try a kick, turn and then step in space.

gestural - movement, particularly of the arms and hands, that tells a story. Her hands pointed to the sky and then moved to the earth to show that rain was falling.

locomotor movement is movement that travels through
general space. Walking, running, hopping, jumping, skipping, leaping, galloping, sliding are locomotor movements. Can you find other ways to move in space. For instance, how can you travel on something other than two feet?

Non-locomotor movement – see axial movement

rhythm - The way you organize, put together, the
movement in time is called rhythm. Rhythm will give you a beat that is repeated. For instance 4/4 time is x/x/x/x   x/x/x/x. Rhythm can be syncopated or accented. The traditional West African 4/4 time involves three slow claps and two fast claps (slow, slow, slow, fast, fast) x/x/x/xx/. Two fast claps equals one slow clap.

sequence - the order of the movements.   The sequence for the dance was two steps forward, turn, two steps backward, turn.

stationary - stays in one place. The dancer was stationary, moving only his hands and arms.

syncopate - an accented rhythm, an accent on a weak beat. See rhythm, above, for an example.

tempo – how fast or slow you dance or how fast or slow the
music is played

theme - topic, basic idea. The theme of the dance was happiness.

torso -   the main part of the body, not including head, arms and legs  

choreographer – the person who makes up the dances.

choreography – the movement that the dancers do.
Choreography can be written down so it can be
remembered. Dancers use symbols to tell them where
the dancers move and what parts of their bodies move. One way to do this is with Laban notation.

Try being a choreographer. Check out the dance activity at the Kwanza site in the Holidays section.

      

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