Visual & Performing Arts · 7th Grade · Body Language: Dance and Movement · Weeks 10-18

Developing a Movement Vocabulary

Students will generate a personal movement vocabulary and use it to create unique dance sequences.

• Common Core State Standards
• NCAS: Creating DA.Cr2.1.7

About This Topic

Every dancer and choreographer works from a personal movement vocabulary , a set of physical tendencies, preferences, and habitual patterns that make their movement distinctive. In 7th grade, students begin to consciously examine their own natural movement tendencies and intentionally expand beyond them, generating a broader vocabulary of physical options for expressive and choreographic use. This topic aligns with NCAS creating standards that ask students to use movement exploration to develop and express choreographic ideas.

The concept of movement vocabulary parallels the development of linguistic vocabulary in useful ways: just as a writer with limited vocabulary is constrained in what they can express, a dancer with a narrow movement vocabulary is limited in their expressive range. Students who only move in ways that feel comfortable and natural have not yet discovered the full range of their physical instrument. The work of developing a movement vocabulary is partially about expanding technical range and partially about increasing tolerance for physical states that feel unfamiliar.

Active learning structures are essential here because movement vocabulary can only be developed through the experience of moving in new ways, not through watching or describing movement. The more variety, experimentation, and physical problem-solving students encounter, the richer their vocabulary becomes.

Key Questions

1. Differentiate between literal and abstract movement in conveying a narrative.
2. Construct a series of unique movements that can be combined to tell a story.
3. Evaluate how personal experiences can inform and enrich a dancer's movement vocabulary.

Learning Objectives

• Design a series of at least five distinct movements that can be combined to convey a specific emotion or narrative.
• Analyze the difference between literal and abstract movement choices in a short choreographic study.
• Evaluate how personal experiences, such as a memorable event or a strong feeling, can be translated into unique movement phrases.
• Demonstrate a personal movement vocabulary by improvising a short sequence incorporating at least three new movement qualities explored in class.

Before You Start

Basic Body Awareness and Control

Why: Students need foundational control over their bodies to explore and manipulate movement.

Elements of Dance: Space, Time, Energy

Why: Understanding these core elements provides a framework for exploring and describing movement qualities and choices.

Key Vocabulary

Movement Vocabulary	A personal collection of distinct movements, qualities, and patterns that a dancer uses to express ideas and emotions.
Movement Quality	The specific way a movement is performed, such as sharp, smooth, heavy, light, bound, or free-flowing.
Literal Movement	Movement that directly imitates or represents an object, action, or idea, like pretending to drink from a cup.
Abstract Movement	Movement that suggests an idea, emotion, or quality without directly imitating something, focusing on shape, space, and energy.
Choreographic Phrase	A short sequence of movements that forms a complete idea or statement within a larger dance.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Literal movement (acting out the story with gestures) is more expressive than abstract movement.

What to Teach Instead

Abstract movement often communicates more powerfully precisely because it doesn't constrain the audience to a single narrative interpretation. Literal gesture limits the emotional and conceptual range a piece can hold, while abstract movement allows multiple simultaneous readings. Exposure to choreography that uses abstract movement to strong effect helps shift this default assumption.

Common Misconception

Your movement vocabulary is fixed by what comes naturally to you.

What to Teach Instead

Movement vocabulary expands with deliberate practice and exposure to unfamiliar movement forms. Students who intentionally study movement outside their comfort zone regularly discover physical capacities they didn't know they had. Vocabulary is cultivated through active exploration, not inherited from physical tendencies or background.

Common Misconception

Using movements from music videos or popular culture means your vocabulary is already rich.

What to Teach Instead

Familiarity with popular movement styles is a starting point, not a finished vocabulary. These styles are often designed for a single cultural and aesthetic context and may be less versatile for expressive or compositional purposes. Students can honor their existing knowledge while systematically expanding beyond it through structured exploration.

Active Learning Ideas

Movement Inventory: What Do You Always Do?

Students improvise for 2 minutes while a partner observes and records habitual patterns: Do they always move in a straight line? Always start with their arms? Never change level? The observer's notes become a 'movement inventory.' Students then improvise again, deliberately avoiding their habitual patterns.

30 min·Pairs

Word Bank Choreography

Give each student a personal list of 8 movement words drawn from Laban action categories plus student-generated words from improvisation. They use all 8 to build a 16-count phrase in any order. Groups of four share and identify which words are most distinctive in each person's phrase.

35 min·Individual

Borrowing and Translating

Students observe a partner perform a short phrase, then create their own phrase that translates one specific quality or idea from what they observed into their own physical language. The goal is interpretation, not imitation. Pairs discuss: what did you borrow and how did you change it?

25 min·Pairs

Constraint-Based Improvisation

Students are given physical constraints that systematically introduce unfamiliar movement: 'your left hand must always be higher than your right shoulder,' 'no two body parts can move at the same time,' 'you can only move in the lowest 12 inches of space.' Brief sessions with changing constraints rapidly expand the range of movement students encounter in their own bodies.

20 min·Individual

Real-World Connections

• Actors in film and theater use a developed movement vocabulary to embody characters, conveying personality and emotion through physical expression, as seen in performances like the Cirque du Soleil shows.
• Physical therapists and occupational therapists analyze patient movements to diagnose issues and design rehabilitation exercises, requiring a deep understanding of how the body can move in various ways.
• Animators creating characters for video games or movies meticulously craft movement sequences to bring digital figures to life, drawing on a vast library of physical actions and expressions.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

Present students with a short video clip of a dancer. Ask them to write down 3-5 words describing the movement qualities they observe. Then, ask them to identify one movement that seems literal and one that seems abstract.

Peer Assessment

Students create a short (4-6 count) movement phrase based on a given emotion (e.g., excitement, sadness). They perform it for a partner. The partner identifies the emotion and notes one specific movement choice that helped convey it.

Exit Ticket

Ask students to list two new movement qualities they explored today. Then, have them write one sentence explaining how a personal memory or experience could be turned into a movement.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I help students understand the concept of movement vocabulary concretely?

Show two dancers of comparable technical level performing the same improvisation task, where one has visibly more physical variety (changes in level, body part use, spatial pattern, energy quality) and the other performs in a narrower range. Ask students to describe what they observe, and the concept of vocabulary range becomes visible and discussable without requiring abstract definition.

How do I get students to move beyond habitual patterns in improvisation?

Constraints are more effective than encouragement. Specific physical rules that exclude habitual pathways force students into new territory more reliably than 'try something new.' Simple constraints work well: 'you cannot use a straight pathway' or 'no gestures with the hands for the next 90 seconds' immediately disrupts default patterns without requiring students to self-generate novelty.

How do personal experiences enrich a dancer's movement vocabulary?

Personal experience provides both emotional reference points that give movement meaning and the physical gestures and patterns associated with specific activities or environments. A student who swims has a relationship to water-resistance qualities; a student who plays guitar has detailed knowledge of small, precise hand movements. Helping students identify and abstract these physical memories into movement material makes experience a creative resource.

How does active learning specifically support the development of personal movement vocabulary?

Movement vocabulary develops only through physical exploration with feedback and reflection, not through watching or defining terms. Active learning structures that combine constraint-based improvisation, partner observation, and reflective discussion build the awareness and variety necessary for a rich vocabulary. Students who spend class time primarily watching rather than moving will not develop the physical range this standard requires.