Unofficial practice for MTEL Dance (46): movement and technique, choreography and production, dance history and society, each answer sourced.
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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or Pearson. Bank checked October 15, 2026.
Subarea I: Dance movement: elements, skills and concepts 14
A ballet dancer rotates her shoulders and head relative to her hips as she holds a pose, with no change below the waist. Which term names this use of the upper body?Wikipedia, "Glossary of ballet", Épaulement (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0001
A dancer bends her knee and then extends her hip to carry the leg behind her. Which muscle group at the back of the thigh takes part in both actions?Wikipedia, "Hamstring", Function (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0003
A dancer lands badly and overstretches the bands that hold the ankle's bones to one another. Which tissue connects bone to bone, as distinct from the tissue that connects muscle to bone?Wikipedia, "Tendon", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0003
A dancer shifts from a forceful stamp to a delicate tiptoe. In Laban's Effort terms she has moved between the two elements of the Weight factor. What are they?Wikipedia, "Laban movement analysis", Effort (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0001
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Subarea I: Dance movement: elements, skills and concepts, continued
At a high point of a Kabuki scene the actor strikes and holds a picturesque pose, the mie, and an expert in the audience may shout his house name. What is the pose meant to do?Wikipedia, "Kabuki", Performance (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0002
The hora is danced at weddings and festivals in Romania, and dances with similar names are found from Bulgaria to Turkey and among Ashkenazi Jews. What is its formation?Wikipedia, "Hora (dance)", lead and Romania and Moldova (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0002
How many dancers make up one square in a square dance, and who prompts them through the steps in most American forms?Wikipedia, "Square dance", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0002
In a ballet class, which pair of terms sets slow movements performed with fluidity and grace against brisk, lively motion that takes in the jumps?Wikipedia, "Glossary of ballet", Adagio and Allegro (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0001
In a relevé the calf muscles lift the heel. Which tendon, at the back of the lower leg, is attached to the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles?Wikipedia, "Achilles tendon", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0003
In Bharatanatyam and other forms of Indian classical dance, what are hasta mudras?Wikipedia, "Mudra", lead and Indian classical dance (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0002
Infants learn to use their upper limbs before their lower limbs. Which trend in growth and motor development does this show?Wikipedia, "Cephalocaudal trend", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0003
Laban named eight Effort Actions, among them Float, Glide, Dab and Wring. Which three Effort factors do they combine?Wikipedia, "Laban movement analysis", Effort (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0001
Which ballet term, literally "chased", names a sliding movement forward, backward or sideways with both legs bent, followed by a spring into the air with the legs straight and together?Wikipedia, "Glossary of ballet", Chassé (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0001
Which funk dance style is named for freezing from a fast movement, holding the position for a short while, then going on at the same speed as before?Wikipedia, "Locking (dance)", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0002
Subarea II: Dance as expression: creation, production and analysis 14
A choreographer dictates every motion and formation in detail, leaving the dancers little or no room for personal interpretation. Which method of making a dance is this?Wikipedia, "Choreography", Dance choreography techniques (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0004
A choreographer gives dancers generalized directives that guide improvised movement and form, such as "withdraw from your partner". What is such a set of directives called?Wikipedia, "Choreography", Dance choreography techniques (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0004
A choreographer records a dancer's movement into a computer system at high resolution, then studies the data on screen to build new phrases. Which technology is in use?Wikipedia, "Motion capture", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0004
A reviewer praises a dancer whose jumps seem to hang in the air for a moment before she lands softly. Which ballet term names this look of lightness in leaps and jumps?Wikipedia, "Glossary of ballet", Ballon (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0005
A teacher asks students what a wordless, plotless dance might say about freedom. In Piaget's theory, at which stage do people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts in this way?Wikipedia, "Piaget's theory of cognitive development", Formal operational stage (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0005
Before a dance concert the crew puts small pieces of tape on the stage floor. What are these marks called, and what are they for?Wikipedia, "Spike (stagecraft)", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0006
During the run of a dance concert, who typically keeps the prompt book and calls the performance?Wikipedia, "Stage management", lead and Regional (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0006
In a traditional theatre the audience watches a dance through a frame formed by an arch over the top and sides of the stage opening. What is this vertical plane called?Wikipedia, "Proscenium", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0006
In rehearsal the direction is "exit stage left". From whose point of view is "left" taken?Wikipedia, "Blocking (stage)", Stage directions (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0006
John Martin became America's first major dance critic in 1927. Which movement did his writing do most to propel?Wikipedia, "John Martin (dance critic)", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0005
Six dancers perform the same range of moves at the same time. Which choreographic technique is this?Wikipedia, "Choreography", Dance choreography techniques (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0004
Which part of a pointe shoe is the rigid enclosure at the front that encases and supports the toes, with its end flattened into a platform for balance?Wikipedia, "Pointe shoe", Box and wings (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0006
Which pioneer of American modern dance shared her observations and theories on dance and composition in The Art of Making Dances, a book published shortly after her death in 1958?Wikipedia, "Doris Humphrey", Legacy (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0004
Within one phrase a dancer waves, beckons and shrugs, and the audience reads each action at once. What is the term for visible bodily actions that communicate particular messages?Wikipedia, "Gesture", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0005
Subarea III: Dance and society: history, purposes and practice 14
A dance is set to a piece in which the bass repeats one short phrase from beginning to end. Which musical term, from the Italian for "stubborn", names such a persistently repeated motif?Wikipedia, "Ostinato", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0009
A dance phrase is set to music in 3/4 time. What does the time signature tell the dancers?Wikipedia, "Time signature", lead and Time signature notation (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0009
Bon Odori is danced across Japan during Obon, with a local dance and music in each region. What did the dance begin as?Wikipedia, "Bon Festival", Bon Odori (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0007
During the Great Depression the Works Progress Administration sponsored arts projects as a relief measure to employ artists. Which short-lived unit of 1936 and 1937 had the dancer Helen Tamiris as its central figure?Wikipedia, "Federal Theatre Project", Federal Dance Project (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0007
International Dance Day falls on the birthday of a French ballet master who is generally considered the creator of ballet d'action. Who was he?Wikipedia, "Jean-Georges Noverre", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0008
Maria Tallchief, an Osage dancer born in Fairfax, Oklahoma, holds which place in the history of American ballet?Wikipedia, "Maria Tallchief", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0008
Pearl Primus, a dancer, choreographer and anthropologist, is remembered above all for which contribution?Wikipedia, "Pearl Primus", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0008
The Rite of Spring was first performed in Paris on 29 May 1913, and its music and choreography caused a sensation that many later called a riot. Who made the original choreography?Wikipedia, "The Rite of Spring", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0008
Seen from above, a group formation looks the same after each quarter turn about its center. Which geometric property does the formation have?Wikipedia, "Rotational symmetry", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0009
Which company, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England?Wikipedia, "Boston Ballet", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0007
Which dance center in Becket, Massachusetts, on a farm that Ted Shawn bought in 1931 as a dance retreat, was listed as a National Historic Landmark District in 2003?Wikipedia, "Jacob's Pillow Dance", lead and History (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0007
Which field, the scientific study of human body movement, gives dance teachers anatomical and biomechanical principles of how a body moves?Wikipedia, "Kinesiology", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0009
Which German dancer and choreographer pioneered expressionist dance and movement training without pointe shoes, and became an icon of Weimar culture?Wikipedia, "Mary Wigman", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0008
Which romantic ballet, first given in Paris in 1841 with music by Adolphe Adam, was originally titled with the words "or The Wilis"?Wikipedia, "Giselle", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Dance (46), objective 0008
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test objectives of MTEL Dance, field 46, as the test information guide prints them on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure website (https://www.mtel.nesinc.com/Content/StudyGuide/MA_SG_OBJ_46.htm and https://www.mtel.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/MA046_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-15): 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response items in 4 hours; multiple-choice subareas I Dance Movement: Elements, Skills, and Concepts (33 to 35 questions, 27% of the score, objectives 0001 to 0003), II Dance as Expression: Creation, Production, and Analysis (33 to 35, 27%, objectives 0004 to 0006) and III Dance and Society: History, Purposes, and Practice (31 to 33, 26%, objectives 0007 to 0009), and the open-response subarea, 20%. Every fact was read on 2026-10-15 in the Wikipedia article named under its question. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This MTEL Dance (46) practice test asks 42 questions of our own, from ballet vocabulary to dance history. It is unofficial and not affiliated: the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Pearson neither wrote nor endorse it.
Read the full guide
Three subareas, nearly equal
The test objectives give dance movement (elements, skills and concepts) 27% of the score and 33 to 35 questions, dance as expression (creation, production and analysis) 27% and 33 to 35, and dance and society (history, purposes and practice) 26% and 31 to 33. This bank holds 14 of each.
The clock
With an online proctor, the MTEL site gives 2 hours for the 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 hours for the open-response assignments. A timed run here keeps the first pace: 42 questions in 50 minutes.
What the real test adds
Two open-response items carry the other 20%: organized, developed analyses on topics from any of the three subareas. Writing of that kind is outside what a quiz can rehearse.
The society subarea asks about artists and organizations in the community. Two questions here are set in Massachusetts: Jacob's Pillow in Becket and Boston Ballet.
Questions and answers
Is there an official MTEL Dance practice test?
The preparation materials for Dance (46) on the MTEL site are sample multiple-choice questions and a sample open-response assignment; no full practice test is listed. None of that material is used here: every question on this page is our own.
How many questions are on the MTEL Dance test?
Its test page gives 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response assignments. Testing time is 4 hours whether the test is taken at a test center or with an online proctor.
What is the passing score for the MTEL Dance test?
A score of 240 qualifies, the MTEL site says. Since 20% of that score comes from the open-response items, the tally after a round here is practice and not a verdict.
Which grade levels does the Massachusetts Dance license cover?
All levels. The table of teacher licenses in 603 CMR 7.04 lists Dance with the single level "All", where most subjects are split into grade bands.