How do you develop a short motif into rich, varied movement material?
Motif and motif development: creating a movement motif from a stimulus and manipulating it through changes of action, dynamics, space and relationships to generate varied, coherent material.
How AQA A-Level Dance expects you to create a motif and develop it: manipulating action, space, dynamics and relationships through repetition, inversion, retrograde, fragmentation and other devices to build coherent choreographic material.
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What this dot point is asking
AQA wants you to build a dance from a clear motif and then develop it, so you must know how to manipulate a movement phrase through action, space, dynamics and relationships to produce varied but unified material. In the written exam you must name the development devices and explain their effect; in your own choreography you must apply them so the dance reads as one developing idea rather than a series of unrelated phrases.
What a motif is
A motif need not be long. A single clear gesture, such as a reaching arm that closes into the chest, can be enough if it carries the intention. What matters is that it is distinctive and meaningful, because everything you do later transforms it. A weak, generic motif gives you little to develop; a specific one rich in action, dynamic quality and spatial detail offers many ways to change it.
The four elements you manipulate
Motif development works by changing one or more of the core components of movement. Examiners expect you to name the element you are changing.
- Action: add, remove or substitute movements; change the body parts used; add a gesture or a travel.
- Space: alter level (high, medium, low), direction, size (large or small), pathway (straight, curved, zig-zag) or facing.
- Dynamics: change the quality (sharp or sustained, strong or light), speed, weight, flow (free or bound) or accent of the movement.
- Relationships: change how dancers relate, for example unison, canon, contact, mirroring or contrast.
Changing space and dynamics is often the most efficient way to transform a motif while keeping it recognisable, because the action stays the same but its look and feel change.
Named development devices
Effective development balances variety and unity: enough change to sustain interest, enough recognisable material to keep the dance coherent and tied to the intention. A useful test is whether an audience member could still spot the original motif inside the developed version; if not, you have made new material rather than developed the old.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20186 marksDescribe three different ways a choreographer could develop a single motif, naming the element of movement each one changes.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark "describe" rewards three distinct developments, each tied to a named element (action, space, dynamics or relationships).
- Change of space
- Perform the motif at a low level instead of standing, or reverse its travelling pathway, altering the spatial content while keeping the action recognisable.
- Change of dynamics
- Perform the same actions sharply and percussively where they were sustained and flowing, changing the energy quality.
- Fragmentation (action)
- Use only the opening gesture of the motif, repeated, so a part of the original action stands in for the whole.
A strong answer names the element changed each time and makes clear the motif stays identifiable, which is what separates development from new material.
AQA 20228 marksExplain how a choreographer can develop a motif to create both variety and unity in a group dance, with reference to relationships between dancers.Show worked answer →
An 8-mark "explain" needs developed points linking development devices to the twin aims of variety and unity, with relationships foregrounded.
- Unity through recognition
- Repeating the core motif and using inversion or retrograde keeps the original identifiable, so the audience follows one developing idea rather than disconnected steps.
- Variety through relationships
- The same motif performed in canon (staggered starts) creates a rippling, layered texture; performed in contrast (one dancer sustained while three are sharp) it highlights difference; performed in unison it concentrates emphasis. The relationship is changed while the action stays the same.
- The balance
- Too much change loses unity; too little loses interest. Strong answers explain that relationship-based development is powerful because it transforms the look of the motif without inventing unrelated material, and tie this to the choreographic intention.
Related dot points
- The choreographic process: responding to a stimulus, generating and selecting movement material, structuring the work, and refining it through improvisation, rehearsal and editing into a complete solo or group dance.
How AQA A-Level Dance expects you to work through the choreographic process: interpreting a stimulus, improvising and generating material, selecting and structuring it, and refining the work into a coherent solo or group dance for Component 1.
- Choreographic devices and structures: unison, canon, contrast, climax, highlights, repetition and motif, used within structures such as binary, ternary, rondo, narrative and episodic form to give a dance shape and meaning.
How AQA A-Level Dance expects you to use choreographic devices (unison, canon, contrast, climax, highlights) and structural forms (binary, ternary, rondo, narrative, episodic) to give choreography coherent shape and communicate intention.
- Aural setting and staging: choosing and using accompaniment, sound and silence, and the physical setting (lighting, set, costume, staging configuration) so they support the movement and the choreographic intention.
How AQA A-Level Dance expects you to choose and use aural setting (music, sound, silence) and staging (lighting, set, costume, performance space) so they reinforce the movement and communicate the choreographic intention in Component 1.
- Analysing and interpreting dance: describing the constituent features (movement, dancers, physical setting, aural setting) and interpreting how they combine to create meaning and communicate the choreographic intention.
How AQA A-Level Dance Component 2 expects you to analyse the constituent features of a dance (movement, dancers, physical setting, aural setting) and interpret how they combine to make meaning and communicate the choreographic intention.
- Expressive and physical skills: musicality, focus, projection, facial expression, phrasing, sensitivity to other dancers and spatial awareness, combined with extension, isolation, mobility and control, to communicate the choreographic intention.
How AQA A-Level Dance distinguishes physical skills (extension, isolation, mobility, control, posture) from expressive skills (musicality, focus, projection, facial expression, phrasing, sensitivity) and expects both to communicate the choreographic intention in Component 1.
Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Dance (7237) specification — AQA (2016)