A dance opens with a slow section on the floor, moves to a fast section of jumps, and closes by returning to the slow floor section. Which structure does it follow?Wikipedia, "Ternary form". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator c
A designer is costuming a ballet in the Romantic style, with sylphs who should seem to float. Which skirt belongs to that style?Wikipedia, "Tutu (clothing)". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator k
A trio freezes with one dancer lying on the floor, one kneeling and one standing on a box. On which choreographic device is the picture built?Wikipedia, "Choreography". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator a
Agnes de Mille's dream ballet in the musical Oklahoma! (1943) is remembered as a turning point for dance on Broadway. What did it do?Wikipedia, "Agnes de Mille". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator d
By 1891 one American dancer was building solos, among them the "Serpentine Dance", out of silk costumes lit by colored lighting that she designed herself. Who was she?Wikipedia, "Loie Fuller". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator k
Show all 48 questions (43 more)
Creating, continued
In which African-American dance tradition do the dancers supply the accompaniment themselves, stomping and slapping and patting the arms, legs, chest and cheeks?Wikipedia, "Juba dance". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator e
Jerome Robbins made Fancy Free (1944), a comic ballet about sailors on leave. Which two sources of movement did he combine in it?Wikipedia, "Jerome Robbins". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator d
New York's dance standards place three anchor standards under the artistic process of Creating. What are their process components, in order?New York State Education Department, New York State Learning Standards for the Arts, Dance At-A-Glance (2017). Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator d
Trisha Brown's Roof Piece (1971) spread its dancers over 12 rooftops in SoHo, each one passing the movement on to the dancer on the nearest roof. What does the work show about staging a dance?Wikipedia, "Trisha Brown". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator j
Two dancers stand face to face. One slowly raises her right arm, and her partner raises his left arm at the same moment, as though he were her reflection. Which term names this?Wikipedia, "Choreography". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator a
Under the process component Revise, New York's dance standards say that choreographers analyze, evaluate, refine and document their work. To what end?New York State Education Department, New York State Learning Standards for the Arts, Dance At-A-Glance (2017). Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator i
The word "choreography" is built from two Greek words. What does it literally mean?Wikipedia, "Choreography". Framework section: Competency 0001, Creating, performance indicator a
Performing 12
A beginning ballet class learns the basic positions of the feet. How many are there in modern classical ballet, and whom did the dancing master Pierre Rameau credit with codifying them?Wikipedia, "Positions of the feet in ballet". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator b
A dance program adds a weekly class in somatic practice. In dance, what sets somatic techniques apart from "performative" techniques such as ballet?Wikipedia, "Somatics". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator h
A dancer circles the whole leg from the hip, to the front, the side and the back. Which type of joint at the hip makes this range of movement possible?Wikipedia, "Ball-and-socket joint". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator i
A jazz combination puts its strongest accents on the "and" between the counts, where a listener would not expect a stress. Which rhythmic term describes this?Wikipedia, "Syncopation". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator d
A teacher checks a student's alignment en pointe. In proper pointe technique, where does the straight line of the supporting leg run?Wikipedia, "Pointe technique". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator a
A teacher explains why the knee should track over the toes in a plié and not twist. Which fact about the knee supports the explanation?Wikipedia, "Hinge joint". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator i
A technique class works on swinging the body's weight off balance and catching it again, with the breath keeping each phrase flowing. Whose modern dance technique emphasizes the rhythms of falling and recovering balance?Wikipedia, "José Limón". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator h
In a jazz class the teacher calls for a "ball change". What does the dancer do?Wikipedia, "Glossary of dance moves". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator a
In Laban's effort graph, each of four effort categories is described by a pair of opposite qualities. Which pair describes Time?Wikipedia, "Labanotation". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator e
New York's dance standards say that dancers "use the body-mind principles and develop the body as an instrument for artistry and artistic expression". Which process component of Performing carries this understanding?New York State Education Department, New York State Learning Standards for the Arts, Dance At-A-Glance (2017). Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator h
Under the artistic process of Performing, New York's dance standards name three "basic elements of dance". Which three?New York State Education Department, New York State Learning Standards for the Arts, Dance At-A-Glance (2017). Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator c
With her eyes closed, a dancer can tell that her raised arm is level with her shoulder. Which sense tells her so?Wikipedia, "Proprioception". Framework section: Competency 0002, Performing, performance indicator g
Responding 12
A ballet company's notator prints the dance score directly beneath the music score, bar for bar. Which property of Benesh notation makes this practical?Wikipedia, "Benesh Movement Notation". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator g
A Bharatanatyam repertoire includes nritta, nritya and natya. Which of these conveys a meaning to the audience through hand gestures?Wikipedia, "Bharatanatyam". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator a
A dance historian reconstructs a court dance from a score printed in Paris in 1700. By what name is that early system of notation known?Wikipedia, "Pierre Beauchamp". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator g
A reviewer describes turned-in knees and toes, shoulder rolls, splayed gloved fingers and tilted bowler hats. Whose jazz style is the reviewer describing?Wikipedia, "Bob Fosse". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator a
A student argues that a hip-hop battle and a classical ballet solo should be judged by one fixed checklist. Which statement from New York's dance standards answers him?New York State Education Department, New York State Learning Standards for the Arts, Dance At-A-Glance (2017). Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator f
A student compares an early postmodern piece, built from walking and other everyday actions, with a modern dance solo. Which claim did postmodern dance make?Wikipedia, "Postmodern dance". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator f
A student opens a Labanotation score for the first time. In which direction is its staff read?Wikipedia, "Labanotation". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator g
Ann Hutchinson Guest was an authority on dance notation who studied more than 80 notation systems. Which organization did she co-found and direct in New York?Wikipedia, "Ann Hutchinson Guest". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator g
The ballet d'action emerged in the 18th century. What was one of its chief aims?Wikipedia, "Ballet d'action". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator b
In a Labanotation score, one symbol is twice as long as the symbol next to it. What does the extra length record?Wikipedia, "Labanotation". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator g
In New York's dance standards, the artistic process of Responding has three anchor standards. What are their process components?New York State Education Department, New York State Learning Standards for the Arts, Dance At-A-Glance (2017). Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator e
Which system of dance notation is written on a five-line staff from left to right, with bar lines to mark the passage of time?Wikipedia, "Benesh Movement Notation". Framework section: Competency 0003, Responding, performance indicator g
Connecting 12
A unit on dance and culture studies hula. What does the dance do with the mele, the song or chant it accompanies?Wikipedia, "Hula". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator e
The Ballets Russes performed between 1909 and 1929 and changed ballet across Europe and the Americas. Which statement about the company is true?Wikipedia, "Ballets Russes". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator c
Bhangra is a traditional folk dance of the Punjab, full of vigorous kicks, leaps and bends of the body. With which occasion is it especially associated?Wikipedia, "Bhangra (dance)". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator e
Breaking is one of the foundational styles of hip-hop dance. Where and when was it created?Wikipedia, "Hip-hop dance". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator c
Doris Humphrey called her central principle "the arc between two deaths": giving in to gravity at one extreme and holding balance at the other. What is the principle called?Wikipedia, "Doris Humphrey". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator d
In 1955 Arthur Mitchell became the first African-American dancer with the New York City Ballet. What did he found in 1969?Wikipedia, "Arthur Mitchell (dancer)". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator d
Katherine Dunham was a dancer, a choreographer and an anthropologist. Where did she carry out the fieldwork of 1935 that fed her choreography and her technique?Wikipedia, "Katherine Dunham". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator d
La Sylphide, first choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, is a landmark of Romantic ballet. With what is his daughter, Marie Taglioni, credited?Wikipedia, "Marie Taglioni". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator c
Martha Graham and the composer Aaron Copland created Appalachian Spring in 1944. Which borrowed tune does Copland's score treat as a theme with variations?Wikipedia, "Appalachian Spring". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator d
The ring shout is an African American ritual dance that began with enslaved Africans in the southern United States. How do the worshippers move?Wikipedia, "Ring shout". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator e
Which early modern dancer believed that movement originated from the solar plexus and drew inspiration from Greek vases and bas-reliefs?Wikipedia, "Isadora Duncan". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator d
Which institution, founded by letters patent of Louis XIV in March 1661, was the first dance institution established in the Western world?Wikipedia, "Académie Royale de Danse". Framework section: Competency 0004, Connecting, performance indicator c
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the four selected-response competencies of the NYSTCE Field 164: Dance Test Design and Framework, June 2019, authorized for distribution by the New York State Education Department (https://www.nystce.nesinc.com/content/docs/NY164_OBJ_FINAL.pdf, read 2026-10-14): Creating, Performing, Responding and Connecting, each 22 or 23 of the 90 selected-response items. The bank holds 12 for each, 48 in all. Every fact was read on 2026-10-14 in the public page the question names: Wikipedia articles that carried no warning banner that day, and the New York State Learning Standards for the Arts, Dance At-A-Glance (2017). Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This NYSTCE dance practice test has 48 questions of our own on the Dance CST (164). It is unofficial practice, not affiliated with the New York State Education Department or Pearson and not endorsed or sponsored by either.
Read the full guide
The four competencies
Creating, Performing, Responding and Connecting, the four artistic processes of New York's arts standards. The framework of June 2019 gives each 22 or 23 of the 90 selected-response items.
Pace and the written response
Exam mode gives 72 minutes for all 48, the minute and a half apiece that the framework plans for the real 90. The written response on teaching a dance topic has no counterpart on this page.
Six questions rest on New York's own dance standards: the process components and enduring understandings of its eleven anchor standards.
Questions and answers
What is on the NYSTCE Dance test?
Ninety selected-response items in four equal competencies: Creating (choreography and production), Performing (the elements of dance, technique and the body), Responding (analysis and notation) and Connecting (history, cultures and other disciplines), and one written response on teaching.
What score passes the Dance CST?
The Dance (164) page lists a passing score of 520. It is a scaled score, so no number of right answers on this page converts to it, and exam mode shows your count without a verdict.
How long is the NYSTCE Dance test?
The whole appointment lasts 3 hours 30 minutes. A 15-minute tutorial and nondisclosure agreement come first, then 3 hours 15 minutes of testing, planned as 135 minutes of selected-response items and 60 of written response.
Does the Dance CST include video or audio?
The test's page says only that the test includes the use of a headset. The questions on this page are text alone: each describes its movement, score or stage picture in words.