Floor and Air Patter

When we observe a Dance Composition in space, one can perceive that the different figures performed on the floor by the dancers and the applied body gestures captured in the air, illustrate certain repeated or varied patterns.
A pattern is a repeated composition of lines or shapes, visible and recognizable in space.


Floor Patterns

We can differentiate between two basic patterns.
Angular patterns and Round patterns
Starting from the definition of each type,
one angular with an clear angle between two lines. And the other, roundabout and smooth in its design, one can than perform and create shapes and variations of them.

Angular Patterns
- L-Shape pattern
- Zick- Zack pattern
- Square pattern
etc.

Round Pattern
- Full circle pattern
- Half Circle pattern
- Serpentine Pattern
- Spiral pattern
etc.

Some explications
Half circle: starting from an imagined line in front of us, the line is crossed in 90 degrees. A full half round circle is achieved.

Serpentine: starting from a line in front of us, the imagined line is crossed in 45 degrees. A less full rounded but more oval form is achieved.

Air patterns
Are movement forms or patterns executed by a body part in space which doesn’t serve as a body weight support.
Signifies the body movement is a gesture and isn’t responsible to carry or support the weight of the body.

In order to determine the different
air-patterns, we will apply the notations from an important French Choreographer and Notator, who contributed a very significant part for the dance world with its publications, Raoul-Auger Feuillet

Air Patterns - Terms after R. A. Feuillet
- Droit
- Ouvert
- Rond
-Tortillé

Droit
Signifies a direct Path in space, either in the air or floor. A movement that moves from a to b in a direct manner drawing a visible line in space.

Ouvert
Is a body gesture with a roundish movement shape perceived in space. The body gesture moves on a curved path and more than one articulation of the moving body part is actively participating in the movement. En general Movements of the limbs are producing Ouvert -forms
- (opening from first position to second or third position, where the arm, because of the action of extension, is moving simultaneously within the Shoulder join and Elbow join). 

Rond
Describes a round floor or air path in space. The form of a circle or parts of it can be perceived. When executed with a certain part of the body, just one join of the moving part is actively as a base participating. It’s a body part movement, that uses its full range in space and touches its extension limit in relation to the Kinesphere of the body.


Tortillé
Stands for a body gesture, that draws twisted and roundish space patterns in 3-dimesional forms. By its continuous change of body planes, stays the gesture rather close to the body than reaching out in space.