NES Dance (832) Practice Tests

Competencies 01–03 make up about 27% of the test. They ask you to understand movement skills, elements, and concepts and their relationship to dance learning and performing; understand fundamental skills and concepts of diverse styles and genres of dance; understand the developmental progression of physical skills and movement technique and the importance of personal practices in learning and performing dance.

• Competency 0001: Understand movement skills, elements, and concepts and their relationship to dance learning and performing. Skills tested: Demonstrate knowledge of basic vocabulary and terminology related to dance movement and various dance styles; Recognize the characteristics and analyze the uses of locomotor and nonlocomotor movements in dance; Understand and analyze the use of the elements of body, space, time, energy, and relationship in performing dance.
• Competency 0002: Understand fundamental skills and concepts of diverse styles and genres of dance. Skills tested: Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental techniques and movement patterns characteristic of Western theatrical and concert dances (e.g., ballet, modern, jazz, tap, hip-hop); Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental techniques and movement patterns characteristic of other world dance forms (e.g., Kabuki, classical Indian dance, capoeira, African dance); Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental techniques and movement patterns characteristic of social and folk dances (e.g., ballroom, salsa, contra and square, hora, hula, tinikling, Irish step dance).
• Competency 0003: Understand the developmental progression of physical skills and movement technique and the importance of personal practices in learning and performing dance. Skills tested: Understand and apply knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to dance movement and activities, including the role of optimal nutritional and psychological health practices for a strong body and positive self-image; Analyze basic processes of kinesthetic-motor development in relationship to dance (e.g., patterns of physical growth; acquisition of motor skills; the relationships among cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development; age-appropriate activities); Understand and apply principles and practices of dance conditioning, including strength training; muscle, ligament, and tendon care; and injury prevention and treatment.

Competencies 04–06 make up about 27% of the test. They ask you to understand and apply principles and processes of choreography; understand and apply principles of interpretation, analysis, and criticism of dance; understand the requirements of performance and fundamentals of production and staging of dance.

• Competency 0004: Understand and apply principles and processes of choreography. Skills tested: Understand and apply compositional structures and devices used in choreography; Analyze how principles of design are used in the choreography of dance; Recognize the characteristics of choreographic processes (e.g., improvisation, exploration, chance, reordering, abstraction), and analyze their purposes, including intention, conceptualization, and documentation; Recognize sources for generating choreographic ideas and the uses of technology in the creation of dance.
• Competency 0005: Understand and apply principles of interpretation, analysis, and criticism of dance. Skills tested: Analyze ways in which dance and elements of dance performance can create and communicate meaning; Understand the development of artistic awareness and demonstrate the ability to see dance from a variety of personal and cultural perspectives (e.g., stages of cognitive development, literal vs. abstract thinking, use of critical and creative thinking, context); Describe, analyze, interpret, and evaluate dance performance and choreography using aesthetic and technical criteria and concepts; Evaluate and discuss dance from the varying perspectives of choreographer, dancer, and observer.
• Competency 0006: Understand the requirements of performance and fundamentals of production and staging of dance. Skills tested: Identify and analyze the processes and purposes of staging a dance performance (e.g., warming up, performance projection, practice, rehearsal etiquette, spacing, self-evaluation); Understand and apply knowledge of costume, makeup, props, sets, lighting design, and musical accompaniment and evaluate how they contribute to the creation of meaning in dance; Demonstrate knowledge of facilities and technologies appropriate to dance learning, performance, and production (e.g., sprung floor, mirrors and barres, video and music equipment, computer technology, lighting); Identify and analyze the role of personnel involved in the performance and production of dance (e.g., stage manager; artistic director; publicist; costume, set, and lighting designer).

Competencies 07–09 make up about 26% of the test. They ask you to analyze the relationship between dance and society; analyze the history and role of dance in the United States and the world; analyze the connections between dance and other disciplines.

• Competency 0007: Analyze the relationship between dance and society. Skills tested: Identify and analyze the aesthetic, social, and cultural functions of dance within various cultures and throughout history, up to and including the present day; Evaluate the ways that specific dance forms reflect the social, cultural, economic, and historical contexts from which they emerge; Recognize the contributions of artists and dance-related organizations in the community, in U.S. society, and globally in the past and present; Identify dance-related resources at local, national, and global levels for lifelong involvement in dance through vocational, voluntary, and recreational activities.
• Competency 0008: Analyze the history and role of dance in the United States and the world. Skills tested: Demonstrate knowledge of the history of dance in North American and European traditions, including identification and analysis of historical periods, major stylistic traditions, and contributions of other world dance traditions; Demonstrate knowledge of the history of dance in other major world regions, including identification and analysis of historical periods and major stylistic traditions; Demonstrate knowledge of the contributions of significant dance artists, including their theories, processes, and major works; Identify and analyze how cultural, social, economic, and technological changes have influenced the development of dance in various cultures.
• Competency 0009: Analyze the connections between dance and other disciplines. Skills tested: Identify concepts, processes, and vocabulary common to dance and other art forms and to dance and other academic disciplines; Evaluate similarities and differences among the processes of skill development, creating, performing, and responding in dance and the processes and content of other arts disciplines; Evaluate the relationships among the processes of creating, performing, and responding in dance and processes of learning and understanding in other academic disciplines.

Competencies 10 make up about 20% of the test. They ask you to prepare an organized, developed analysis on a topic related to one or more of the following: dance movement: elements, skills, and concepts; dance as expression: creation, production, and analysis; and dance in society: history, purposes, and practice. (Refer to objectives 0001 through 0009 and associated descriptive statements.).

• Competency 0010: Prepare an organized, developed analysis on a topic related to one or more of the following: dance movement: elements, skills, and concepts; dance as expression: creation, production, and analysis; and dance in society: history, purposes, and practice. (Refer to objectives 0001 through 0009 and associated descriptive statements.).