ELEMENTS OF DANCE
compilation of Rudolph Laban, Margaret H’Doubler, Virginia Tanner, Betty Toman, Antoinette Marich, et al. by Paul Zmolek
BODY the instrument
- The action of agonistic and antagonistic muscles on bones across joints creates
movement and alignment (posture).
- Whole body or isolated body parts may be manipulated in sequential or block- like fashion.
- Movement may be initiated viscerally or peripherally.
MOVEMENT
Non-Locomotive Movement
- Gestural Non-weight bearing movement of extremities
- Axial(postural) Movement of the axis of the body, the spine.
Locomotor Movement
- Weight transfer/moving through space:
- walk: One foot to the other foot, with one foot always in contact with the floor.
- run: One foot to the other foot, during transfer of weight both supports are off the floor.
- leap: An extended run.
- jump: Both feet to both feet
- hop: One foot to the same foot.
- “jop”: (hopscotch) Half jump/half hop (2 to 1 or 1 to 2)
- assemblé: A jumping step from one foot to two.
- sissonne: A jump from both feet on to one foot.
- gallop: Step and run that undercuts leading step in uneven (long short) rhythm.
- slide: Sideways gallop.
- skip: Step and hop in uneven (long short) rhythm.
- (Locomotion that doesn’t require the feet):
- crawl: transfer about three or more supports with the body in a basically parallel orientation to the floor
- roll: transfer by rotation of supports about a non-vertical axis
SPACE the canvas
Shape Individual or group.
Level High, medium, low.
Relationship to the space and other bodies in space.
Path
- Locomotive pathway
- Trace path of isolated body parts
- Spoke-like or Arc-like
Direction
- In relation to performance space
- In relation to the performer (points on the Icosahedron)
ENERGY (DYNAMICS) the expression
Laban’s 4 Efforts
- Flow
- free: released movement without muscular tension
- bound: controlled movement with muscular tension.
- Force (weight or strength)
- strong: sense of power
- light: delicate, “airy” quality
- Time
- sudden: A sense of urgency
- sustained: An indulging sense of time
- Space
- direct: Having one clear spatial focus
- indirect: Having more than one spatial focus
H’Doubler’s 6 Qualities of Movement
- Percussive: Sharp and sudden movement initiation. (staccato)
- Sustained: Smooth, even release of energy. (legato)
- Vibratory: quiver, shake, shimmy.
- Suspension: Lightness, denial of gravity
- Collapse: Heaviness, giving into gravity.
- Swing/Pendular: a cyclic combination of suspension & collapse
TIME the organization
Duration The length of time from a beginning to an ending.
Tempo/Speed How fast or slow.
Rhythm The events (sound, movement, etc.) that occur within a duration.
- Metric Duration is subdivided into regular, even beats.
- Non-metric Duration is subdivided into irregular “beats” (breath, biorhythms, waves, wind)
Accent Emphasis
FORM the structure
Theme & Variation
Rondo/Canon/Fugue
Suite
Narrative
ABA
Aleatoric (Chance) Composition
Various forms from music (inversion, retrograde, etc.)