Actions, space, dynamics and relationships
- Actions: travel, turn, elevation (jumps), gesture, stillness, floor work, transfer of weight, and use of different body parts.
- Space: pathways, levels, directions, size of movement, patterns and spatial design.
- Dynamics: fast/slow, sudden/sustained, strong/light, direct/indirect, flowing/abrupt, acceleration and deceleration.
- Relationships: lead and follow, mirroring, action and reaction, accumulation, complement and contrast, counterpoint, contact and formations.
Choreographic devices
- Motif and development: changing a motif by altering its speed, level, direction, size or body part.
- Repetition, contrast, highlights and climax.
- Manipulation of number: using different numbers of dancers.
- Unison (everyone moving together at the same time) and canon (the same movement performed one after another).
Structuring devices
- Binary (AB), ternary (ABA), rondo (ABACA), narrative (telling a story) and episodic (a series of linked sections).
- A clear beginning, middle and end, with logical sequencing, transitions and unity.
Key terms
- Canon
- Dancers performing the same movement one after another.
- Unison
- Dancers performing the same movement at the same time.
- Motif development
- Changing a motif to create new material.
- Counterpoint
- Dancers performing different material at the same time.
- Accumulation
- Adding movements or dancers one at a time.
- Climax
- The most important or exciting moment of a dance.
- Episodic structure
- A dance made of a series of linked sections.