
Dance Medicine Terminology
The there is a vast vocabulary used within the dance medicine discourse community including terms regarding both human anatomy and dance movements. Because this vocabulary is so vast, it is nearly impossible to list all of the terms one would come in contact with while exploring the dance medicine discourse community. Instead of listing all of the terminology used, I will be listing some of the most commonly used words.
Dance:
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ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, hip hop, modern, lyrical- styles of dance
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arabesque- position on one leg, with the other leg raised straight behind the body
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attitude- in ballet, a pose in which one leg is raised in back or in front with knee bent, usually with one arm raised
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developpe- an unfolding of the leg in the air
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grand battement- in ballet, a pose in which one leg is raised in back or in front with knee bent, usually with one arm raised
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grand jete- a large leap forward
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passé- leg is raised with a bent knee with the foot placed on the opposite leg, just below the patella. This may be parallel or turned out
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pirouette- a turn performed on one foot. This turn is done in place
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plie- a bending of the knees. Demi plie is a half bending of the knees with the heels on the floor, while grand plie is a full bending of the knees
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point- a position on the tip of the toes
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relevé-a movement in which the dancer rises on the tips of the toes
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sauté- a simple jump in the vertical direction
Kinesiology
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axial body- consists of the bones of the head and trunk of a vertebrate
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appendicular body- composed of the bones of the upper and lower limbs, pectoral girdle, and pelvic girdle
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anterior- farther from the from
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posterior- farther to the back
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medial- closer to an imaginary midline that divides the body into the left and right halves
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lateral- farther away from the imaginary midline
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superior- above (toward the head)
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interior-below (away from the head)
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proximal- closer (i.e., more proximity) to the axial body
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distal- farther (i.e., more distant) from the axial body
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superficial- closer to the surface of the body
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deep- farther from the surface of the body
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planter/dorsal- used for the foot, the plantar surface of the foot is the undersurface that is planted on the ground, where as the dorsal surface is the top or dorsum of the foot