5 Dance Action Categories

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The five dance action categories are Travel, Turn, Gesture, Flight, and Stillness. These are foundational movement types used in dance. Understanding these categories can help teachers to structure lessons, guide pupils creatively, and confidently build simple movement phrases.

5 dance action categories

The five dance action categories are Travel, Turn, Gesture, Flight, and Stillness.

The Five Dance Action Categories

  1. Travel - Encourages pupils to explore space by moving around the performance area
  2. Turn - Rotating all or part of their body, examples include rolling, spinning and pivoting
  3. Gesture - Actions that express and idea such as waving, pointing or miming an action like climbing a tree, it can help build the narrative of a dance
  4. Flight - Leaving the ground through actions such as jumping or leaping brings dynamics to the dance
  5. Stillness - Pausing, freezing or holding a position brings contrast to the dance

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