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Aural Settings and Performance Environments

How dances use sound and space: the aural settings that create mood, from song to silence, and the performance environments where a dance is staged.

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What you'll cover

The sound of a dance 🔊

Every dance is performed to an aural setting, the sound or accompaniment that goes with the movement. This might be music, but it could also be spoken word, natural sound, body percussion or even silence. The aural setting shapes the mood and helps the audience feel what the dance is about.

Words for sound 🔑

Learn these four terms before you study how sound and space are used.

Three performance environments 🎭

A performance environment is the space where a dance is staged.

Grade 9 thinking 💡

To reach the top grades, explain the effect of a choice on the audience. Say why silence can make a moment feel tense, or how staging in the round lets the audience see a dance from every angle, rather than just naming the setting.

Match the sound to its meaning 🎵

  • song
  • instrumental
  • spoken word
  • natural sound
  • music with a singing voice
  • music played by instruments with no singing
  • words that are spoken rather than sung
  • sounds from nature, such as wind or birds

Match the space to its layout 📍

  • proscenium arch
  • end stage
  • in the round
  • site-sensitive
  • the audience sits at the front and the stage is framed
  • the audience is on one side facing the stage with no frame
  • the audience sits all the way around the space
  • a non-theatre place chosen to suit the dance

What is an aural setting? ❓

What is an aural setting?

  • The sound or accompaniment that goes with a dance.
  • The space where the dance is staged.
  • The costume the dancers wear.

Spot the environments ✅

Select the TWO performance environments.

  • In the round.
  • Proscenium arch.
  • Body percussion.
  • Silence.

Order the choices 🪜

An interactive activity.

Summarise the choices 📝

The _____ is the sound that goes with a dance, and it might even be _____, where the audience hears only movement. Sound made by clapping or stamping is called _____. The space where a dance is staged is the _____. When a dance is performed in a non-theatre place chosen to suit it, this is _____.

aural setting silence body percussion performance environment site-sensitive proscenium arch song unison costume climax

Count the spaces 🔢

An interactive activity.

Find the aural settings 🖍️

An interactive activity.

Sound or space? 🧭

An interactive activity.

Explain a choice ✍️

An interactive activity.