1. Relationships Action Dynamics Space
R.A.D.S
Relationships
Action
Dynamics
Space

2. Features of DANCE There are 4 basic components of dance:
Action – What you do
Dynamics – How you do it
Space – Where you do it
Relationships – With whom

3. Direction – forward, backwards, diagonal, sideways
ACTION
Jump Travel Turn
Gesture Fall Stillness
SPACE
Level – high, mid, low
Direction – forward, backwards, diagonal, sideways
Floor patterns
DYNAMICS
Time + force= dynamics
Fast Soft Slow Direct Firm Jerky
Smooth Forceful Strong
Continuous Graceful
Sudden Sharp
RELATIONSHIPS
Canon Unison
Mirroring Group work
Complimenting Contrasting Duet
Question and answer

4. Relationships This has several meanings, it can be:
The dancers – how many, grouping, formations.
The relationships between dancer and dancer, dancer to the music, dancer to the prop, dancer to the space etc
How the dancers communicate with each other e.g. the choreographic devices such as canon, unison, question and answer, mirroring, complimentary, contrasting, symmetrical and asymmetrical, following and leading, call and response etc.
Find out the meaning of each of the above and write a detailed description with examples.

5. Action There are 6 main actions of dance:
Jump, Turn, Travel, Stillness, Fall and Gesture.
All other dance actions come within the above categories e.g. spin, roll, rotate are all turning actions.
How many action words can you think of?
Now put them under the correct heading of: Jump, Turn, Travel, Stillness, Fall or Gesture.

6. Dynamics HOW the dancer is moving
When we are familiar with ‘WHAT’ the dancer is doing (the action), we must focus on HOW the body performs the action.
Dynamics is another way of saying ‘movement quality’. It describes the amount of energy required to perform a movement. Time and force are combined in a variety of ways to produce different movement qualities.
TIME + FORCE = DYNAMICS
Some qualities are easily identified and have specific names given by the famous dancer and choreographer Rudulf Laban:
Percussive = sudden and quick
Swing = starts and finishes with an impulse
Sustain = continuous and ongoing
Suspend = a sense of falling
Shake = short burst of energy
Collapse = giving in to gravity

7. Space This can mean the space used by the dancers for each action.
Level – high, low and mid
Direction – forward, backward, side to side, up, down, in, out, diagonally etc.
Air and floor patterns – circular, zig-zag, linear, diagonal, free/random.
Dimensions – door plane = height and width, table plane = width and depth and wheel plane = height and depth
Personal space – imagine yourself in you own bubble – as far as you can reach high and wide is your personal space
General space al the space outside of your personal space.
Stage space described as upstage and down stage or more specifically:
DSR, DCS, DSL, CSR, CS, CSL, USR, UCS, USL

8. Now individually write an analysis of the dance.
Watch Still Life at a Penguin Café by David Bintley - Texan Kangaroo Rat dance and or Questions and answers section 1 in Swansong by Christopher Bruce.
In pairs analyse the dance in terms of Relationships, Action, Dynamics and Space (RADS). Use the word cards and pro forma to help you.
Discuss ideas with another pair and report ideas back to the whole class.
Now individually write an analysis of the dance.