Dance revision booklet

Good studio practice

The warm up

Name 3 reasons as to why you need to warm up at the beginning of a dance class
1. Reduce possibility of injury
2. Prepare you for the class
3. Raises body temperature and heart rate increases

Fill in the gaps on what effects warming up has on the body:
Warming up increases the heart beat ,which increases the blood circulation. This allows oxygen to reach the muscles. The muscles can now work more efficiently. Warming up improves joint mobility, mobilising and loosening exercises lubricates the joints. Stretching the muscles increases the blood flow to them which makes them increase stamina (the amount of work muscles can do before fatigue sets in) and flexibility (the range of movement in the joints which is increased by lengthening muscle fibres).

Examples of warm up exercises:
1. Pulse raising Jogging on the spot. (8 counts) Star jumps. (8 counts) Elbow to knee. (8 counts) Heel to bum. (8 counts) Jogging on the spot with arms first straight up and then out to the sides. (8 counts) Star jumps. (8 counts) Elbow to knee (8 counts) Heel to bum whilst pumping arms back. (8 counts)
2. Mobilising Neck and ankle rolls. (8 counts) Mobilising hips and ankles. (8 counts) Hips side to side. (8 counts) Open and closing legs. (8 counts) Neck and ankle rolls. (8 counts) Mobilising hips and ankles. (8 counts) Hips rolling in a clockwise direction. (8 counts) Open and closing legs. (8 counts)
3. Stretching Head to knee. (8 counts) Side stretch to the right, flat back to the right, head to right leg, hands on the floor, head to left leg, flat back to the left, side stretch to the left. (56 counts)

The cool down

Name 5 reasons why we cool down after class:
1. Allow the heart rate to gradually return to normal.
2. Prevents pooling of blood in the muscles.
3. Prevents the build-up of waste products or toxins such as lactic acid.
4. Temperature lowers.
5. Prepares us for the outside world.

Fill in the gaps:
The cool down is a recovery time, gradually restoring the body to normal. Gentle exercises bring the heart rate down slowing the breathing rate. Stopping exercise too suddenly can cause pooling of the blood in the lower limbs which can cause dizziness and fainting. During exercise lactic acid builds up in the muscles and needs to be “squeezed” out by stretching to prevent soreness and stiffness the next day.

Suggest 2 cool down activities:
1.
Have one leg behind you straight and one stretched just in front of you which is bent at the knee and then have the hand that is the same side as the bent knee on the floor next to the foot and the other arm stretched in the air
2.
Have your hands on the floor and your arms straight like your about to do a push-up with your head and neck as straight as possible facing forward then have your legs stretched out together behind you with only your toes on the floor and then in your lower back head curved down creating a curve from your lower back up to you.

Health and safety

The performance space needs to be safe needs to be safe for dancing.
Make a list of things that would make a safe performance space.
1. No spills
2. No obstacles
3. Room be at an nice steady temperature around 17C

What precautions should the teacher/student take to make sure that the dancer is also safe?
1. Must have bare feet or correct dance shoes for practical
2. Must have your hair tied up and out of you face with no jewellery on
3. Must wear correct clothing nothing that’s to tight or to baggy wear things like a leotard

These precautions will ensure that injuries are less likely to occur.

Avoidance and care
Dance technique can push the body to its limits therefore injuries can occur even if the dancer has performed a warm up. List the types of injuries that can occur and the reasons for these injuries

Type of injury
Reason for injury
1. muscle strain

2. neck strain

3. snapping hip syndrome
A muscle strain cause tenderness of the muscle and possible swelling. Muscle strains are caused by sudden contraction of a muscle.

Head movement can easily strain a dancers neck muscles, especially if dancers do not properly use the full spine when arching the neck.

Weakness along the outside of the hip and lordosis can cause this syndrome. Dancers will experience a snapping rubber band like sound in the frontal hip joint as the band glides over the greater trochanter battlement or developpe.

Dancers can treat injuries by:
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

Dancers diet

Fill in gaps:
A dancers requires a balanced diet. This includes: protein, for example meat, protein helps the body metabolic rate, immune system and muscle tissue repair. Carbohydrates for example bread and potatoes. Complex carbohydrates (whole grains) slowly release glucose into the blood stream giving you more energy through out the day. Simple carbohydrates (sugars) can give you a quick burst of energy. Your body and brain need a steady supply of glucose from the blood. Vitamins such as vitamin A, B, C are found in fruits and can help your immune system. Minerals such as calcium, zinc and iron also helps strengthen bones and blood flow. Fibre found in cereals help the digestive system. Fats provide a concentrated source of energy to the body. Foods rich in saturated fats are usually of animal origin. Vegetable fats are generally unsaturated. Saturated fat raises the level of cholesterol in the blood. Reports advocate that no more than 35% of daily energy requirement should come from fat. Dancers require plenty of water as you sweat faster than you absorb water. Therefore you need to drink water before class.

Write up a daily meal plan for a dancer who is training every day:
Breakfast- Porridge (carbohydrate) with strawberries and banana (fruit) water .
Snack- apple (fruit) and Orange juice.
Lunch-Pasta (carbohydrate) with fish (protein) and sweetcorn.
Snack- Cereal bar with water.
Dinner- Rice(carbohydrate) with chicken (protein) and sweet and sour sauce (fruit and vegetables).
Dessert- Raspberry and chocolate sorbet (fruit and sugar).

Technical nature of dance skills

There are a variety of dance styles and dance techniques such as ballet, street, Irish, modern, contemporary and jazz.
In general the following basic principles will always be referred to for example how you stand. Make sure you understand the basic principles of movement:

Posture
The way you stand or sit.

Describe how a dancer should stand ready for a contemporary class:
Feet are parallel slightly open knees are over your toes, then your hips over your knees and your ribs over your hips, shoulders are relaxed and down hands are loose and by your side face should be facing forward with your eye line slightly higher than usually.

Alignment (when you have good alignment you will feel balanced and ready to move)
The positioning of one body part to another.

Co-ordination
2 body parts working together at the same time.
Balanced
Having an inner energy.

How does a dance stay on balance on the ball of one foot?
All muscles must be pulled up weight centralised all over the ball of the foot.

Strength
The muscles in the whole of your body.
Flexibility
The range of movement that is attainable with a joint or muscle.

How can dance increase flexibility?
By continues movements the will become more lose and easy to move.

Control
Control muscles and limbs through power and alignment.
Mobility
How easily you move.

List the 5 main body actions (what the body does):
Travel
Turns
Elevation
Gesture
Stillness

Give 3 examples of different types of the above.
Turns- Pivot, pirouette and head spin.
Travel- Walk, run and tiptoe.
Elevation- Leap, spring and bounce.
Gesture- Nod, shake hips and punch.
Stillness- Pause, freeze and suspend.

Other actions are:
Flexion- The action of bending at the joint.
Extension- Lengthening one or more muscles or limbs.
Rotation- The action of rotation around an axis.

Describe and draw the 3 stages of elevation or a jump:
1- Preparation
2-Flight
3-Landing
Bend your knees
Plie
Neutral position
Bending knees so they are over the toes
Push through the ball of the foot to propel your self into the air

Bend your knees over the middle toe

Describe 2 exercise and say how they could help to prepare the legs for take off and landing:
Exercise 1
Plie
How it helps it helps because it builds up the muscles in your legs which will give you more elevation when you take off .
Exercise 2 stretching your feet
How it helps
It build ups the muscles in your feet to give you move power because you learn to use the whole of your foot to push off of.
Name the 5 different basic jumps:
2 to 2- normal jump
2 to 1- sissonne
1 to 2- assemble
1 to the same- hop
1 to the other- leap

Describe how you would ensure that dancers were safe when taking part in contact work(partner work)
1. Trust
2. Use of peripheral vision
3. Shared responsibility

What factors should you consider when preparing and turn in dance?
The most important thing is spotting being technically correct and having enough space to turn.

What is a gesture?
Action or movements of a body part that is not weight bearing.

A dance is usually made up of 4 components:
Actions-What
Space-Where
Dynamics-How
Relationships-With whom

Example of space- Where the body moves pathways, proximity, levels, personal, general, directions, body shape design, size, level.

Example of dynamics- How the body is moving free, strong, staccato, slow, sustained, direct, heavy, smooth, floppy, dreamlike, mechanical, controlled, continuous, explosive, jagged, sound, soft, sharp, wavy, jerky, fast and indirect.

Example of relationships: partners-contrast, mirror, lead and follow, copy, act and react, complement.
Groups-Unison, canon, formations, accumulation.
Contact- push, pull, turn, lift, fall and catch.

The expressive nature of dance skills
Focus- Using the eyes to enhance performance or interpretative qualities
Projection- When a dancer gives out appropriate energy to connect with the audience and draw them into the performance.
Musicality- The ability to pick out the unique qualities of the accompaniment and make them evident though the performance.
Sense of style- A style of dance
Communication of choreographic intention- Using the same style and intent as th choreographer wanted.