Here is my personal “cheat sheet” for the Elements of Dance. Click here for a PDF version.
BODY
Body awareness (body position, where one is in relation to people and objects)
Body parts (muscles, bones, joints, organs, breath, head, shoulders, arms, hands,
back, ribs, hips, legs, feet, fingers, toes, face, elbows, knees)
Shapes (big, small, angular, stretched, twisted, curved, open, closed)
Non-locomotor mvmts (plie, rise, stretch, grow, spin, fold, bow, hop, jump, turn,
lift, pull, march, wave arms, twist, rock, shake, sway, collapse, stretch)
Locomotor mvmts (run, gallop, skip, roll, crawl, creep, leap, dart, walk, slide)
Body bases (seat, back, side, knee)
Body zones (upper, lower, right, left, front, back, lateral, cross-lateral)
Symmetry vs Asymmetry
Geometric vs organic shape
Curved vs angular shape
Isolation of body parts
Weight transfer (lunge, leap, roll)
SPACE
Levels (low, middle, high, expanding, contracting)
Size of movement
Pathways (straight, curvy, zig zag, in air, on floor, circular)
General vs personal space
Directions (forwards, backwards, sideways, turning, diagonal)
Focus (direction of gaze)
Positive vs negative space
Proximity of dancer to one another
Various group formations (circle, square, tiangle, semi-circle, pairs, trios, clumps)
Use of performance space (large, confined)
TIME
Tempo (slow, sustained, fast, stop/start, sudden, quick)
Rhythm (even, uneven, steady, regular, irregular, erratic)
Pause
Stillness
With vs without music
Duration (short/long)
Acceleration/deceleration
Pattern (combinations of time)
ENERGY
Effort (pressing, gliding, attack, heavy, light)
Force (lightness, strength, tight, loose)
Quality (melt, twitch, slump, explode, bounce, shake, smooth, delicate,
cautiously, erratically, percussively, sustained, punch, thrust, float, collapse, wiggle, explode, vibrate, slash, press, shrink, open)
Inaction vs action
Percussion
Fluidity (glide, slink, fall, shiver, wring, dab, mould, flow, bind, balanced)
RELATIONSHIP
Dancers to props/objects (in, on, around, etc)
Opposition
Meet/part
Follow/lead (partners, groups)
Emotional connections between dancers
Groupings (large & small groups)
Group conventions (unison, cannon, levels, facings, call & response, variations)