Dance revision

Dance revision

1. Dances and their features

   • Tap
     • Characteristics; sound of the shoes tapping, upright, rhythm is happy not sad.
     • Knee's are normally bent but not relaxed.
   • Streetdance
     • Combination of other dance styles like jazz and house dance.
     • There is a lot of body popping and locking- sharp moves. There is a lot of tricks and different formations.
   • Ballet
     • They have pointed toes or flexed feet. They stand straight and have a good posture.
     • They wear ballet shoes, leotards and ballet tights.
   • Irish dancing
     • Techniques; Stay high on your toes, travel a lot, keep your shoulders back, point your toes and turn out your feet as much as possible.
   • Folk dancing
     • Consists of skips, jumps, steps and hops making patterns and group formations.
     • Folk dancers commonly wear long skirts, handkerchiefs and capes.
   • Flamenco dance
     • The dancers dance passionately as the song is being belted out- you can even see the explosion of emotions in the dancer's facial expressions thoughout the performance.

2. Nutrition for dancers

   • Balanced diet; carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibre, fruit and veg, vitamins and minerals and dairy.
   • Simple carbs- a quick fix, for example chocolate (sugar based)
   • Complex carbs- take longer to digest, longer fix.

3. Warming up and cooling down

   • Warming up
     • Prevents injuries, mind preparation for dance, increases body temperature, circulates blood- takes oxygen and energy to body, lengthens muscles, improves viscosity of synovial fluid.
   • Cooling down
     • Brings heart rate back down, stretches to improve the dispersal of lactic acid in muscles and help prevent Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness.

4. Safe practice

   • Supporting and lifting; trust, concentration, right proportions, bend knees (act as a shock absorber), work slowly and know where to support.
   • Weight sharing; trust, confidence, let partner know, balanced and work slowly.
   • Working with others; teamwork, spacial awareness and be aware of what is happening around you.
   • If injured; R- rest, I-ice, C-compression, E- elevate, D- diagnosis.
   • Safe practice of the dancer.
     • Wear- clothes you can move in, not too tight- causes bones to become brittle, not too loose- trip over it, no belts, jewelery or buckles, tie hair back.

5. Rehearsing safely

   • Is studio big enough?
   • Is the space high enough?
   • Are there any obstructions?
   • If there are pillows they need to be padded
   • Is the floor surface appropriate?
   • Does it have a sprung floor?
   • Is the room temp constant- 19 to 21 degrees?
   • Is there adequate ventalation?
   • Is the studio well lit?
   • Are the mirrors made of safety glass?
   • Are there any trailing wires?

6. Performance skills

   • Technique- accuracy of movements within a particular style.
   • Projection- Throw the energy out to the audience so they feel it. Breathing aids projection.
   • Emphasis- knowing what aspects of action, time and space to accent at different movements.
   • Group awareness- what you can see out of the corner of your eye. Making sure everyone knows where they are in the space.
   • Musicality- The sense of rhythm and musical structure within the dancers movements.
   • Focus- where you are looking at or what you are looking at.
   • Facial expression- gives us an idea of character, style of dance (dead pan)
   • Involvement of the whole self- you become the dance.

7. Stimulus

   • A stimulus is something that inspires you to work or create a dance.
   • Different types of stimuli; poem, words, spoken text, photograph, prop, feature of natural world, music, everyday activity.

8. Motif development

   • Change direction
   • Change pathway
   • Change levels
   • Change dynamics
   • Retrograde
   • Fragmentation
   • Change facing
   • Change space
   • Invert