Saint Ferdinand College

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

City of Ilagan, Isabela

PRINTED
LEARNING
MATERIAL
IN
PE AND HEALTH
WEEK 3 (1st Quarter)
GRADE 12

MICHAELA V. LOZADA, LPT.

Subject Teacher
 Quarter 1
Lesson 3: Elements of Dance
Prepared by: Michaela Lozada, LPT.

Duration : 1 hr and 30 mins. (Week 1)

Methods: Module/ Online Class

Topic: Brief History and Nature of Dance

Introduction:

The human body is living in time and space, and it exhibits some effort. Thus, all
movements occur in time, through space, and with effort (Schrader,1996). Since dance
entails a lot of movements, it uses the very same elements, space, time, and energy. These
elements are beneficial to anyone interested in recognizing, analysing or creating
movement.

SPACE
This is the are the performers occupy and where they move. It can be divided into four different aspects,
also known as spatial elements.
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. 

a. direction – dance movements can travel in any direction. The

performers can go forward, side, backward, diagonal, circular and so
on. They may also face any direction while executing a single
movement or several phrases.

b. Size – movements can be varied by doing larger or smaller actions.

c. Level – movements can be done in a high, medium, or low level.

d. Focus- performs may change their focus by looking at different

directions.

TIMING

The movements in timing may be executed in varying tempo

(speed).Performers move with the tempo of an underlying sound,
known as beat and pulse. The timing can be varied by moving
faster or slower than the normal beat. When a sequence of a movement or group of phrases is done in
varying tempos, they generate rhythmic patterns.

Closely related to the element of space is the element of time. After all, a dancer cannot move through space without
moving through time as well. Specifically, the compositional element, time, deals with the dancer's interaction with
time, and again there are many ways to do this. Dance is generally set to music, which defines the tempo and rhythm
of the dance, but the dancer can accentuate or reject the music through their own movements. Does the dancer
move slowly or quickly? Does he or she move with the beat or against it? How is a sense of rhythm developed and
maintained? These questions help define time in dance.

DANCE ENERGIES
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.

The movements here propelled by energy or force. A

force can either initiate or stop an action. Dance uses
different energies and a varied use of these
minimizes the monotony of the movements in a
performance. Here are six qualities of dance energies
presented below:

A. sustained – movements are done smoothly, continuously, and with flow and control. It does not have
a clear beginning and ending.

b. percussive- movements are explosive or sharp in contrast with sustained movements. They are
accented with thrust if energy. They have a clear beginning and ending.

C. vibratory- movements consist of trembling or shaking. A faster version of percussive movemenets

that produces a jittery effect.

e. suspended – movements are perched in space or hanging on air. Holding a raised leg in any directionis
an example of suspended movement.

f. collapsing – movements are realeased in tension and gradually or abruptly giving in to gravity, letting
the body descend to the floor. A slow collapse can be describe as a melting or oozing action in a
downward direction.

BODILY SHAPES

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.

When we look at a dancer's whole body we might consider

the overall shape design; is it symmetrical? twisted?  What part of the body initiates movement?   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.

a. symmetrical – balanced shape; movements are practically identical or similar on both sides.
b. asymmetrical – unbalanced shape; movements of two sides of the body do not match or completely
different from each other.

GROUP SHAPES

In this element, a group of dancers perform movements in

different group shapes. They are arranged in ways that are
wide, narrow, rounded, angular, symmetrical, or asymmetrical
and are viewed together as a total picture or arrangement
within a picture frame.

Summary :

https://www.elementsofdance.org/space.html
https://www.elementsofdance.org/time.html
https://www.elementsofdance.org/energy.htm
https://www.elementsofdance.org/body.html

Online Class
 See you at our Webinar Class via Google Meet
 You can download your module via Google Classroom

References:

 Physical Education and Health Volume II; Conrado R. Aparato, Zyra Ruth Talaroc-Brebante,
Lualhati Fernando-Callo, Peter Fermin Dajime
 Physical Education and Health Volume II , Chapter 2- (page 9-11) Elements of Dance.