A class performs one phrase three times: at 60, at 90 and at 120 beats per minute. Which element of time is being changed?Wikipedia, Tempo (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0001
A dancer stays on one spot and reaches as far as her limbs can go in every direction without taking a step. What did Laban call the space she marks out?Wikipedia, Laban movement analysis (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0001
A lighting designer washes a large curved cloth at the back of the stage in deep blue to set a night mood. What is the cloth called?Wikipedia, Cyclorama (theater) (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0003
A student writes: "The sharp, percussive arm gestures made the trio look angry." Which step of dance criticism is this sentence?Own work: the answer rests on the text printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0003
Show all 42 questions (38 more)
The basic vocabulary of dance, continued
A teacher has dancers lie still and picture the spine lengthening along a line, to improve alignment before they move. Which approach is this?Wikipedia, Ideokinesis (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0002
In Laban's effort theory, one effort factor has the opposite elements direct and indirect. Which factor is it?Wikipedia, Laban movement analysis (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0001
To hold a balance on one leg, where must the vertical line through the dancer's center of mass fall?Wikipedia, Balance (ability) (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0002
Twelve dancers move in unison. One breaks away and holds a still shape while the others continue. What does the contrast mainly do?Own work: the answer rests on the text printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0003
Which movement is nonlocomotor?Own work: the answer rests on the text printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0002
Dance creation and production 9
A choreographer builds a whole piece from one reaching gesture: larger, slower, on the floor, passed from dancer to dancer. What is this process called?Own work: the answer rests on the text printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0004
A choreographer states an eight-count phrase, then repeats it three times, each time altered in rhythm, level or direction. Which structure is this?Wikipedia, Variation (music) (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0004
A dance has two contrasting sections, A then B, and ends without returning to A. Which form is it?Wikipedia, Binary form (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0004
A lighting designer slides a thin sheet of tinted, transparent material into a frame at the front of a lantern. What does it do?Wikipedia, Color gel (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0006
A work made for a proscenium stage is moved to a theater in the round. What must the choreographer rethink first?Wikipedia, Theatre in the round (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0005
After 1991 Merce Cunningham made dances with LifeForms. What kind of tool was it?Wikipedia, Merce Cunningham (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0005
In a ballet company, who teaches the steps and the interpretation of the roles to the dancers who will perform a work?Wikipedia, Répétiteur (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0006
One group performs a phrase and a second group answers it with a phrase of its own, back and forth. Which choreographic device is this?Wikipedia, Call and response (music) (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0005
Two dancers improvise by keeping a moving point of touch between them and giving and taking each other's weight. Which practice, begun in 1972, is this?Wikipedia, Contact improvisation (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0005
Safe movement practices and dance forms 9
A ballet dancer stands on one straight leg with the other leg turned out and extended straight behind the body. Which position is this?Wikipedia, Arabesque (ballet position) (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0009
A dancer straightens the knees to rise from a plié. Which muscle group extends the knee?Wikipedia, Quadriceps (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0007
A street dancer quickly contracts and relaxes the muscles so that the body jerks in time with the beat. Which style is this?Wikipedia, Popping (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0009
A student stands with the front of the pelvis dropped and the lower back arched. Which alignment fault is this?Wikipedia, Pelvic tilt (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0007
After an awkward landing from a jump, the tough bands that tie bone to bone at a dancer's ankle are overstretched. Which term names this injury?Wikipedia, Sprain (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0008
In a plié the angle at the knee joint gets smaller as the knees bend. Which anatomical term names that motion?Wikipedia, Anatomical terms of motion (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0007
Over a term a teacher adds repetitions and height to a jump series a little at a time. Which conditioning principle is she using?Wikipedia, Progressive overload (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0008
Rapid, exact footwork while the upper body and arms stay largely still marks which dance form?Wikipedia, Irish stepdance (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0009
Tap is a kind of step dance in which the shoes sound against the floor as percussion. From the meeting of which two traditions did it begin?Wikipedia, Tap dance (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0009
The role of dance 9
A phrase lasts 8 counts. Students perform it in half time, each movement taking twice as long. How many counts does it now fill, and which subject does the task draw on?Own work: the answer rests on the text printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0012
Among the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania, young warriors perform adumu. What is the dance best known for?Wikipedia, Adumu (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0010
In 1930s film musicals, how did Busby Berkeley use the camera to change what a dance number could be?Wikipedia, Busby Berkeley (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0011
In tinikling, a folk dance of the Philippines, what do the dancers move over and between?Wikipedia, Tinikling (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0010
Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman all trained at a school founded in Los Angeles in 1915. Which school?Wikipedia, Denishawn school (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0011
What did followers of the Paiute leader Wovoka believe the Ghost Dance of 1890 would bring?Wikipedia, Ghost Dance (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0010
Which ballet master of the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg made The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and Raymonda (1898)?Wikipedia, Marius Petipa (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0011
Which court spectacle, staged in Paris in 1581, is often called the first ballet de cour?Wikipedia, Ballet Comique de la Reine (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0011
Which sculptor designed stage sets for a number of Martha Graham's productions, an example of dance working with visual art?Wikipedia, Isamu Noguchi (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0012
Dance education 6
A student can do a single turn alone and a double turn only with the teacher's cue. In Vygotsky's terms, where does the double turn lie?Wikipedia, Zone of proximal development (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0014
A teacher arguing for dance in the curriculum cites Howard Gardner. Which of his intelligences does dance most directly use?Wikipedia, Theory of multiple intelligences (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0013
For a final grade, students choreograph, rehearse and perform a short study and write about their choices. Which kind of assessment is this?Wikipedia, Authentic assessment (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0014
How many anchor standards do the Illinois Arts Learning Standards for dance set out?Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Arts Learning Standards: Dance Standards (approved 2016) (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0013
In the Illinois dance standards, Anchor Standard 11 has students relate artistic ideas and works to societal, cultural and historical context. Under which heading does it sit?Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Arts Learning Standards: Dance Standards (approved 2016) (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0013
Kindergartners learn best through pretend play and images such as "melt like ice cream". Which of Piaget's stages, which lasts until about age seven, fits them?Wikipedia, Piaget's theory of cognitive development (read 2026-10-15). Outline: ILTS Dance (209) test framework, objective 0014
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test design and framework of Illinois Licensure Testing System (ILTS) field 209, Dance, as the ILTS site prints them (https://www.il.nesinc.com/Content/STUDYGUIDE/IL_SG_OBJ_209.htm and the test page https://www.il.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/IL209_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-15): The Basic Vocabulary of Dance, 21%; Dance Creation and Production, 21%; Safe Movement Practices and Dance Forms, 21%; The Role of Dance, 21%; Dance Education, 15%; 100 multiple-choice questions (80 scorable), 3 hours 15 minutes of testing time, passing score 240. This bank holds 42 questions, spread 9, 9, 9, 9, 6 over those subareas. Every fact was read on 2026-10-15 in the public page named under its question: the Illinois Arts Learning Standards for dance, approved by the Illinois State Board of Education in 2016 (https://www.isbe.net/Documents/Dance-Standards.pdf), and the Wikipedia article named for each remaining question. 5 questions rest on the situation printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This free ILTS Dance practice test asks 42 questions of our own on field 209, against the clock if you like. It is unofficial, and this site is not affiliated with the Illinois State Board of Education or Pearson.
Read the full guide
What field 209 weighs
By the framework on the ILTS site, read October 15, 2026: the basic vocabulary of dance 21%; dance creation and production 21%; safe movement practices and dance forms 21%; the role of dance 21%; dance education 15%. The 42 questions here fall 9, 9, 9, 9 and 6. A timed round draws 40 of them for 78 minutes, the pace of the real test.
Illinois in the answers
Two questions rest on the Illinois Arts Learning Standards for dance, approved by the State Board in 2016: eleven anchor standards under Creating, Performing, Responding and Connecting.
Objective 0009 names eight forms to know by their vocabulary and traits: ballet, modern, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, tap, cultural and social dance.
One subarea in five is the body: anatomy and kinesiology, conditioning and injury, and the technique of each form.
Questions and answers
Is this ILTS Dance practice test free?
It costs nothing and asks for no account. The questions were written for this page, objective by objective, and under each answer stands the public page where its fact can be checked.
How long is the ILTS Dance test?
Three hours 15 minutes of testing for 100 multiple-choice questions on a computer, inside an appointment of 3 hours 30 minutes. Of the 100, the framework marks 80 as scorable.
What score passes ILTS Dance (209)?
240, on a scale that runs from 100 to 300. Every multiple-choice question has the same weight, and the score report explanation says nothing is taken off for a wrong answer.
How soon can you retake the ILTS Dance test?
After 14 days: that is the wait the ILTS retake policy, read October 15, 2026, sets for a content-area test. You register again for the new attempt.