Dance
Home > Dance > Core > Composition > Composition
Manipulation of the elements of dance
Time
Time is the second element of dance.
The dancer moves with or against time. Dance movement takes up time, and a dance is performed in a prescribed amount of time.
The elements of time are:
tempo
duration
momentum
regular and irregular
accent
metre
natural rhythms
stillness
Tutorials
The tutorials are activities which guide students through the application of space time and dynamics to their own compositions.
- tutorial 1
- tutorial 2
Tempo
Is the speed of the beat. Tempo will
generally have three main classifications: fast, medium, slow.
Fast tempo can give dance movement the
feeling of: rushing, nervousness or a build up in excitement, power or
climax.
Medium tempo would evoke a feeling of
steadiness or fluidity.
Slow tempo could be associated with
fear, comfort, pain or fatigue.
Contrast the difference between the two
different speeds in the example
How are the effects
different?
Duration
This is the length of time it takes to complete a movement, a dance or 'work'.
Some movements may take several beats to complete (such as sustained balances or extensions), while others will be completed within a single beat, e.g. jumps.
Choosing the duration of a movement
will often be linked to the intent of the dance/work. It may also be linked to
the use of variety and contrast.
Momentum
Momentum is linked to increasing or decreasing speed. Increasing speed gives the feeling of building intensity or climax, while decreasing speed provides contrast to a climax, weakening, depression or winding down.
Regular or irregular
The beat in the music can be regular or irregular.
Regular beats give the feeling of steadiness and strength. Regular beats are used in marches and standard dance music, e.g. waltzes.
Irregular beats provide an opportunity for unpredictability due to the lack of continuity.
Accent
The accent is an emphasis. Accents in a piece of music can occur anywhere in the bar.
Most accents occur at the beginning of
the bar. Having the accent on a beat that is other than the first makes the
music interesting.
Metre
When an accent occurs at regular periodic intervals, meter is produced. Meter is the grouping of beats around an accent. This establishes regularity in timing. It provides a predictable structure that supports and propels the movement.
Movement can be used to support or
contrast with this predictability.
Natural rhythms
These generally are those produced by
the natural functioning of the body.
Examples of natural rhythm would be:
breathing, walking, jogging, heartbeat.
Everyone does not walk in the same way. Quite often there is distinctness to the way a person walks. In the same way, the dancer's natural rhythm can have an effect on the performance and therefore the aesthetic of a movement.
If two students are given the same movement to perform, they do not always perform that movement in the same way. This is related to natural rhythm.
Stillness
Stillness is not inaction. Rather it is waiting with a sense of ongoingness. It is a hesitation, a pause in the flow.
Stillness can be used to: produce tension, to create a pause of anticipation, act as a contrast to movement and create the unexpected in the next movement.
- tutorial 1
- tutorial 2
Back to Core
Back to Manipulation of the elements of dance
|