12.2 Performing Arts: Dance, Music & Theater

Music

Elements of Music

Beat vs. Rhythm

The beat is the steady, recurring pulse of a piece — the heartbeat you tap your foot to. Rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds and silences arranged over the beat. A kindergarten class marching to "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is feeling the beat; the same class clapping the words of a poem is performing rhythm.

Meter and Time Signatures

Meter is the grouping of beats into recurring patterns. Before students can read a time signature, they must be able to feel strong and weak beats. In a 2/4 march, the strong beat is first (STRONG-weak, STRONG-weak); in 3/4 waltz, the strong beat is first (STRONG-weak-weak); in 4/4, the strongest beat is first and the second strongest is third (STRONG-weak-MEDIUM-weak).

Common elementary time signatures:

• 2/4 — two beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat; marches and polkas.
• 3/4 — three beats per measure; waltzes and lullabies.
• 4/4 — four beats per measure; most popular and folk songs.

Pitch and Notation

Pitch is written on a five-line staff. The treble clef (G clef) is used for higher pitches (soprano, alto, and many elementary songbooks); the bass clef (F clef) is used for lower pitches. Notes (sound) and rests (silence) show duration: whole note, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth. A kindergarten learner first encounters so-mi-la songs; by grade 5, students read standard notation on the staff.

Instrument Families

Vocal Ranges

From highest to lowest the four main ranges are soprano, alto, tenor, bass. Children's voices are typically soprano or alto until adolescence; the elementary chorus usually sings in unison or two-part harmony.

Music History and Cultural Music

A Georgia P-5 teacher should know landmark Western periods (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th c.) and at least one musical tradition from beyond Europe — West African drumming, Native American song, Appalachian folk music, or Mexican mariachi. Music as expression is shown when a spiritual communicates the sorrow and hope of enslaved African Americans, or when a lullaby communicates care.

Dance

Elements of Dance (B.E.A.S.T.)

• Body — what moves (whole body, arms, legs, head).
• Energy — how it moves (sharp, smooth, sustained, percussive, flowing).
• Action — what it does (jump, turn, fall, gesture).
• Space — where it moves (levels high/middle/low, pathways, directions).
• Time — when and how fast it moves (tempo, duration, beat).

Locomotor Movements

Locomotor movements travel through space. The eight most commonly taught in elementary PE and dance are walk, run, jump, hop, leap, skip, slide, gallop. (Hop = one foot to the same foot; leap = one foot to the other foot; skip = step-hop alternation.)

Non-Locomotor (Axial) Movements

Movements performed in place include bend, stretch, twist, swing, sway, plus turn, rise, and fall. A first grader swaying like a tree practices axial movement.

Choreography

Choreography is the art of designing dance. Students compose by choosing movements and arranging them with a beginning, middle, and end — a simple ABA form is achievable in second grade.

Dance in Cultures

West African dance emphasizes polyrhythm and community; ballet originated in Italian and French courts; Native American powwow dances convey stories and prayer; Mexican folkloric dance (folklórico) reflects regional identity. Each dance functions as expression, communication, and social expression.

Theater

Elements of Drama

• Character — the person or animal in the story.
• Plot — the sequence of events, with beginning, middle, and end.
• Setting — time and place.
• Theme — the big idea or message.
• Conflict — the problem that drives the plot (internal, interpersonal, or external).

Theatrical Roles

• Actor — portrays character.
• Director — guides artistic choices.
• Playwright — writes the script.
• Stage crew — sets, props, lights, sound.
• Audience — completes the theatrical event; the GACE expects teachers to know that theater requires an audience to fulfill its communicative function.

Stage Directions

From the actor's point of view facing the audience: downstage is closest to the audience, upstage is farthest away, stage left is the actor's left, stage right is the actor's right. The mnemonic "upstage is away" helps because historic stages were raked (tilted) upward toward the back.

Puppetry and Improvisation

• Puppetry — hand puppets, rod puppets, marionettes, and shadow puppets support storytelling, retelling, and shy performers.
• Improvisation — unscripted drama; builds quick thinking, collaboration, and empathy and is widely used in elementary drama warm-ups.

Theater History

Western theater originated in ancient Greek religious ceremonies. The dithyramb, a choral hymn to the god Dionysus, evolved into tragedy and comedy performed at the City Dionysia festival. The Greek theater introduced masks, the chorus, and the skene (scene building), and laid the foundation for tragedy and comedy that the GACE expects candidates to recognize.

Theater as Communication and Social Expression

Plays let children rehearse social situations, walk in another's shoes, and raise questions about fairness and community. A second-grade reader's theater builds fluency; a fifth-grade devised play about bullying turns theater into social expression.