LESSON 1: Optimize Energy Through Dance

Food Fuels for Energy

1. Carbohydrates (CHO) – preferred source of fuel during exercise (glycogen)
2. Fat – concentrated fuel used during rest and prolonged sub0maximal exercise
3. Protein – used for growth and repair (negligible use during exercise)

Energy is the ability or capacity to do work and is measured in calories or joules.

There are three energy systems:
1. ATP or Adenosine Triphosphate – an organic compound that provides energy to drive many processes in
living cells such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation.
2. Glycolytic System – the breakdown (lysis) of glucose and consists of a series of chemical reactions that are
controlled by enzymes
3. Oxidative System – also known as Krebs Cycle and the citric acid cycle. In this system, carbohydrates and fats
are the primary energy sources converted into ATP and this process takes place in the mitochondria of the cell.

If we have enough oxygen present in the blood, then pyruvate, the end product of glycolysis, is shuttled to the
mitochondria and we enter the oxidative energy system.

Aerobic vs Anaerobic
Aerobic exercise is any type of cardiovascular conditioning or “cardio”. During the cardiovascular conditioning,
your breathing and heart rate increase for a sustained period of time. Oxygen is your main energy source during
aerobic workouts, therefore Oxidative System energy is used.

Benefits of Aerobic Exercises:

✓ Reduce risk of heart attack
✓ Reduce risk of type 2 diabetes
✓ Recue risk of stroke
✓ Help lose weight and keep it off
✓ Help lower and control blood pressure
✓ Increase stamina and reduce fatigue during exercise
✓ Activates immune systems, making you less likely to get colds or flu
✓ Strengthens the heart
✓ Boosts mood
✓ Help you live longer than those who doesn’t exercise

Anaerobic exercises involve quick burst of energy and are performed at maximum effort for a short time. The
energy system used are the ATP and Glycolytic System.

Benefits of Anaerobic Exercises:

✓ Build muscles
✓ Lose weight
✓ Maintain muscle mass as you age
✓ Strengthens bones
✓ Burns fat
✓ Increase stamina for daily activities like hiking, dancing or playing

LESSON 2: Managing Stress Through Dance

Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day.
Exercise has some direct stress-busting benefits.
• It pumps your endorphins
• It’s meditation in motion
• It improves your mood

How to make your exercise successful:

• Consult with your doctor
• Walk before you run
• Do what you love
• Schedule your work out

Steps for sticking exercise routine

• Set SMART goals
• Find a friend
• Change up your routine
• Exercise in increments

DANCE as Stress Reliever

People from different places enjoy dancing such as in schools, social venues, community halls, our own home
and even in social media through vlogs and tiktok. Dancing has become popular way to be active and a healthy
exercise program. Here are some reasons why dancing is a popular stress reliever:

1.When the body feels good, the mind does too! The scientific reason for why dance has the ability to act a stress
reliever stems from the idea that when the body feels good, the mind does, too. Any type of physical activity
releases neurotransmitters and endorphins which serve to alleviate stress. Endorphins are body’s natural pain
killer to reduce stress and improve the mind’s perception of the world. It cause the body to feel calm and
optimistic. It also aids in improving the quality of sleep, so that a few sleepless nights due to stress can be
avoided after dancing!

2. Dance offers a creative outlet for people to express their personalities in a safe environment. Dancing offers an
outlet for people to express who they are – through music, movements or even costumes! Dancing helps you
connect to whom who you really are.

3. Dancing improves your physical health. From weight loss, to increased flexibility, stronger bones and building
muscle tone, dancing is a total body workout.

Introduction to Dance
The fundamental principle that dance is an art form or activity that utilizes the body and the range of movement
of which the body is capable. Unlike the movements performed in everyday living, dance movements are not
directly related to work, travel, or survival. Dance may, of course, be made up of movements associated with
these activities, as in the work dances common to many cultures, and it may even accompany such activities.

But even in the most practical dances, movements that make up the dance are not reducible to those of
straightforward labor; rather, they involve some extra qualities such as self-expression, aesthetic pleasure, and
entertainment.

One of the most basic motives of dance is the expression and communication of emotion. People—and even
certain higher animals—often dance as a way of releasing powerful feelings, such as sudden accesses of high
spirits, joy, impatience, or anger. These motive forces can be seen not only in the spontaneous skipping,
stamping, and jumping movements often performed in moments of intense emotion, but also in the more
formalized movements of “set” dances, such as tribal war dances or festive folk dances.

Dance Genre:
1. Folk Dance - a dance developed by people that reflect the life of the people of a certain country or region.
(Wikipedia)
2. Modern Dance - a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance, primarily arising out of Germany and
the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often considered to have emerged as a rejection of
or rebellion against, classical ballet. (Wikipedia)
3. Ballroom Dance – a set of partner dance enjoyed socially and competitively around the world. With the
emergence of dance competition, it is now known as Dancesports. (Wikipedia)
4. Hip-hop Dance – also known as street dance styles primarily to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of
hip-hop culture. (Wikipedia)

Physical Fitness Test is a set of measures designed to determine a student’s level of physical fitness. It is
intended to test two categories of physical fitness commonly referred to as “health-related” and “skill-related”.

Health-related components refer to those physical attributes which enable a person to cope with the requirements
of daily living such as:
✓ cardio-vascular endurance or stamina
✓ muscular strength and endurance
✓ flexibility
✓ appropriate body mass index (BMI)
Skill-related components are physical abilities that show potential for good performance in certain skills (usually
in sports) like:
✓ speed
✓ agility
✓ reaction time or quickness
✓ balance
✓ coordination

Lesson 3: Sets FITT Goals

The FITT Principle (or formula) is a great way of monitoring your exercise program. The key components or
training guidelines for an effective exercise program is spelled out with the acronym FITT
F – frequency – refers to the repetition of exercise undertaken or how often you exercise
I – intensity – refers to the amount of energy the exercise required or how hard you exercise
T – time – refers to the number of minutes or hours you spend exercising or how long you exercise
T – type – refers to the type of exercise undertaken or what kind of exercise you do

1. Overload Principle – the body adapt to stimulus, once the body has accepted then a different stimulus is
required to continue the change. In order for the muscle (including the heart) to increase strength, it must be
gradually stressed by working against a load greater than it is used to.

2. Progressive Principle – means the body adapts to the initial overload, the overload must be adjusted and
increase gradually.

3. Recovery Principle – adaptation to physical activity occurs gradually and naturally, but time must be allowed
for the regenerate and build.

4. Reversibility Principle – all gains due to exercise will be lost if one does not continue to exercise

5. Specificity Principle – training should be relevant and appropriate to the individuals need in order to produce
effective result

6. Variation Principle – training programs varies in intensity, duration, volume and other important aspects of
practice
Each dance elements contains movement concepts that make specific and distinctive.
In order to create and expressive and meaning dance, the dance artist ( or
choreographer) has to make decisions about the look, flow and timing of the
movements, drawing on the broad range of visual designs, qualities of emotion, and
rhythm that are possible in movement. These elements help a dance artist discover
movements which are expressive and unique. These three areas known as:

1. SPACE- encompasses the overall design of movement- where it takes place in the
space, as well as its size and shape.
2. ENERGY ( also called Force) involves the flow of motion- how movements are
animated by kinetic energy in distinctive ways.
3. TIME includes how fast or slows of the movement

ELEMENTS OF SPACE
- Refers to all the overall design of movement
- Both the shapes bodies make, and how the performing space is filled with bodies in motion

1. Size describes the range of shapes and movements from small to big. In the whole body
warm-up, students extend their bodies into a big shape and make the small shape by
contracting all their muscles. Travelling steps in all sizes. Students may take very small steps
that look like tiny; they may take very large steps in giant, reaching lunges.
2. Level describes how high or low movement takes place in relation to the ground. The
students will explore their personal space by reaching their arms to the top (high), and to the
bottom (low). In a normal standing position, they are at medium level.
3. Shape refers to the designs the body makes in the space. (e.g. curved, straight)
4. Directions refer to both the directions of the body and the directions in the space.
Directions of the body are determined by how you are facing. The front, back, and
sides of the body lead us in motion.
5. Pathway refers to the design of the path made by body parts or the whole body while
travelling through space. (e.g. straight, curved, circular, zigzag).
6. Relationships describe our proximity to people and things. Students can move near
each other in a small place and can be apart to each other in a bigger place.

ELEMENTS OF ENERGY
(also known as force) gives movement varying degrees of expressive intensity by how it is
released in motion.
1. Force is the amount of energy expended in the movement. It can be strong, as exhibited in
the punch, or light, as expressed in a floating movement.
(e.g. strong or weak energy)
2. Weight reflects our relationship to gravity. (e.g. heavy or light movements)
3. Quality refers to the flow of energy in movement. (e.g. smooth, sharp or swing).
4. Stillness refers to the absence of visible motion.

• Active stillness does not move but it’s still filled with energy. Active stillness is the energy
we use when engaging in freeze action.

• Passive stillness refers to the absence of motion and animating energy. Letting all the
energy drain out of the body while either sitting or lying down and let the students relax and
refocus their energy.

ELEMENTS OF TIME
refers to how fast or slow movement is, and how it unfolds rhythmically
1. Speed is like tempo in music and refers to the rate at which movements occur. (e.g.
slow, fast, accelerate and decelerate)
2. Rhythm is the underlying pattern that gives order to music and dance
(Fowler 1994)