DANCING
Dance is an art form, often classified as a sport, consisting of sequences of body movements
with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected.
Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or by its historical
period or place of origin.[3] Dance is typically performed with musical accompaniment, and sometimes with the
dancer simultaneously using a musical instrument themselves.
The Elements of Dance are the basic building blocks of dance that help us identify and describe movement,
assisting in the ability to analyze, interpret, and speak/write about dance as an artistic practice. When
viewing dance, we want to put into words what we are witnessing by analyzing its most important qualities.
The elements of the dance provide us with the tools to do so.
In dance, the body can be in constant motion and even arrive at points of stillness. However, even in
stillness, the dancers are inherently aware of themselves. No matter the case, all forms of dance can be
broken down into their primary elements: BODY, ENERGY, SPACE, and TIME. To easily remember the dance
elements, we use the acronym B.E.S.T., which stands for BODY, ENERGY, SPACE, and TIME. Dance can be
seen as the use of the BODY with different kinds of ENERGY moving through SPACE and unfolding in TIME.
Body
The body is the dancer’s instrument of expression. When an audience looks at dance, they see the dancer’s body and
what is moving. The dance could be made up of a variety of actions and still poses. It could use the whole body or
emphasize one part of the body. Exploring body shapes and movement actions increases our awareness of
movement possibilities.
Body Shapes
The choreographer who is designing a dance may look at their dancers as sculpture. They choose shapes for the
dancers to make with their bodies. These can be curved, straight, angular, twisted, wide, narrow, symmetrical, or
asymmetrical. These shapes can be geometric designs, such as circles or diagonals. They could make literal shapes
such as tree branches or bird wings. They can also make conceptual shapes (abstract) such as friendship, courage, or
sadness. Sometimes a choreographer emphasizes the negative space or the empty area around the dancers’ bodies
instead of just the positive space the dancer occupies.
Body Moves/Actions
Dance movements or actions fall into two main categories:
Locomotor: (traveling moves) walk, run, jump, hop, skip, leap, gallop, crawl, roll, etc.
Nonlocomotor: (moves that stay in place) melt, stretch, bend, twist, swing, turn, shake, stomp, etc.
Body Parts
Each part of the body (head, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, feet, eyes, etc.) can move alone (isolated) or in
combination. In the classical Indian dance form Bharatanatyam, dancers stomp their feet in a percussive rhythm. At
the same time, the dancer performs hand gestures, known as mudras—codified hand gestures that are important in
the storytelling aspect of Bharatanatyam to communicate words, concepts, or feelings.
Energy
An exploration of “how” a movement is done rather than “what” it is gives us a richer sense of dance as an
expressive art. A dancer can walk, reach for an imaginary object, and turn, making these movements look
completely different by changing the use of Energy. For example, anger could be shown with a loud quick walk, a
sharp reach, and a strong twisting turn. Happiness could be depicted by using a delicate gliding walk, a gentle reach
out, and a smooth, light turn. Energy is what brings the dancer’s intent or emotion to the audience. The element of
Energy is sometimes called efforts or Movement Qualities.
Time
Dance is a Time art; movement develops and reveals itself in Time. Adding a rhythmic sense to movement helps
transform ordinary movement into dance and informs when the dancer moves.