Elements of Dance

Name: Christian Paul B.
Panlaque Year and Section: 1st Year – PED002 MDANZ

TFR 8:00-9:00
Elements of Dance
The Elements of Dance are the foundational concepts and vocabulary that help
students develop movement skills and understand dance as an artistic practice.
The acronym BASTE helps students remember the elements:
I. 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 use their whole body all at once.
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.
II. Action
Action is any human movement included in the act of dancing— it can include
dance steps, facial movements, partner lifts, gestures, and even everyday movements
such as walking. 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.
Dancers may use movements that have been choreographed or traditional dances
taught by others who know the dances. Depending on the dance style or the
choreographer's decision, dancers may also revise or embellish movement they have
learned from others.
Movement can also be improvised, meaning that the dancers make it up "on the
spot" as they spontaneously dance. Movement that travels through space is broadly
called locomotor movement in contrast to axial movement, which occurs in one spot.
III. Space
Dancers interact with space in myriad ways. They may stay in one place or they
may travel from one place to another. They may alter the direction, level, size, and
pathways of their movements.
The relationships of the dancers to each other may be based on geometric
designs or rapidly change as they move close together, then apart. Even when a dancer
is dancing alone in a solo, the dancer is dynamically involved in the space of the
performing area so that space might almost be considered a partner in the dance.
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.
IV. 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 metered
rhythm.
Spoken word and conversation also have rhythm and dynamics, but these timing
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 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, brief to long duration, fast to
slow speed, or accents in predictable or unpredictable intervals.
V. Energy
Energy is about how the movement happens. Choices about energy include
variations in movement flow and the use of force, tension, and weight. An arm gesture
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.
Saying that a dance "has a lot of energy" is misleading. ALL dances use the
element of energy, though in some instances it may be slow, supple, indirect energy -
not the punchy, high speed energy of a fast tempo dance. This framework is a way to
discuss any kind of movement. While different dance styles call for specialized skills
and stylization choices, the underlying elements of dance are visible in all dance
experiences.
Energy choices may also reveal emotional states. For example, a powerful push
might be aggressive or playfully boisterous depending on the intent and situation.

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Name: Christian Paul B.

Panlaque Year and Section: 1st Year – PED002 MDANZ

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