Grade by Grade
A. Dance / C. Music · Music and Dance

Dance: Turning Ideas from Other Subjects into Movement

A1.1 A2.2About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can pick out the key images and ideas in something I am learning in another subject.
  • I can translate those ideas into a movement sequence with a clear beginning, middle and end.
  • I can choose the elements of dance (body, space, time, energy, relationship) on purpose.
  • I can explain how the elements I chose help communicate the idea.

Words to know

translate (into dance)
To change an idea from words, pictures or facts into movement, the way you might translate a sentence into another language.
movement sequence
Movements put in a planned order, one after another.
elements of dance
The five building blocks of every dance: body, space, time, energy and relationship.
transition
The movement that links one part of a dance to the next.
abstract
Showing the feeling or the main idea of something, not copying exactly what it looks like.
literal
Showing something exactly as it looks, like miming or acting it out.

Remember from Grade 4

In Grade 4 you turned sequences from nature, like the life cycle of a monarch butterfly, into dance. You used body words like symmetrical and asymmetrical, curved and angular, and you used energy and time to send a message.

This year you will find dance ideas everywhere you learn: in science, math, social studies, language and the other arts. Dancers and choreographers do this all the time. A dance can be about the heart pumping, a painting, a shape in math, or ice melting in spring.

Plates of ice float and break apart in a dark river in early spring, with snow on the banks.
Ice melting in spring can become a dance idea. How would you show the ice cracking, drifting and slowly melting using body, space, time and energy? AI-generated image

The five elements of dance

Every choice you make in a dance belongs to one of five elements. Think of them as five toolboxes.

ElementQuestion it answersSome tools inside
BodyWhat is moving?body parts, shapes (curved, angular, twisted), locomotor moves (travel: walk, slide, roll) and non-locomotor moves (stay in place: bend, twist, reach)
SpaceWhere is it moving?levels (low, middle, high), pathways (straight, curved, zigzag), directions, size (big or small)
TimeWhen and how fast?tempo (fast, slow), speeding up and slowing down, rhythm, stillness (a freeze)
EnergyHow is it moving?strong or light, smooth or sharp, sudden or sustained (slow and steady)
RelationshipWho or what is it moving with?partners, groups, objects; near and far; meeting and parting
The five elements of dance. Every dance uses all five.

How to translate an idea into movement

Use these steps. They are part of the creative process that artists use.

  1. Choose an idea from another subject.
  2. Find the key words. Circle the action words (verbs) and the describing words. They are full of movement!
  3. Find the order. What happens first, next and last? That becomes your sequence.
  4. Choose your elements. For each part, pick a level, a shape, a speed and a kind of energy that fits.
  5. Link the parts with smooth transitions, and start and end with a still shape.
  6. Rehearse, share and improve. Ask a viewer what they saw.

You don't have to copy exactly what something looks like (literal). Dance is often abstract: you show the feeling or the main idea. A sharp, fast zigzag can show lightning without pretending to hold a lightning bolt.

solidliquidgasmeltevaporate
Particles in a solid stay close together in a pattern and vibrate in place. In a liquid they stay close but slide past each other. In a gas they are far apart and move freely.
Worked example

Example: Let's dance a science idea: changes of state

In Grade 5 science you learn that matter can change state. Let's translate ice melting into water and then evaporating into a gas into a dance sequence.

  1. Key words: solid, close together, vibrate, melt, flow, slide past each other, evaporate, spread out, rise.
  2. Order: solid, then melting, then liquid, then evaporating, then gas.
  3. Solid: a tight, angular shape at a low level. Shiver in place with tiny, quick vibrating energy. (Non-locomotor: you stay in one spot.)
  4. Melting (transition): slowly, with sustained energy, let your shape soften. Angular elbows and knees become curved. Sink lower.
  5. Liquid: travel along a curved pathway on the floor with smooth, flowing energy at a low-to-middle level. Slide and roll.
  6. Evaporating: gradually rise to a high level, reaching up. Your tempo gets faster.
  7. Gas: travel quickly and lightly in a scattered, zigzag pathway, spreading out wide with lots of space around you. End with a light, high, open freeze.

The sequence follows the science in order. The elements communicate the idea: tight and vibrating = solid; smooth and curved = liquid; light, fast and spread out = gas. The change in level (low to high) shows the change of state.

SOLIDlow, tight, angular,vibrate in placemeltLIQUIDmiddle level, smooth,curved pathwayevaporateGAShigh, light, fast,spread out, zigzaglevel
The changes-of-state dance from the example. The level rises from low to high, and the shape and energy change from tight and vibrating (solid) to smooth (liquid) to light and spread out (gas).
Worked example

Example: Let's dance a painting

In the visual arts, you might look at Tom Thomson's painting The West Wind. It shows a lone pine tree on a rocky shore, bent by the wind, with a stormy lake and sky behind it. How can we translate it into dance?

  1. Look closely and list images: roots gripping rock, a bent trunk, branches pushed sideways, choppy waves, a windy sky.
  2. Body: stand with feet wide and strong (the roots). Make an asymmetrical shape, leaning to one side (the bent trunk).
  3. Energy: sudden, strong gusts push your arms sideways, then they slowly return. The roots never move.
  4. Space and time: your arms show small, quick, choppy movements at a low level (the waves), then big, slow sweeps at a high level (the sky).
  5. Relationship: if a partner joins, they can be the wind, moving around you without touching while you bend away.

The dance shows the main idea of the painting: the tree is battered by the wind but stays rooted and strong. That's an abstract translation. You are not drawing the painting; you are dancing its feeling.

Ideas you can borrow from other subjects

  • Science: the heart pumping blood around the body; forces pushing and pulling on a bridge; energy changing from one form to another.
  • Math: slides, flips and turns of a shape; a pattern that grows; a line graph going up and down.
  • Social studies: a community working together to build something; people travelling by canoe along a river.
  • Language: strong verbs like crumple, soar, scatter, drift.
  • The arts: a painting, a sculpture, a piece of music.
Just for fun

Why was the ice cube the best dancer in the class?

It had the coolest moves... until it melted under the spotlight! 🧊💃

Hands-on activity

Subject-switch dance

You need: one of your school notebooks or a textbook page, paper and a pencil, and a clear space with nothing to trip on.

  1. Find one idea you learned this month in science, math or social studies.
  2. Write down five key words. Circle the verbs.
  3. Put the idea in order: beginning, middle and end.
  4. For each part, choose one level, one shape, one tempo and one kind of energy. Write them down.
  5. Make an 8-count phrase for each part and link them with transitions. Start and end in a still shape.
  6. Perform it for someone at home. Don't tell them the idea first! Ask them to guess, then explain which elements helped them understand.

Your turn

1

Name the five elements of dance.

2

What does it mean to translate an idea into dance?

3

In the changes-of-state dance, why does the solid vibrate in place instead of travelling?

4

Show a solid shape, then melt it in 8 slow counts.

5

Which element are you using when you change from a low level to a high level?

6

What is the difference between a literal and an abstract movement?

7

Pick a strong verb from a book you are reading. Show it as a movement.

More practice: warm-up

1

Which element answers the question "How fast?"

2

Which element answers "Who or what is it moving with?"

3

Is a roll a locomotor or a non-locomotor movement?

4

Name three levels.

5

What is a transition?

More practice: on your own

1

Plan movements for the heart pumping blood (squeeze and relax) using energy and time.

2

A math shape slides across the page, then flips. How could a dancer show a flip?

3

Rafael danced a volcano. He started low and still, shook more and more, then exploded up and out, then flowed slowly down. Name two elements he used and how.

4

Why should a dance sequence about a science process follow the same order as the process?

5

Choose an image from social studies (for example, people paddling a canoe along a river). Describe one body choice and one relationship choice.

Challenge

1

Make a 3-part dance about the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation). Describe the level, energy and tempo for each part, and explain your choices.

2

Two dancers translate the same painting. One dance is literal, one is abstract. Describe what each might look like for a painting of a stormy sea.

3

A friend's dance about melting ice was all fast, sharp movements. Give kind, specific feedback using dance words.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is not one of the five elements of dance?

2.

To show a solid, a dancer should move ___.

3.

A dancer who shows the feeling of a painting instead of copying it exactly is dancing ___.

4.

Going from a low level to a high level uses the element of ___.

5.

What is the first step when you translate an idea into dance?

6.

Which movement best shows a heartbeat?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: In Grade 5 Dance, students translate images and ideas from other subjects, including the arts, into movement sequences (A1.1), and identify the elements of dance used and explain how they help communicate a message (A2.2).

How to help at home:

  • Ask, "What did you learn in science (or math) this week? How could that move?" Short ideas work best.
  • Be the audience. Guess what the dance is about before your child tells you, then ask, "Which element helped me understand?"
  • Look at a painting together (online or in a book) and choose three words for it, then turn them into three movements.

Safety: clear a space, move furniture or rugs that slide, and dance in bare feet or non-slip socks.

Common difficulties:

  • Only miming. Encourage at least one abstract choice: "Show me how melting feels, not what it looks like."
  • Out-of-order sequences. Have your child number the parts on paper first.
  • Vague explanations ("it was cool"). Prompt with the five elements: "What level? What energy? What speed?"