Communicates connection, conflict, cooperation or contrast between dancers. Essential for communicating choreographic intent in a duet or trio.

• 🎬 Film your duet/trio from a front-on angle — is the relationship legible from the audience's perspective?
• 🔁 Practise each relationship type in isolation before embedding it in the full phrase.
• 🗣️ Ask a peer who hasn't seen the piece what they think the relationship is communicating.

A variety of action content demonstrates breadth of movement vocabulary. Without variety, a dance becomes one-dimensional and predictable.

• 🎬 Film yourself and count how many different action types appear. Target any missing ones in your next session.
• 📝 Write a 'content checklist' and tick off each action type as you use it.
• 🔁 Set a challenge: perform the phrase only using one action type, then reintegrate variety.

Creates contrast, mood and energy. Without dynamic variation, movement feels monotonous. A FASST pair always earns more marks than a single word.

Acceleration/deceleration (speeding up/slowing down) is also assessed under dynamic content.

• 📊 Use a count grid to plan exactly where your dynamics shift within the phrase.
• 🎬 Film yourself and identify which FASST pair you're defaulting to — then deliberately use its opposite.
• 🔁 Isolate one section and practise it with three different FASST pairs to develop range.

Gives the choreography visual depth and variety. Spatial choices communicate ideas about power, freedom and relationship to the environment.

• 🔭 Use a bird's-eye-view floor plan to map and review your pathways before and after rehearsal.
• 🪞 Use a mirror to check levels and facings match what you intend.
• 🎬 Film from above (or request teacher feedback) to verify that floor patterns are legible to an audience.

Makes the movement look authentic and committed. Performing in the wrong style undermines the choreographic intent and signals a misunderstanding of the form.

• 📺 Watch professional dancers in the relevant style and identify specific stylistic features.
• 🪞 Ask your teacher for style-specific corrections and check these in the mirror each rehearsal.
• 🎬 Compare your performance to a model video — list three specific differences to target.

Creates rhythmic complexity and interest. Unexpected rhythms surprise and engage the audience and show musicianship.

• 📊 Use a count grid to map the exact rhythmic pattern of your phrase, marking on/off beats.
• 👏 Clap or tap the rhythm of your movement before performing it to embed the pattern.
• 🔁 Isolate any syncopated sections and practise them at half-speed before returning to full tempo.

Makes performance look polished and professional. Essential for unison sections and hitting musical accents accurately.

• 🔢 Count aloud during every run-through until the counts are internalised.
• 🎵 Use a music score or count grid to identify exactly which counts your movement falls on.
• 🎬 Film yourself alongside the music and verify that accents hit on the correct counts.

Makes formations and pathways legible to the audience. Spatial precision communicates control, relationship and awareness of the performance environment.

• 🎬 Film to verify that your spatial designs and distances are clear from an audience perspective.
• 👁️ Practise with eyes closed to develop an internal sense of spatial position without visual reference.
• 📐 Use a bird's-eye-view floor plan to review and refine your spatial use before each run-through.

Without projection, movement looks flat and internally focused. Projection creates the sense that the dance is being done for the audience, not just in front of them.

• 👤 Perform to an audience of even one peer — the presence of a real audience changes your energy.
• 🎬 Film yourself and assess whether the energy 'reaches' the camera — or stops at your own body.
• 🎯 Fix a focus point at the back of the room as your 'audience' and direct energy towards it throughout.

Suggests character, emotion and intent. A deliberate focus line communicates confidence and awareness; wandering eyes communicate uncertainty.

• 🪞 Practise in front of a mirror — is your eye-line purposeful or drifting?
• 🎬 Watch back a recording with the sound off. Is your focus communicating what you intend?
• 🔭 Explore how different directions (down, forward, upward, toward a partner) change the emotional quality of a movement.

Essential for safe contact work and precise unison. Without sensitivity, duet/trio work looks disconnected or dangerous.

• 🤝 Practise contact improvisation — respond to your partner's weight and direction without looking.
• 🪞 Use a mirror to monitor the spatial awareness and timing between dancers during rehearsal.
• 🗣️ Debrief after each run-through: did you feel the other dancer? What did you respond to?

Creates light and shade — not everything at the same intensity. Makes movement feel musical and expressive rather than mechanical.

• 🎵 Listen to the music and map its own shape (where does it build and fade?) — then mirror this with your energy.
• 🎬 Film yourself and identify any sections where the energy is flat throughout (no shaping).
• 🔁 Perform the phrase three times: once flat, once with planned build to the climax, once with planned fade. Compare.

Adds storytelling beyond movement alone. The face is the most expressive part of the body — an unexpressive face creates distance between performer and audience.

• 🪞 Practise in a mirror, exploring the facial qualities that match the mood of each section.
• 🎬 Film yourself and watch back with no sound. Does your face communicate the intended emotion?
• 👤 Perform to a peer and ask them to describe what mood they saw in your face — compare to your intention.

Creates a powerful visible relationship between movement and music. Makes climaxes, mood shifts and rhythmic features legible through the body.

• 🎵 Listen to the music analytically — identify its layers, dynamics, rhythm and mood before rehearsing.
• 🎬 Film yourself and check: does your movement reflect the musical qualities, or is it overlaid on the music?
• 🔁 Practise sections that specifically respond to a musical feature (a swell, a silence, a rhythmic accent).

The ultimate expressive skill — all others feed into it. Makes the meaning of the dance legible to the audience without words.

• 👤 Ask a peer who doesn't know the piece: 'What do you think this dance is about?' Their answer reveals whether intent is communicating.
• 🎬 Watch your recording and note any moments where the intent feels unclear — target these in the next session.
• 🗣️ Articulate your choreographic intent in one sentence before every performance run-through to keep it front of mind.

Reinforces sequencing and spatial memory without physical fatigue. Can be performed anywhere — including the night before and immediately before going on stage.

• 🧘 Sit quietly, close your eyes and run through the entire phrase in your mind — imagining the quality of every movement, not just the shapes.
• 📝 Try running the sequence backwards from the end to test that your memory isn't dependent on momentum.
• 🕐 Use the moments before sleep to visualise a clean, confident performance.

Embeds movement into muscle memory. Prevents the same mistakes recurring performance after performance.

• 📋 Identify the weakest section and practise it in isolation 8–10 times before re-embedding in the full piece.
• 📒 Keep a written log of your target section each session and note whether it improved.
• 🔁 Use the 'part-whole-part' method: isolate → improve → reintegrate → check in full context.

Ensures all sections are addressed and weak areas receive sufficient time. Prevents rehearsals being dominated by the sections you already do well.

• 📅 Write a rehearsal plan before each session with specific goals — not just 'run the piece'.
• ⏱️ Allocate time to each section based on current skill level (most time to weakest sections).
• 📋 Review the plan after each session: what improved? What still needs work?

Maximises the value of every rehearsal hour. Shows a professional attitude and ensures nothing is wasted.

• ✅ Arrive prepared — warmed up and having reviewed the material since the last session.
• 🚫 Minimise off-task talk during rehearsal blocks; use breaks for socialising.
• 🏃 Apply corrections immediately rather than noting them and moving on.

Accelerates improvement and prevents the same mistakes recurring.

• 📝 Write down feedback immediately after a class — memory of specific corrections fades quickly.
• 🎯 Identify one priority correction per session and focus on it specifically.
• ✅ In the following session, revisit the corrected section first to verify improvement.

Demonstrates a growth mindset. Ensures continual development over the course of the course.

• 🎯 Set achievable improvement goals each week — specific and measurable.
• 📹 Compare video recordings across time to evidence your own progress.
• 🎉 Acknowledge small improvements in rehearsal to reinforce motivation.

Allows you to perform without hesitation, freeing mental resources for expression and artistry. The dance collapses without it.

• 🔁 Systematic repetition during rehearsal — the primary way to build movement memory.
• 🧘 Mental rehearsal between sessions to maintain sequencing without physical practice.
• 🔀 Perform the phrase in a different order (from the end, from the middle) to test that memory is robust.

Makes the performance appear sincere and energised. Lack of commitment is immediately visible to an audience and undermines even technically clean work.

• 🎯 Set a personal performance standard before each run-through — what does full commitment look like for you?
• 👤 Perform to a live audience as early as possible — adrenaline and responsibility sharpen commitment.
• 🎬 Watch recordings specifically for commitment — does your energy fill the space?

Prevents mistakes during performance. Keeps rehearsals productive.

• ⏱️ Use timed rehearsal blocks (10–15 minutes) with no distractions to build concentration stamina.
• 🎭 Practise performing despite minor distractions to build performance-environment concentration.
• 📝 After any mistake in rehearsal, analyse it: was it a lapse of concentration, memory or technique?

Commands the stage. An audience always senses when a performer is apologising for their movement rather than owning it.

• 💬 Practise positive self-talk before performances — identify and counter negative thoughts.
• 👤 Perform to progressively larger and less familiar audiences to build exposure.
• 📹 Review recordings of strong performances to remind yourself of what is achievable.