The Elements of Dance: Time and EnergyActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning works because dance movements exist in real time, so students need to physically and visually engage with time and energy to understand them. By moving through the structures themselves, they grasp how tempo and force shape a dance’s mood and meaning more deeply than by only watching or discussing.
Tempo and Emotion: Music Exploration
Students listen to short musical excerpts with distinct tempos and dynamics. In small groups, they improvise movement phrases that reflect the mood and speed of each piece, discussing how tempo influences their choices.
Prepare & details
How does varying the tempo of a dance phrase change its emotional impact?
Facilitation Tip: For Power Levels, ask students to call out energy words like 'sharp' or 'smooth' while they move to build a shared vocabulary.
Setup: Varies; may include outdoor space, lab, or community setting
Materials: Experience setup materials, Reflection journal with prompts, Observation worksheet, Connection-to-content framework
Energy Qualities: Movement Study
Pairs of students are given a simple action (e.g., walking, reaching). They must perform this action using contrasting energy qualities: sustained, percussive, vibratory, and swinging. They then present their interpretations to the class for feedback.
Prepare & details
Analyze how a dancer uses sustained versus percussive movements to convey different feelings.
Setup: Varies; may include outdoor space, lab, or community setting
Materials: Experience setup materials, Reflection journal with prompts, Observation worksheet, Connection-to-content framework
Rhythm Composition: Body Percussion
Students work individually to create a short body percussion sequence focusing on rhythmic complexity and variations in tempo. They then teach their sequence to a partner, focusing on clear execution.
Prepare & details
Design a short movement sequence that uses changes in energy to depict a transformation.
Setup: Varies; may include outdoor space, lab, or community setting
Materials: Experience setup materials, Reflection journal with prompts, Observation worksheet, Connection-to-content framework
Teaching This Topic
Teachers should model the structures first by performing sample phrases so students see how ABA or Cannon actually look and feel. Avoid over-explaining; instead, let students experience the forms kinesthetically and then discuss what worked. Research shows that when students move before analyzing, their observations become more precise and personal.
What to Expect
Students will demonstrate understanding by organizing movement phrases into clear choreographic forms, using repetition and transitions intentionally, and explaining how energy choices support the dance’s emotional arc. Their work will show careful attention to how time and energy build narrative or mood.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring the ABA Puzzle, watch for students who avoid repeating the opening theme because they think new material is always required.
What to Teach Instead
Remind them that the return to the theme creates cohesion, so have them underline the repeated phrase in their notes and mark how it was varied the second time.
Common MisconceptionDuring the Cannon Challenge, watch for students who focus only on their own timing and ignore the group’s overall picture.
What to Teach Instead
Pause the activity and ask each group to step back and describe the visual pattern their overlapping movements create before refining their timing.
Assessment Ideas
After the Power Levels activity, present two short video clips with contrasting tempo and energy. Ask students to write the dominant tempo and energy quality for each and explain how these choices support the mood in one sentence.
During the Cannon Challenge, pose the question: 'How does the spacing between dancers affect the sense of time and energy in a cannon?' Facilitate a brief discussion where students relate spacing to the speed and flow of the movement.
After ABA Puzzle presentations, have students use a simple checklist to note: Did the phrase include a clear theme, contrast, and return? Did the repetition enhance the dance’s meaning? Peers offer one specific compliment and one suggestion for stronger transitions.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge students to create a 1-minute ABA phrase that uses exactly three different energy qualities, then teach it to another pair.
- For students who struggle, provide printed tempo and energy word banks to pair with movement examples.
- Deeper exploration: Have students compare two professional dance works side by side, annotating how time and energy structures shape the story.
Suggested Methodologies
More in Dance and Movement Studies
The Elements of Dance: Space
Breaking down movement into space, time, force, and body alignment, focusing on spatial awareness.
2 methodologies
Choreographic Structures: Form and Repetition
Learning how to organize movements into meaningful patterns and sequences, focusing on common structures.
2 methodologies
Improvisation in Dance
Students explore spontaneous movement generation, developing responsiveness and creative freedom.
2 methodologies
Dance and Storytelling
Exploring how narrative is conveyed through movement, gesture, and choreographic choices.
2 methodologies
Cultural Dance Traditions: Folk and Social Dances
Investigating the history and significance of traditional dances from around the world, focusing on folk and social forms.
2 methodologies
Ready to teach The Elements of Dance: Time and Energy?
Generate a full mission with everything you need
Generate a Mission