Modern dance vocabulary terms

Curving of the torso into a concave shape.

• under curve

• contraction

• over curve

• circle

To sway or rock, responding to the pull of gravity.

• fall

• shift

• swing

• contract

Movement quality that creates the illusion of effortless movement or defying gravity

• suspend

• sit

• turn

• standing still

Movement that is short and/or in sporadic burst.

• fall

• lean

• sit

• vibratory

Movement that gives into gravity, folds down or gives into the floor.

• turn

• collapse

• contract

• fold

Pertaining to a sense of the beautiful, the look of a dance is pleasing to the eye.

• lovely

• aesthetic

• good dance

• beauty

Occurs front to back, side to side, in an upper or lower arc, in a circular path, and as an initiative to a fall, spiral or turn.

• fall

• turn

• body swings

• leap

The energy of movement expressed in varying intensity, accent, and quality.

• high

• low

• dynamics

• fall

Stationary or turning body position supported by one leg with the free leg bent at a 90 degree angle at the knee, leg turned out at the hip

• kick

• sitting

• lift

• attitude

The cutting edge of an artistic movement.

• original

• new

• avant-garde

• creative