Dance - Choreography, Process, Phases

dance

Table of Contents

Introduction
The aesthetics of dance
- Basic motives: self-expression and physical release
- Problems in defining dance
  - Defining according to function
  - Distinguishing dance from other patterned movement
  - Defining according to intent
- Dance as dramatic expression or abstract form
  - The debate in the West
  - Dance as a nonverbal language
- Changes in attitude toward dance
Components of the dance
- The dancer
  - Physical requirements
  - The importance of training
  - Differences among dancers
  - From amateur to professional
- Basic steps and formations
  - Ballet and modern dance
  - Folk dance
  - Social dance
- Choreography
  - Choreographers’ motives and methods
  - The three-phase choreographic process
    - Gathering the movement material
    - Developing movements into phrases
    - Creating the final structure
- Dance notation
  - Prominent notation methods
  - Difficulties of notation
- Theatrical elements
  - Rhythm
  - Music
  - Set and design
  - Costume and stage sets in Western theatre dance
  - Drama
    - Cultural distinction between dramatic and formal dance
    - Drama in Western theatre dance
Types of dance
- Theatre dance
  - Ballet
    - Basic characteristics
    - Innovations in the 20th century
  - Modern dance
    - Expressionism
    - Merce Cunningham
    - Postmodernism
    - The musical
  - Indian classical dance
- Tribal and world dance
  - Tribal dance
  - World dance
- Folk dance
- Social dance

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Edgar Degas: The Dance Foyer at the Opera on the Rue Le Peletier

For Students

dance summary

Read Next

Odissi Indian classical female dancer on white background. (Indian dancer; classical dancer; Indian dance)

6 Classical Dances of India

Discover

Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

12 Greek Gods and Goddesses

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

Julius Caesar in full Gaius Julius Caesar (100? BCE-44 BCE) statue in Rimini, Italy. Roman general and statesman and dictator

The Time Julius Caesar Was Captured by Pirates

9 of the World’s Deadliest Spiders

Solar Eclipse, Eclipse, Solar Flare, Outer Space, Astronomy

What Causes Lunar and Solar Eclipses?

After a perfect launch, spectators try to catch a last glimpse of Space Shuttle Columbia, barely visible at the top end of the twisted column of smoke.

7 Accidents and Disasters in Spaceflight History

Albert Einstein in Washington, D.C. c. 1921-1923. Physicist

The Solar Eclipse That Made Albert Einstein a Science Celebrity

The choreographic process may be divided for analytical purposes (the divisions are never distinct in practice) into three phases: gathering together the movement material, developing movements into dance phrases, and creating the final structure of the work. The way in which the choreographer accumulates movement material depends on the tradition in which he or she works. In certain dance forms it may be simply a question of creating variations within a traditional pattern of movements. For example, dancing masters in the Italian courts of the 14th and 15th centuries simply invented variations on existing dances and published them in dance ...(100 of 23177 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.