Sophomore Physical Education Dance Study Terms
Dance Vocabulary
Aesthetic Criteria- Standards applied in making judgments about the artistic merit of a work.
Alignment- The relationship of the skeleton to the line of gravity and base of support.
Balance- A state of equilibrium referring to the balance of weight or the spatial arrangement of bodies. Designs may be balanced on both sides of center (symmetrical) or balanced off center (asymmetrical).
Choreography- Creation and composition of dances by arranging or inventing steps, movements, and pattern of movements.
Principles of Composition- The presence of unity, continuity (transitions), and variety (contrasts and repetition) in choreography.
Projection- A confident presentation of one’s body and energy to communicate movement and meaning clearly to an audience.
Rhythm- A structure of movement patterns in time; a movement with a regular succession of string and weak elements; the pattern produced by emphasis and duration of notes in music.
Shape- A position of the body in space, such as curved, straight, angular, twisted, symmetrical, asymmetrical, etc.
Technique- Physical skills of a dancer that enable him or her to execute the steps and movements required in different dances. Different styles or genres of dance often have specific techniques.
Tempo- The speed of music or a dance.
Time- An element of dance involving rhythm, phrasing, tempo, accent, and duration. Time can be metered, as in music, or based on body rhythms, such as breath, emotions, and heartbeat.
Transition- When a movement, phrase, or section of a dance progresses into the next.
RUMBA
The word Rumba is a generic term, covering a variety of names (i.e., Son, Danzon, Guagira, Guaracha, Naningo), for a type of West Indian music or dancing. The exact meaning varies from island to island. The word "rumba" comes from the verb "rumbear" which means going to parties, dancing, and having a good time.
There are two sources of the dances: one Spanish and the other African. Although the main growth was in Cuba, there were similar dance developments which took place in other Caribbean islands and in Latin America generally.
FOXTROT
The Foxtrot originated in the summer of 1914 by Vaudeville actor Harry Fox. Born Arthur Carringford in Pomona, California, in 1882, he adopted the stage name of "Fox" after his grandfather. He joined a circus for a brief tour and he also played professional baseball for a short while.
The Fox-trot originated in the Jardin de Danse on the roof of the New York Theatre. As part of his act downstairs, Harry Fox was doing trotting steps to ragtime music, and people referred to his dance as "Fox's Trot."
In the rise to fame of the Vernon Castles, exhibition dancers of outstanding talent and charm, there was no doubt that the fox-trot was the most original and exciting of their various dances.
WALTZ
Waltz: from the old German word walzen to roll, turn, or to glide.
Waltz: a ballroom dance in 3/4 time with strong accent on the first beat and a basic pattern of step-step-close.
Waltz: to move or glide in a lively or conspicuous manner (to advance easily and successfully).
Waltz: a dance born in the suburbs of Vienna and in the alpine region of Austria. As early as the seventeenth century, waltzes were played in the ballrooms of the Hapsburg court. The weller, or turning dances, were danced by peasants in Austria and Bavaria even before that time. Many of the familiar waltz tunes can be traced back to simple peasant yodeling melodies.
SWING
The history of swing dates back to the 1920's, where the black community, while dancing to contemporary Jazz music, discovered the Charleston and the Lindy Hop.
On March 26, 1926, the Savoy Ballroom opened its doors in New York. The Savoy was an immediate success with its block-long dance floor and a raised double bandstand. Nightly dancing attracted most of the best dancers in the New York area. Stimulated by the presence of great dancers and the best black bands, music at the Savoy was largely Swinging Jazz.
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