| What are warm up benefits? | • Muscles become more pliable
• Breathing becomes faster and deeper
• Heart rate increases
• Internal body temperature increases
• Nerve fibres work more efficiently
• Range of movement increases at the joints
• Blood redistributes to the muscles where needed |
| What are examples of warm up activities? | • Mobilise major muscle groups such as arm swings
• Cardio work such as jogging and star jumps
• Static stretching such as standing quad stretch, seated forward bend, chest stretch
(hands clasped behind back), etc |
| What are the benefits of a cool down? | • Releases muscular tension
• Slows down blood circulation
• Lowers heart beat back to resting
• Internal body temp decreases
• Prevents DOMS (delayed onset of muscular soreness) |
| What are some examples of cool down activities? | • Less intense movements such as walking around the room
• Mobilisation of joints such as arm swings
• Dynamic stretching such as hip bridge, hamstring stretch, splits, etc. |
| what does alignment involve? | • Tracking (hip-knee-ankle relationship)
• Stacking (plumb line – even placement and weight distribution)
• Activation of core stabilisers to maintain control over the movement
-pelvis balanced on top of hips
- even balance of weight between feet
- hips and shoulders square |
| what is systematic dance training? | Regular dance training which requires you to discuss how you build up physical skills over time (increasing number of reps or intensity) |
| what does systematic dance training relate too? | • safe warm up which will enable you to perform physical skills safely over time
• stretching techniques which will enable you to develop flexibility over time
• inclusion of cross training techniques such as pilates, yoga, running, lifting light weights,
etc. which will enable you to develop strength over time |
| what is required for the safe execution of movement categories and physical skills? | Techniques such as plie to elevate, spotting when turning, safe landing through the feet, etc. |
| What is requires for safe practice when working as a group? | • Use of peripheral vision and sight lines
• Following front person to align the formation
• Estimating the distance between dancers
• Use of correct timing to arrive at the correct place
• Knowing the choreography, group formations and pathways |
| What are the consequences of not engaging in safe dance practice in groups? | • Falling into the pathway of another dancer and potentially causing injury
• Colliding with another dancer
• Impeding the aesthetic presentation (the look of it) |
| what are the techniques for movement memory? | • Chunking – break the choreography down into more manageable pieces
• Visualisation – mark through the choreography when you are resting or try mini marking
or moving only your head and shoulders
• Strategic note taking – take notes of the parts of the choreography you are struggling
with – use diagrams to help remember details
• Chunking – break the choreography down into more manageable pieces |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define addition | to perform a distinctive body action and add another body action to it: original action must have been clearly seen on its own |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define abstraction | the essence of the idea (feeling) rather than the literal image |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define augmentation | to make larger in size or extent |
| accumulation | build onto one movement or phrase with another and another - A+1, A+1+2, A+1+2+3 |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define distortion | to bend or change the shape of the body action or movement to distort it |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define embellishment | to add detail: adding detail to a movement such as a hand or head movement |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define fragmentation | to repeat a part of a motif or phrase such as the beginning or end |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define inversion | to do the movement using the opposite side, direction or angle (eg right then left, up then down or outwards then inwards) |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define repetition | to repeat a movement, body action, skill or phrase. helps to restate intention to audience |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define rearrangement | to take a apart and reorganise |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define retrogade | to reverse the movement (rewind) |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES: define transposition | to transfer to a different body part |
| name all the 8 physical skills | alignment, balance, coordination, strength, control, flexibility, stamina and transference of weight |
| PHYSICAL SKILLS: define alignment | the static and dynamic relationship of the skeleton to the line of gravity and base support |
| PHYSICAL SKILLS: define balance | ability to maintain equilibrium. Can be balancing on hands or feet |
| PHYSICAL SKILLS: define coordination | patterning of different body parts and different relationships |
| PHYSICAL SKILLS: define strength | demonstrated by holding a balance or doing a movement where you need very strong core support |
| PHYSICAL SKILLS: define control | demonstrated by holding a position in stillness, slowly moving from one shape to another, being clear about movements |
| PHYSICAL SKILLS: define flexibility | occurs in elasticity of muscles, ligaments and joints |
| PHYSICAL SKILLS: define stamina | demonstrated by repeating or performing a demanding activity |
| PHYSICAL SKILLS: define transference of weight | to move from one spacial position to another (walking, leaping, rolling on floor) |
| what does choreographic devices help a choreographer to do? | - process of develop intention throughout sections
- add complexity and depth through abstracting movements and actions
- arranges the movement vocabulary into a choreographic structure by linking sections through use of motif
- creates contrast and variation |
| MOVEMENT CATEGORIES: define gesture | any movement or action that communicates or emphasises meaning naturally. Characteristics include examples like a hand wave, stop sign with hand, tapping foot |
| MOVEMENT CATEGORIES: define elevation | moving the whole body or body part from one level to a higher level. Example= grand jete |
| MOVEMENT CATEGORIES: define falling | moving the body body or body part from one level to a lower level where the body succumbs to gravity (such as from high to medium, medium to low) |
| MOVEMENT CATEGORIES: define turning | refers to the act of turning or rotating the whole body or a joint. Action can go around, over or across the body's axis |
| MOVEMENT CATEGORIES: define travelling | to move across the floor, through space or to move form one place to another in any manner and on any level (can be done by running, galloping, rolling, crawling, gliding) |
| MOVEMENT CATEGORIES: define stillness | dynamic pauses between movements |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC STRUCTURES: define binary | a piece with 2 contrasting sections (AB) |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC STRUCTURES: define ternary | a piece with 3 sections where the middle section contrasts against the first and last (AB) |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC STRUCTURES: define narrative structure | narrative structure is like a story, comprises connected and progressive sections (ABC or ABCD) |
| what does dance design refer to and include? | REFERS TO- how dance was designed or formed through the linking of phrases and sections to create choreographic structure
INCLUDES- analysis or discussion of the relationship between the intention, movement vocabulary and form. |
| DANCE DESIGN: define intention | - meaning or reasoning behind creating the dance
- origins of intention may come from various sources like choreographers ideas, emotions and observations
- movement is arranged through the form of elements to communicate and progress the intention |
| DANCE DESIGN: define movement vocabulary | - refers to the total range of movement used to characterise a particular style or personal preferances
- movement vocabulary is always selected and arranged to communicate a meaning or intention (eg: choreographer may include elevations to promote the feeling of joy) |
| DANCE DESIGN: define form | - for a dance to be meaningful it should have a recognisable structure
- choreographic structure= arrangement of movement or pattern of the dance used to communicate intention
- unpack structure in terms of how the movement vocabulary has been arranged into phrases and sections using different combinations of choreographic devices. |
| SPATIAL ORGANISATION: define direction | - the line of travel
- when analysing, describe the movements as travelling in forwards, backwards, sideways, upwards, downwards, circular or diagonal direction |
| SPATIAL ORGANISATION: define level | aspect of height dimension which includes a variety of levels; low, medium, high |
| SPATIAL ORGANISATION: define eye and body focus | use of body and eye focus to communicate the intention, described as direct or indirect |
| SPATIAL ORGANISATION: define dimension | - the size of the movement both in personal shape size and group size
-can be described with the height, width and depth of shapes and as small, medium and large |
| GROUP STRUCTURES (grouping): define symmetry | -balanced
-where one side of the arrangement exactly reflects the other
-equal placement communicates a sense of strength, cohesion and balance |
| GROUP STRUCTURES (grouping): define asymmetry | -unequal/random
- where dancers appear scattered, clumped together or off to one side
-communicates feeling of tension, confusion, imbalance or excitement |
| GROUP STRUCTURES (movement vocabulary): define contrast | two or more people dance different movements simultaneously |
| GROUP STRUCTURES (movement vocabulary): define simple cannon | a single movement of the first dancer is followed and replicated by the next and subsequent dancers |
| GROUP STRUCTURES (movement vocabulary): define complex cannon | a phrase is repeated by each dancer |
| GROUP STRUCTURES (movement vocabulary): define unison | -all dancers perform exact same movement simultaneously
-same timing, focus, level and direction |
| what are the LEARNING PROCESSES (RADIOLAB)? | • Repetition to achieve accurate reproduction of movements
• Application of safe dance practice
• Discussion with choreographer to clarify
• Imitating teacher as movement is taught
• Observation of choreographer
- Listening to music to develop familiarity
- Adapting the movement vocabulary with the choreographer to suit their liking
- Breakdown of phrases as they are taught |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC PROCESSES (ISARE): define improvisation | -playing with movement, experimenting and exploring
-involves use of spontaneous movement as a response to music, theme, criteria and emotion |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC PROCESSES (ISARE): define selection | -to choose from a range of improvised movements
-about picking the best movements that suit criteria |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC PROCESSES (ISARE): define arrangement | -to structure, manipulate, form or shape the selected movement into phrases and sections
-uses various sections using a range of tools of manipulation such as time, space and energy |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC PROCESSES (ISARE): define refining | -the editing, fine tuning and adjusting of choreography to clarify the structure
-used to fix anything which may not be working |
| CHOREOGRAPHIC PROCESSES (ISARE): define evaluating | -gaining knowledge about effectiveness of choreography by self correcting, reviewing and assesing
-can be done by the choreographer through the choreographing process or after dance is completed |
| what are the PERFORMANCE PREPARATION PROCESSES (CBMW)? | • Checking equipment, costume, music to avoid mishap
• Blocking and mapping orientation and spacing of dance
• Mark through of movement vocabulary and final run through
• Mental preparation (eg focusing techniques such
as breathing and imagery or visualisation)
• Warm up: mobilising joints, cardio, static stretching |
| what are the REHEARSAL PRACTICES (SCRUB)? | • SLOW MARKING
• CLARIFYING (ADDING/ SUBTRACTING)
• REPEATING TO REFINE
• UNDERSTANDING THROUGH CHECKLISTS/ USE OF
STUDIO MIRROR
• BREAKDOWN PHRASES; BLOCKING |
| what are the rehearsal practices used in order to refine? | -technical accuracy (transitions, use of elements of movement)
-pathways and use of space
-interpretation of the dance through editing various aspects of time space and energy
-how the movement vocabulary needs to be performed in terms of the relationship to music, use fo eye line and use of facial expression |
| what are the PERFORMANCE PROCESSES (FROPA)? | • facial expression
• recall
• orientation
• projection; use of peripheral vision/ sight lines
• attention to safe dance practices |
| what are the performance processes used to achieve? | • correct spatial organisation of the space
• technical proficiency and accuracy
• emphasis on various aspects of time space and
energy to communicate the intention and create
sections
• use of motif and choreographic devices
• artistry and communication of the intention |
| DANCE DESIGN DEFINITIONS: define phrase | A phrase is a partial dance idea. It is the linking of two or more single movement actions. Phrases are linked through various uses of time, space and energy and/ or choreographic devices in order to communicate an intention. |
| DANCE DESIGN DEFINITIONS: define sections | Sections of a dance work occur when several phrases are linked together to communicate the intention. A choreographer can arrange and manipulate the movement phrases in order to produce contrast between the sections, or they may complement each other, depending on the intention communicated. |
| DANCE DESIGN DEFINITIONS: define transitions | Transitions are the steps or combinations of steps that link the choreography.
Transitions need to be smooth and create a seamless flow from one shape, phrase or section to the next |
| DANCE DESIGN DEFINITIONS: define choreographic devices | Application of devices in order to progress the intention and create the structure. |
| DANCE DESIGN DEFINITIONS: define motif | A brief movement or movement phrase with an obvious characteristic, often repeated at different intervals throughout the dance. The motif can be manipulated or changed according to how the intention progresses through choreographic devices and elements of movement. |
| DANCE DESIGN DEFINITIONS: define spatial organisation | The use of direction, level, eye/body focus and dimension used to manipulate movement phrases and communicate the intention of the Unit 4 solo. |
| DANCE DESIGN DEFINITIONS: define cohesive composition | Every dance must have a beginning, middle and end. Even if the dance has only 2 sections it must still begin, proceed to the development, and leave the audience with a final image. This cohesion or unity allows the audience to perceive the work clearly right from the first thing they see to the last. |
| DANCE DESIGN DEFINITIONS: define formal structure | Formal structures provide a dance work with an overall framework. They provide the choreographer with different methods of linking movement sections into a unified whole. Choreographers need to decide on the most effective way of linking movement sections to create a formal structure that best expresses their intention and communicate their ideas to an audience. |
| ELEMENTS OF MOVEMENT: describe time | -tempo or speed = fast or slow
-rhythm/accents = even, uneven, accented or syncopated
-duration of movement = long or short |
| ELEMENTS OF MOVEMENT: describe space | -body shape = curved or angular
-direction = forwards/backwards, up/down, sideways, circular, diagonal
-levels = low, medium or high
-focus (eye/body) = direct or indirect
-dimension = very small, small, medium, big and large
-pathways = direct or indirect |
| ELEMENTS OF MOVEMENT: describe energy | -force = strong or light
-flow = bound or fluent/free
-qualities = swinging, sustained, suspended, percussive, vibratory or collapsing |
| TMC INFLUENCES: the intention overview | - Sergei polunins farewell to the dance world
- background behind the torment and struggles as a dancer
- truest showcase what male dancers can achieve and are capable of
-Hoziers 'Take me to church' lyrics are another strong influence on intention
-lyrics make a strong statement about human rights and freedom of expression
-lyrics helped communicate polunins internal conflicts and struggle to freely express himself in an authentic life |
| TMC INFLUENCES: Polunins background | - aged 4 trained in gymnastics
- family separated to different countries and left with Mother
- at 13 won admission to RBS in London alone
-Family struggled to support him so he worked twice as hard
- At 19 was the youngest ever principle dancer RBS
- he felt dissatisfaction like he'd been living his mothers dream which lead to late night clubbing and missing rehearsals
- Left RBS in 2012 due to the feeling of the artist inside him dying
- at 25 ready to say goodbye to his ballet career then making TMC |
| TMC INFLUENCES: movement vocabulary | - Choreographer Jaden Hale-Christophi and Polunin both exposed to Martha Graham technique through the study of modern dance
- MG take interest in incorporating everyday gestures through movement vocabulary
- modern dance encourages using emotions and moods to design own steps and routines
-characteristics of modern dance = deliberate use of gravity, body weight to enhance movement, rejection of upright stance and deliberate falls
-modern dance pushes boundaries and focuses on self expression
-calssical ballet knowledge and technique was also a leading influence |
| TMC INFLUENCES: production aspects (costume) | MINIMALISM; characterised by the use of simplistic style
- achieved by stripping back elements of costume
- modern dance evolved against the right constrained costumes of classical ballet to the bare essentials
- costumes began simplistic (males often wore nothing on top half)
- simplicity allows audience to focus only on movement vocabulary
- freedom to move and transition in and out of floor
- Polunin wore form fitting flesh shorts to highlight muscle (ripped/torn to highlight rebellion against rigid ballet constraints), bare chest allowing Polunin to expose tattoos he's had to cover his whole life |
| TMC INFLUENCES: production aspects (set lighting) | SYMBOLISM: use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities
- white light streaming through large arched windows = deep concentration, lighting varies between sections, flooded with light even through suffering)
- space is inside of a church with high ceilings
- wall broken up by varying shaped windows (in contact with nature)
- sharp, irregular and angular shapes (relate to Polunins emotion)
- floor surface = wooden, unhanded and raw (like his state of mind)
- Polunin often gazes out windows to identify his need to escape |
| WHITE RABBIT INFLUENCES: movement vocabulary (combining styles) | INTEREST IN COMBINING STYLES: working and training at NYCB exposed the work of Jerome Robbins and challenged his ideas to creating his won combined style
- JR is renowned for his ability to create expression nd develop movement vocabulary through combining styles
- Jerome Robbins West Side Story choreography is a perfect example of of combine ballet with jazz/broadway styles seamlessly
-Creates a more 'human' aspect in his choreography which provokes an emotional response in the audience (e.g- ballet and contemporary fusion is the inclusion of sharp, percussive body shape and abstractions of everyday gestures) |
| WHITE RABBIT INFLUENCES: movement vocabulary (background in classical training) | -wheeldon began his classical training at 8 at the Royal Ballet School
-accepted to dance professionally with RBS from 1991-1993
-Also helped stage works with the NYC ballet, a company renowned for new/modern works
-His classical training displays classical lines, complex footwork, use of turnout, classical turns/pirouettes and elevations and overall body projection
-Evident in the first phrase of first section by displaying balletic turn out |
| WHITE RABBIT INFLUENCES: production aspect (costume) | -the costumes of white rabbit were realism inspired
-realism was a movement that began in 19th century theatre (around 1870). It developed a greater degree of real life performance to theatre
-the costume suggests that the character is a rabbit as well as the personality behind the rabbit
-inspired by the tailored suit |
| WHITE RABBIT INFLUENCES: production aspects (describe the white rabbits costume) | -white face paint
-rose coloured, round spectacles
-costume is made to look quite stiff and proper similar to the rabbits personality but would actually be quite flexible to allow the dancer with a range of movement
-features like pockets, wig, tail and face paint create a realistic twist to a ballet costume |
| WHITE RABBIT INFLUENCES: production aspects (set) | -The story telling inspired set was designed by Bob Crowley
-Bob Crowley studied fine arts as well as theatre
-worked in opera, music theatre and in the film industry
-Like Wheeldon, Crowley is extremely interested in story telling and characterisation which influenced an extremely decorative set to create a fantasy that takes the audience to another world |
| WHITE RABBIT INFLUENCES: production aspects (describe the set and lighting) | -the classic Alice in Wonderland red and white colour scheme
-inspired by the classic court room design with a raised central platform for judge and viewing area
-the set involves many layers in space, a backdrop with scrambled letters ands more to emphasise chaos and nonsense
-stack of cards to reinforce theme and story |
| what are stretching techniques? | STATISTIC STRETCHING: 20-30 seconds
-moving a joint to the end of range feeling mild tension and relax
-safest technique for increasing flexibility
-reduces muscle tightness and readies the tissue for dynamic stretching
DYNAMIC STRETCHING: 60 seconds
-actively uses muscles with mild tension
-should diminish or ease slightly
BALLISTIC STRETCHING: end of range movement and bounce (not to be used in warm up -examples are grandbattments or leg swings PNF STRETCHING: stretch with resistance added to it which increases flexibility and builds strength |
| ALIGNMENT: what are the postural deviations? | THORACIC KYPHOSIS- abnormal Hyperflexion of the thoracic spine (round shoulders & back and protruding chin
LUMBUR LORDOSIS- exaggerated hypertension of limb spine (arch back)
C OR S SHAPED SCOLIOSIS- The rotolateral curvature of the spine in C or S shape. |
