Dance Keywords

• Accessory

  An additional item of costume, for example gloves
• Actions

  What a dancer does eg travelling, turning, elevation, gesture, stillness, use of body parts, floor-work and the transference of weight
• Acceleration

  Speeding up the movement
• Accompaniment


  The sound that you hear during a dance. For example, percussion
• Control

  The ability to start and stop movement, change direction and hold a shape efficiently
• Accumulation


  When a dancer performs a series of movements and others join in at different times until all perform in unison
• Air pattern

  A design that is traced in the air by part of the body
• Alignment


  Correct placement of body parts in relation to each other
• Appreciation


  Recognition and understanding of the qualities of dance
• Artistic intention

  The aim of a dance: what the choreographer aims to communicate
• Artistry

  Creative skill
• Auditory

  Relating to sound
• Aural setting

  An audible accompaniment to the dance such as music, words, song and natural sound (or silence)
• Balance

  A steady or held position achieved by an even distribution of weight
• Binary

  A composition in two parts or sections
• Canon

  When the same movements overlap in time
• Choreographic approach


  The way in which a choreographer makes the dance
• Choreographic devices


  Methods used to develop and vary material
• Choreographic intention


  The aim of the dance; what the choreographer aims to communicate
• Choreographic processes


  Activities involved in creating dance such as improvisation, selection and development
• Choreography


  The art of creating dance
• Climax


  The most significant moment of the dance
• Complementary


  Perform actions or shapes that are similar to but not exactly the same as another dancer's
• Constituent features


  Characteristics of choreography such as style, stimulus, subject matter, number/gender of dancers, action content, choreographic principles, form and structure, physical and aural settings
• Contrast


  Movements or shapes that have nothing in common
• Coordination

  The efficient combination of body parts
• Costume

  Clothing worn by dancers in performance
• Counterpoint

  When dancers perform different phrases simultaneously
• Critical appreciation

  Evaluation of dance based upon knowledge and understanding, including original insights
• Dance film

  Where dance and im are both integral to a work this includes documentary, animation, dance for camera and a screen adaption of a stage work
• Dance for camera

  Where the choreographer collaborates with (or is) the film-maker; where the intention is to produce a dance work in a multimedia form that cannot be achieved in live performance
• Dancewear

  What the dancer wears for dance and rehearsal
• Deceleration

  Slowing down the movement
• Development

  The way in which movement material is manipulated
• Direction

  The facing of a movement
• Duet

  Two performers
• Dynamics

  The qualities of movement based upon variations in speed, strength and flow
• Elements of dance

  Actions, space, dynamics and relationships
• Elevation

  The action of going up' without support, such as in a jump
• End-stage

  A performance space with the audience on one side, also known as 'end-on