What is dance?

According American dancer, dance educator, author, and film and video producer Barbara
Mettler…
“Dance is an activity which can take many forms and fill many different needs. It can be
recreation, entertainment, education, therapy, and religion. In its purest and most basic form,
dance is art, the art of body movement.”

Unlike athletics or other physical activities, dance focuses primarily on “an aesthetic or even
entertaining experiences” (Myers, 2005)

Benefit of Dance
Physical
-develops cardiovascular and muscular endurance
- improves coordination, balance, flexibility, and body composition
-lowers risk of cardiovascular diseases
- lowers body mass index
- lowers resting heart rate
- improves lipid metabolism
- enables joint mobility
-helps improve and maintain bone density, thus helping prevent osteoporosis
- helps recover coordination and neuromuscular skills after injury
Mental/Emotional
Helps keep the brain sharp
Decreases incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
Decreases depressive symptoms
Increases self-esteem and improves body image

ELEMENTS OF DANCE

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)