Physical and Technical Performance Skills
What makes a dancer strong on stage? Meet the physical skills the body needs, from strength to flexibility, and the technical skills of accurate movement: action, dynamics, space and relationships.
Justify the choices, the way you are assessed
Free interactive practice on the decisions the assessment actually asks you to justify.
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What makes a strong dancer?
What separates a strong dancer from a shaky one? Two things: physical skills, what the body can do, and technical skills, how accurately the body moves. This module looks at both, from strength and flexibility to action, dynamics and space.
The body ready to dance
Physical skills are what the body is able to do:
Two families of skill
Dance skills fall into two families.
Match each physical skill
- Coordination
- Control
- Strength
- Stamina
- Moving different body parts together smoothly
- Moving precisely and deliberately, with no wobble
- The muscular power to lift, jump or hold a shape
- The staying power to dance for a long time without tiring
Name the skill
A dancer works on being able to dance a whole piece without getting out of breath. Which physical skill is that?
- Stamina
- Flexibility
- Posture
- Isolation
Accurate movement
Technical skills are about performing the movement accurately. The big four are the features of any dance: action (what the body does - travel, jump, turn, gesture), dynamics (how it is done - fast or slow, strong or light), space (levels, directions and pathways), and relationships (how dancers work together).
Match each technical skill
- Action
- Dynamics
- Space
- Relationships
- What the body does, such as a jump, turn or gesture
- How a movement is done, such as fast, slow, strong or light
- The use of levels, directions and pathways
- How dancers work together, such as in unison or canon
Spot the physical skills
Select the TWO PHYSICAL skills from the list below.
- Flexibility
- Strength
- Dynamics
- Action
Hold a balance
Put the steps of performing a controlled balance into a sensible order.
- Start from a strong, upright posture
- Align the body over the supporting leg
- Engage the core muscles for control
- Hold the balance still and steady
- Lower down with control to finish
Skills in words
The skills of a dancer split into two families. _____ skills are what the body can do, like strength and _____. _____ skills are how accurately the movement is performed. The four features of a dance are action, dynamics, space and _____. The staying power to dance without tiring is called _____.
Physical against technical
Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE.
- Stamina is a physical skill, the power to keep dancing without tiring.
- Dynamics is a technical skill, about how a movement is performed.
- Flexibility means moving precisely with no wobble.
- Action is a physical skill built by lifting weights.
- Posture means dancing for a long time without tiring.
Improve the dancer
Help each dancer choose the skill to improve. Choose each time.
- A dancer keeps wobbling and cannot hold a still shape. Which physical skill should they work on?
- A dancer performs every movement at the same speed and force, so the piece looks flat. Which technical skill is missing?
- A dancer cannot lift their leg very high in an extension. Which physical skill should they train?
Improve two skills
A dancer wants to improve their performance. Choose one physical skill and one technical skill, and explain how they could improve each one.
- Name one physical skill and explain what it is
- Describe how the dancer could improve that physical skill
- Name one technical skill and explain what it is
- Describe how the dancer could improve that technical skill