Dance

Genre

Refers to a category of musical styles that share similar attributes and traditions

Action (in dance)

How the body moves. Ex: locomotor and non-locomotor movements

Space

Where the movement happens his/her body. This can be in the reference to: performance time, direction, and levels

Ballroom Dancing

A set of partner dances that include many styles of dance that can be performed socially or competitively. Ex: cha-cha, foxtrot, jive, mambo, tango, waltz

Folk Songs

Considered the music “of the people.” Traditionally associated with the laboring or agricultural classes, folk songs offered a way for cultures, especially those without written records, to transmit key values, stories, and customs from one generation to the next. Folk songs are generally associated with national or regional culture. Instruments used in folk songs vary depending on culture, but they typically feature stringed instruments, wind instruments, and percussion.

Ex: "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie

Folk Dance

any primitive, ethnic, or tribal form of dance, often based on rituals or involving special costumes

Time

When the movement happens. This can relate to the dance and music elements in a piece.

Gospel

expresses Christian themes, and it varies widely across different denominations and cultures; popular variants include the gospel blues, bluegrass gospel, and Christian country music; gospel songs typically consist of hymns and spirituals that feature keyboard instruments (piano and/or organ) and harmonized vocals

Ex: church choirs

Square Dancing

a folk dance involving four couples arranged in a square formation performing commands announced by a caller

Force (in dance)

How the movement happens. This relatest to the energy used to accentuate: weight, strength, and flow

Blues

African Americans from the rural south developed the blues in the late nineteenth century, combining elements of traditional African forms with folk music and Christian hymns; this type of music features simple rhythmic and harmonic structures, and the lyrics often express dissatisfaction or sadness; the guitar is almost always used in blues music. Ex: Otis Redding

Jazz

A highly improvisational genre that blends the features of several other genres, including the blues and folk, to create an all new and distinctly American form of art. Jazz grew out of the African American communities in New Orleans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Almost all instruments can be used to perform jazz, but most jazz combos will feature at a minimum a keyboard, a drummer, and a bass player. Brass instruments and woodwind instruments are also featured prominently in jazz. Ex: Louis Armstrong

Body Awareness

when a student comes to understand the myriad of ways in which the body can move. Ex: identifying body shapes and positions

Creative Movement

a form of dancing using rhythmic, patterned, or improvised body movements

Dance Composition

like choreography, involves creating a dance and organizing movements into specific sequences

Aerobic Dance

typically led by an instructor who guides participants through exercises aimed at improving cardiovascular health, muscular endurance, and flexibility

Bluegrass

developed in Appalachia when settlers from the United Kingdom and Ireland began writing songs about their day-to-day life in their new home; also called "mountain music," bluegrass is typically played on acoustic stringed instruments, including the fiddle, the banjo, the guitar, the mandolin, and the string bass