Acting Style	A particular manner of acting which reflects cultural and historical influences.
Articulate	To speak clearly and distinctly.
Belief	The willing acceptance of the fiction created within dramatic situations and plays, and the student's commitment to it.
Brainstorming	A method of generating a large number of ideas.
Breath control	Central breathing, in which all muscular movement is concentrated in the abdomen.
Blocking	The placement and movement of actors in a dramatic presentation.
Blocking maps	A director's preliminary sketches of the placement and movement of actors for a dramatic presentation.
Character analysis	A description of one's understanding of a character.
Characterization	The process of developing and portraying a character.
Choral speaking	A means by which literature (including poetry, chants and raps, scripts, short stories, fairy tales, fables and legends) is interpreted and communicated vocally by a group. These could be either student-written or published works.
Collage	A series of staged "moments" related to the topic of a collective and depicting a range of perspectives on that topic.
Consensus	A group decision that everyone in the group agrees to support.
Consensus building	The process through which a consensus is reached.
Costume design	Illustrations of the stage apparel to be worn by actors.
Dance drama	Expressive movement through which ideas, stories, sounds and music can be interpreted.
Dance elements	The ingredients of dance, including actions, the body, dynamics, relationships, and space.
Directing	Assuming overall responsibility for the artistic interpretation and presentation of a dramatic work.
Director's book	The planning book developed by a director to guide the development of a dramatic presentation, including interpretative notations, schedules, scene breakdowns, preliminary blocking, etc.
Dramatic forms of expression	Various modes or strategies by which ideas can be represented
Dramatic process	Includes the processes involved in creating works of dramatic art, whether they be original works or re-creations of scripted materials. The dramatic process includes choosing a topic, researching, synthesizing, identifying the focus of the work, translating ideas into dramatic form, reflecting, refining, scripting, rehearsing and performing.
Exploration	A step in the collective creation process during which various methods of translating ideas into dramatic form are investigated.
Flashback/flashforward	Moving back and forward in time in order to extend students' understanding of themes and characters.
Gesture	The movement of a part of the body, including torso, limbs and face to express an idea, emotion or attitude.
Imaging	A technique that allows the students to slow down and focus individually on an issue. The students, sitting quietly with eyes closed, allow pictures to form in their minds. These images may be motivated by bits of narration, music, sounds, smells, etc.
Improvisation	Any unscripted work in drama.
Lighting plot	A tracing over the stage ground plan, including the location and colour of each lighting instrument, the kind of instrument called for and the area of the stage the instrument will light.
Makeup morgue	A collection of photographs, pictures, illustrations, etc. of various faces, showing age, beards, moustaches and nationalities, and including historical fashions and anatomical, animal and fantasy features to assist with makeup design and application.
Mask work	The use of masks in dramatic presentations to alter and heighten character.
Meetings	An effective strategy by which the whole group can establish focus and begin to build belief in a fictional situation.
Mime	Can be a highly sophisticated silent art form in which the body is used as the instrument of communication. In drama, mime enables the students to explore and represent ideas and events through movement and gesture.
Monologue	A piece of oral or written literature (e.g., a story, poem or part of a play) spoken by one person who exposes inner thoughts and provides insights into his or her character.
Motivation	What impels a character to behave in a particular way.
Negotiation	A purposeful discussion aimed at leading the group to clarify ideas, summarize individual points of view, and agree upon a course of action.
Parallel play	A situation in which all of the students work simultaneously, but separately, in their own space.
Play reviews	A written description and interpretation of a dramatic presentation based on informed judgment.
Prepared improvisation	An improvisation which is shaped and rehearsed.
Presentational style	A particular form of dramatic expression presentation (e.g., storytelling, mask work, readers' theatre).
Prompt book	A book of the play containing stage business, blocking, cues and plots needed for dramatic presentation (e.g., director's book, play book, stage manager's book).
Readers' theatre	A dramatic form of expression in which actors read and interpret text for an audience.
Refining	A step in the collective creation process during which choices are made and episodes are shaped and connected.
Reflection	Recalling, reacting to and describing one's drama experiences, both in and out of role.
Resonance	The quality of sound achieved through muscular control of the throat, nose, mouth and chest.
Role	The basic ingredient of work in drama. When the students and teacher assume roles in drama, they are acting "as if" they are someone else.
Script	The text of a dramatic work.
Script analysis	The critical interpretation of a script to achieve an understanding of it.
Scripting	A step in the collective creation process during which the written text is created and recorded.
Spontaneous improvisation	An improvisation which is immediate and unrehearsed.
Set design	A visual representation of the form and arrangement of scenery and properties.
Stage business	Small actions performed by an actor without moving from one place to another.
Stage manager's book	The planning book developed by a stage manager to facilitate management of a dramatic presentation, including scene breakdowns, entrance and exit cues, lighting plots and cues, sound cues, etc.
Stage movement	The purposeful movement of an actor on the stage.
Status	The relative importance of one character to another.
Storyboard	A visual representation of the "story" or organization of episodes in a collective creation.
Storytelling	A means of creating (or re-creating) and sharing stories. The stories may be familiar or unfamiliar, the stories of others or the students' own. In drama, storytelling is a means of sharing and reflecting on each others' experiences and the experiences of the group.
Story theatre	Techniques used in drama as stories are told. Either the story is told by a narrator while others perform it through mime or while speaking the dialogue; or the narration is provided by those who are acting out the characters, animals and inanimate objects.
Synthesis	A step in the collective creation process during which ideas are grouped and organized.
Tableau	A still image, a frozen moment or "a photograph". It is created by posing still bodies and communicates a living representation of an event, an idea or a feeling.
Talking stick circle	A method of discussion and decision-making originating with Aboriginal cultures.
Tapping in	A means by which those individuals represented in a tableau may be prompted to express their response to that particular moment that is captured in time and space by the tableau. The teacher places a hand on the shoulder of one of the students in role in the tableau and poses questions that are designed to reveal the actor's thinking about the situation represented by the tableau.
Teacher in role	The most effective way for teachers to work in contextual dramas. By taking on roles, the teacher is able to provide the students with a model for working in role through the use of appropriate language and apparent commitment to the work. Role enables the teacher to work with the students close to what is happening and to facilitate the shaping of the work from within. The role that the teachers chooses will depend upon what she or he hopes to achieve within the work. See Appendix A for information about the basic types of role available to the teacher.
Technical theatre	Those components of a dramatic presentation, aside from the acting and directing, which contribute to the overall impression communicated to the audience.
Theatre elements :
Focus	Knowing what the drama experience is about and centering the work so that the students are able to explore and make new discoveries about that particular concern.
Tension	The "pressure for response" which can take the form of a conflict, a challenge, a surprise, a time restraint or the suspense of not knowing. Tension strengthens belief by impelling the students to respond.
Contrasts	The dynamic use of movement/stillness, sound/silence and light/darkness by structuring shifts in perspective, pace, groupings, use of time and space, etc.
Symbol	Something which stands for or represents something else. Within any work of dramatic art, links can be made between the concrete experiences of those involved and abstract ideas. An idea or an object (e.g., peace, moccasins, a black cat) can hold several levels of both individual and collective meaning.
Voice projection	The ability to make the voice carry clearly and audibly.
Writing in role	Any written work done in role (e.g., monologues, family histories, letters, newspaper headlines etc.).