CSET: Dance cheat sheet

Locomotor skills travel through space (walk, run, hop, jump, leap, slide, gallop, skip); nonlocomotor/axial skills move in place (bend, twist, stretch, swing, turn, rise, fall).

Body mechanics: the center of gravity sits near the second sacral vertebra; a lower center of gravity and a wider base of support increase stability.

Alignment principle: stack the weight-bearing joints (ankle, knee, hip) so gravity's line of pull passes through them; hyperextension of knees or lumbar spine weakens support.

Balance types: static (held posture) versus dynamic (balance during travel); recovery from imbalance is governed by a counterbalancing or compensatory step.

Force and flow: initiation of movement uses muscular force against the floor; follow-through (successive, overlapping joint action) dissipates momentum and gives ballistic quality.

Effort elements (Laban): weight (strong/light), time (sustained/quick), space (direct/indirect), flow (bound/free); combinations produce the eight basic efforts.

Breath support for dancers: diaphragmatic (low) breathing stabilizes the torso and supports sustained extension; shallow chest breathing shortens phrasing capacity.

Safety rules of thumb: warm-up raises core temperature and prepares joint range; static stretching is placed after dynamic preparation, and cool-down restores resting heart rate.

Performance quality criteria: focus, projection, musicality, phrasing, spatial clarity, and safe execution of alignment are separately observable and assessable.

Elements of dance: body, action, space, time, and energy (BASTE); every composition can be analyzed through these five elements.

Space vocabulary: level (high/middle/low), direction, pathway (straight, curved, zigzag), size (range), formation, and focus (where the dancer looks).

Time vocabulary: tempo, beat, meter, accent, duration, rhythmic pattern, and pause; unison, canon, and counterpoint describe rhythmic relationships among dancers.

Choreographic devices for motif development: repetition, retrograde, inversion, augmentation, diminution, fragmentation, embellishment, and direct translation.

AB and ABA (ternary) are the standard introductory forms; rondo (ABACA), theme and variation, narrative, and chance-based forms extend the repertoire.

Improvisation prompts are structured by constraint: limit a variable (one body part, one level, eyes closed, a single word) to generate movement vocabulary.

Choreographic process stages: exploration/improvisation, selection, development of motif, structuring into phrases and sections, refinement, and performance.

Stage space: downstage is nearest the audience; stage right is the performer's right facing the audience; upstage and the wings are designated from the performer's perspective.

Feedback for composition: describe what is seen, ask intent, then offer specific options; feedback tied to the chosen intent is more useful than personal taste.

Court ballet roots: the Ballet Comique de la Reine (1581, Paris) is conventionally cited as the first ballet de cour; Louis XIV founded the Académie Royale de Danse in 1661.

Codification of ballet technique: Pierre Beauchamp is credited with the five positions of the feet; Raoul-Auger Feuillet's notation (1700) recorded the vocabulary.

Romantic era (1830s-1870s): pointe work and the tutu, La Sylphide (1832) and Giselle (1841), with Marie Taglioni as emblematic ballerina.

Russian tradition: Marius Petipa's works with Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker) established the full-evening classical form.

Modern dance founders: Isadora Duncan (free, natural movement), Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn (Denishawn), Martha Graham (contraction and release), Doris Humphrey (fall and recovery), Lester Horton (Horton technique).

Postmodern/avant-garde: Merce Cunningham used chance procedures and separated music from dance; Judson Dance Theater (1960s) embraced task and pedestrian movement.

Jazz and tap lineages: tap developed from African-American percussive dance and minstrel-era exchange; jazz dance drew on Africanist rhythm, social dance, and Broadway.

World dance examples: Bharatanatyam (India, codified adavus and mudras), flamenco (Andalusia, cante/toque/baile), hula (Hawaii, mele and kaona meaning), capoeira (Brazil, music-led ginga).

Cultural-responsibility principle: identify origin, practitioners, and context of a form; distinguish appreciation with attribution from appropriation without credit.

National Core Arts Standards (dance) organize learning into four processes: Creating, Performing, Presenting, Responding, and Connecting (five process strands across four artistic processes).

Standards-based objective format: condition, behavior, and criterion (e.g., 'Given a four-count phrase, students will perform it in unison with correct alignment on three of four trials').

Psychomotor domain levels (from low to high): imitation, manipulation, precision, articulation, naturalization; useful for sequencing skill instruction.

Assessment types: formative (ongoing, informs instruction), summative (endpoint, grades), diagnostic (pre-instruction baseline); performance assessment uses a rubric.

Rubric design: analytic rubrics score criteria separately; holistic rubrics give one overall score; criteria must be observable and matched to the stated objective.

Motor-learning feedback: immediate knowledge of results versus delayed; descriptive feedback outperforms evaluative praise for skill correction.

Injury prevention in the studio: screen for turnout from the hips, monitor growth spurts in adolescents, and modify jumps for dancers with osgood-schlatter symptoms.

Inclusion practice: universal design for learning offers multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement; adaptions include seated versions and signed counts.

Observation and documentation: video review, peer feedback protocols, and journaling provide evidence for standards-based reporting.