The art of dance works with the medium of human movement. Dance illuminates meaning through movement, often through suggesting a literal idea or through creating authentic and genuine movement inspired by a particular subject, such as animal and human migration.
There are three principle elements in dance - space, time and dynamics (aka movement qualities) that are used to create expressive movement in three-dimensional space. A dancer or choreographer works spatially to create shapes with the body that continually evolve and ultimately move in patterns through space. A dancer or choreographer creates time with rhythmic patterns of movement that are either repetitive or purposefully interrupted by pauses or changes in meter. A dancer or choreographer works dynamically by applying varying degrees of energy or force to those spatial and rhythmic patterns. Movement invention is a primary task of the choreographer – to create unique, compelling and expressive positions of the body that draw in the eye and touch the heart. These basic choreographic elements contribute to conveying an idea or embodying a mood or attitude.
Dance communicates with human expression, emotion and feeling through degrees of dynamics in varying spatial designs. These are ways we communicate every day yet can be unfamiliar when we watch or create dance. While the language of dance is clearly communicated in space, time and with dynamics, it is also open to a range of interpretation from different viewers. This potential for interpretation is the reason that the art of dance moves us kinesthetically.