BODY ACTIONS

Actions are what the body is doing. By finding out through movement exploration, what
the body can do and by expanding the bodys abilities, one can build a bank or
repertoire of movements one can use in dance creation.
Actions can travel (locomotor) or move on the spot (non-locomotor). They fall into
the following categories: traveling, stillness, gesturing, jumping, falling, turning, twisting,
contracting, expanding, and transferring weight.
The following is an action word list (by no means complete):
Run
float
kick
stamp
close
Skip
soar
punch
jab
shrink
Swing
wobble
flick
inflate
shrivel
Leap
spring
shimmy
grow
whither
Gallop
vault
quiver
expand
dwindle
Slide
perch
tremble
rise
collapse
Roll
settle
wiggle
extend
squeeze
Bend
pause
twitch
spread
crumple
Flee
hold
flap
swell
melt
Dart
freeze
jerk
open
drip

creep
bound
balance
listen
shiver
vibrate
stretch
explode
sink
lower

Relationships
The correspondence or connection between things.i.e. dancers to each other, dancers
to objects, or a dancers body parts to each other.
Relationship words: connecting, leading, following, meeting, parting, near, far, passing by
and surrounding.
Dynamics - How the body moves.
Duration the length of time needed to do a movement
Energy the muscular tension used to move
Even Rhythm movements of equal duration (i.e. walks)
Uneven Rhythm movements of unequal duration (i.e. skips)
Quality characteristics of a movement (i.e. strong or light)
Speed velocity of movement on a continuum of very slow to very fast

Introduction to Dance
Basic Dance Terminology
Rhythmic Patterns:
Walk: Transfer of weight from one foot to the other with weight always on the floor.
Run: Transfer of weight from one foot to the other with a greater expenditure of
energy so that the weight is all off the foot as the transfer is made.
Hop: Transfer of weight from one foot to the same foot.
Jump: Transfer of weight from one foot to two feet, or two feet to two feet.
Leap: Transfer of weight from one foot to the other with the weight all off the floor
as the transfer is made. A great energy expenditure is involved for height or distance
in the movement.
Skip: Combination of a step and a hop.
Prance: Stepping alternatively, lifting the free leg with a bent knee and changing the
weight in the air; like a trotting horse.
Triplet: three steps on alternating feet. The first step is in a demi-plie and the next
two steps on the balls of the feet.
Grapevine: a sideways pattern: stepping sideways, crossing the other foot in front,
stepping side again, crossing the other foot in back.
Chasse: A chasing step, one foot slides out in demi-plie while the other quickly
follows so that the legs pull together and close straight in the air. The chasse can
travel in any direction.
Space Factors:
Direction: the path taken by the dancer as he/she moves through space. It involves
body facings as well as the direction of movement taken. Can be forward, backward,
sideward, diagonally, circles, and spirals.
Level: the height of the body in relation to the floor; it can be low, medium, high, or
any point in between.
Range: The space covered by a movement size, large to small.
General Space: the dance area
Personal Space: the space reached while stationary
Rhythmic Factors:
Tempo: rate of speed of movement; fast (allegro), slow (adagio).
Beat: steady, basic, continuous underlying pulse (basic measurement of time).
BPM: Beats Per Minute. Calculated by determining the number of beats in a 60
second time frame.
Time Signature: a symbol that denotes a metric or measured rhythm (i.e. 3/4 or 4/4)