This site will look much better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

Your turn

Write About Dance

Start Here

Bring a journal to the theatre. When you first sit down, you might want to make a few notes about your surroundings. How would you describe the environment and atmosphere in the theatre?

It's difficult to write when the lights go down and the curtain rises, but have a pen or pencil handy and keep your journal open. While you watch, scribble down words, phrases, images or ideas that come to mind. The following questions might help to guide you.

  1. What information do you find in the program? What does the title suggest? Is there a story, or does a theme or idea come to mind?
  2. Can you determine the overall structure of the performance? How many dancers are there? Do you see solos, duets or group sections? Do sections repeat or change slightly?
  3. How are the dancers using their bodies? Is the movement small and gestural or is it expansive and full-bodied? Do you recognize particular steps, phrases or motifs that recur during the piece?
  4. How does the choreography use the space? Do you see lines, circles, diagonals or other formations? Does a particular area of the stage seem important?
  5. What qualities do you see in the movement? Bold, gentle, awkward, fluid, focussed, chaotic, relaxed or hurried? What do the qualities of movement remind you of?
  6. How are the dancers relating to each other and their stage environment? Are they dancing together, apart, do they touch and how? Where do they face? Do they use props?

In general, make notes about what you notice, how you feel and thoughts you have. Later, these notes will help remind you about what you saw or experienced.

Immediately after the performance, take another moment to jot down your observations. You might be drawn to one aspect of the performance - the choreography, the dancers' physicality, the costumes, sets, music etc. - or you might write about your own emotional and physical experience.