Developing a Movement Vocabulary

Active learning helps students recognize their natural movement patterns and consciously expand them, which is essential for developing a unique artistic voice. Physical exploration solidifies abstract concepts like movement quality and abstraction, making the learning stick beyond the classroom.

• 7th Grade
• Visual & Performing Arts
• 4 activities
• 20 min–35 min

Learning Objectives

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

Project-Based Learning

⏱ 30 min·Pairs

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.

Prepare & details

Differentiate between literal and abstract movement in conveying a narrative.

Facilitation Tip: During Movement Inventory, ask students to perform their natural movements in silence first, then add sound or rhythm to observe how it changes the quality.

Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology

Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making

Project-Based Learning

⏱ 35 min·Individual

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.

Prepare & details

Construct a series of unique movements that can be combined to tell a story.

Facilitation Tip: For Word Bank Choreography, provide a word bank with action verbs and movement qualities to push students beyond literal gesture.

Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology

Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making

Project-Based Learning

⏱ 25 min·Pairs

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?

Prepare & details

Evaluate how personal experiences can inform and enrich a dancer's movement vocabulary.

Facilitation Tip: In Borrowing and Translating, have students physically trace the shape of borrowed movements in the air before performing them to internalize the form.

Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology

Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making

Project-Based Learning

⏱ 20 min·Individual

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.

Prepare & details

Differentiate between literal and abstract movement in conveying a narrative.

Facilitation Tip: During Constraint-Based Improvisation, remind students to document their discoveries in a movement journal to track vocabulary growth.

Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology

Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should model their own movement exploration to normalize the process of trying unfamiliar physicalities. Avoid praising only technically 'clean' movement; instead, highlight expressive choices and risks taken. Research shows that students develop more creative movement vocabularies when they experience a balance of structure and freedom in tasks.

What to Expect

Students will demonstrate awareness of their habitual movements and intentionally practice new ones to build a flexible vocabulary. They will justify choices in choreographic tasks by connecting movements to expressive or conceptual goals.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Movement Inventory, watch for students who assume their most dramatic or 'showy' movements are the most expressive.

What to Teach Instead

Remind students that expressive movement isn't about size or spectacle but about clarity of intent and quality. Have them reflect on how small, subtle movements can carry strong emotional weight.

Common Misconception

During Word Bank Choreography, watch for students who default to literal gestures like miming a tree or crying.

What to Teach Instead

Encourage them to use the word bank to select abstract qualities (e.g., 'spiraling,' 'jerky,' 'suspended') and shape those into movement rather than illustrating a story.

Common Misconception

During Borrowing and Translating, watch for students who copy movements without considering how they fit their own body or style.

What to Teach Instead

Ask them to physically adapt borrowed movements to their own physicality—slow them down, reverse them, or layer them with other actions—to make the vocabulary their own.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

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

Peer Assessment

During Word Bank Choreography, students create a short (4-6 count) movement phrase based on a given emotion. They perform it for a partner who identifies the emotion and notes one specific movement choice that helped convey it.

Exit Ticket

After Constraint-Based Improvisation, 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.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge students to create a 16-count phrase using only movements from their least favorite dance style.
• For students who struggle, provide a set of movement 'starter cards' with simple shapes or pathways to scaffold their exploration.
• Deeper exploration: Have students research a choreographer whose movement vocabulary differs from their own and create a short piece inspired by their findings.

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.