Visual Vocabulary

Providing a visual representation of vocabulary terms used in your sessions can help students to better understand the concepts.

Download, print, or share these common vocabulary terms below for Visual/Media Arts, Theater, Music, Literary Arts, Dance, and Photography/Filmmaking for use in your next arts residency.

Designed by Alexis Buatti-Ramos and Archer Brinkley.

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A teacher reads out loud to two young students dressed as superheroes

Dance

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Audience. Illustration of a group of people as audience members in different types of seats or chairs.

Audience

Balance. A dark skinned student balances on the back wheels of their wheelchair

Balance

Choreography. A student with an iPad communication device moves their arm up and down.

Choreography

Choreographer. A dark skinned adult makes a movement with their arms and three students mimic it.

Choreographer

Dance. A student with glasses and a ponytail dances with a student with glasses and headphones.

Dance

Duet. A student wearing glasses dances with a student in a wheelchair

Duet

Energy. A child jumps and gives off green lines of energy. Another student sits with eyes closed, giving off blue circles of energy.

Energy

Entrance. An illustration of two people entering from stage left and right.

Entrance

Exit. Illustration of two people exiting stage left and right.

Exit

Focus. An adult looks at a student wearing a hearing aid, with a line drawn between their eyes.

Focus

Formation. Five students form a circle facing each other.

Formation

Locomotors. A student jumps beside a running adult.

Locomotors

Pathways. An adult in a power chair draws a zigzag on the floor with their movements.

Pathways

Phrase. An adult with red hair makes three sequential shapes labeled "1, 2, 3"

Phrase

Positive vs Negative Space. A student and an adult create an interesting shape by stretching in opposite directions.

Positive vs. Negative Space

Shape. A teenager with crutches makes an arrow with their body, a younger student with hearing aids makes a circle with their arms.

Shape

Space. A child sits with a fidget toy with another young student standing far behind.

Space

Windows. A student with a hijab and an adult in a green shirt stand in the back row, with an adult with a beard standing in front.

Windows

Formations

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Circle. Illustration of figures standing in a circle.

Circle

Half-circle. Illustration of figures standing in a half circle.

Half-circle

Pairs. Illustration of two pairs of people.

Pairs

Scattered. Illustration of figures scattered in an abstract space.

Scattered

Small groups. Illustration of two small groups of people.

Small Groups

Literary Arts

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Archetype. Four different people of different ages and races in gray bubbles.

Archetype

Concrete Poem. Text from Alice in Wonderland about a mouse's tail that turns into an image of a mouse's tail.

Concrete Poem

Found Poem. Text of "The Road Less Traveled" with selected words circled, creating a new poem "Roads I could not travel as far as I could bent just as grassy as the trodden way."

Found Poem

Haiku example. Five syllables here, Seven in the second line, Then another five.

Haiku

Line. Text of Black, Blind and Beautiful by Leroy F. Moore, Jr. with the first line highlighted in yellow.

Line

Line Break. Text of Black, Blind, and Beautiful by Leroy F. Moore, Jr. with the end of lines highlighted by yellow arrows.

Line Break

Metaphor. Clouds with raindrops and cats and dogs falling from them with text "It's raining cats and dogs".

Metaphor

Onomatopoeia. A kettle boiling with the word "Hissss", a man yawning with the word "Yaaawn".

Onomatopoeia

Personification. A winking star above text "The stars winked at me".

Personification

Sensory Details. An ear, hand, nose, mouth, and an eye.

Sensory Details

Similes. A white girl with braces and glasses beside a lion's head, above text "She was as brave AS a lion".

Similes

Spoken Word Poem. A smiling dark skinned girl with a hijab speaks into a microphone with her hand raised.

Spoken Word Poem

Stanza. Text of Black, Blind and Beautiful by Leroy F. Moore, Jr. with two stanzas highlight in yellow.

Stanza

Symbol examples. Illustration of a rose juxtaposed with the text "love" and an illustration of a raven with the text "bad omen."

Symbol

Music

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Dynamics. A mouse labeled "Squeak", a lion labeled "Roar!" with a crescendo symbol between them.

Dynamics

Tempo. A hare labeled "fast", a tortoise labeled "slow".

Tempo

Music. Four music notes.

Music

Rhythm. An Asian girl with hearing aids bangs a drum above a written rhythm.

Rhythm

Rhyme. A hat and a cat, a truck and a duck.

Rhyme

Pitch. A white girl with glasses and braces and a dark skinned man both sing with higher and lower notes identified.

Pitch

Melody. A boy with an iPad provides the line of a melody.

Melody

Harmony. A dark skinned woman, brown skinned teenager, and Asian boy sing with music notes above them and notes written out below them.

Harmony

Composer. A shot from above of a man writing music on blank staff paper.

Composer

Musician. A boy with a yellow cap shakes green maracas.

Musician

Conductor. A man with one hand and glasses waves a conductor's baton.

Conductor

Photography & Moving Image

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Aerial Shot. Image from above a blond child with a yarmulke and a cane holding a braille keyboard.

Aerial Shot

Ambient Light. Room with dark walls and big windows, with yellowish light streaming through the windows into the room.

Ambient Light

Aperture. Open aperture labeled "f/2.8", line labeled "F/4-F/11", then closed aperture labeled "F/16"

Aperture

Backlighting. Black square with white light in center behind a teen with glasses and a ponytail whose face is in shadow.

Backlighting

Chroma Key (Greenscreen). Large greenscreen supported by black tripods.

Chroma Key (Greenscreen)

Close Up. Cropped image tight on the face of a brown skinned child with green eyes and freckles.

Close Up

Film Negative. Black and white strand of film.

Film Negative

Focus. Dark skinned child with curly hair in focus, with three characters behind them out of focus.

Focus

Foley Effects. Dark skinned teenager with crutches breaking celery beside a microphone next to a pail of water.

Foley Effects

Onion Skin. A dark skinned person in a hijab waves a hand leaving the impression of five hands moving.

Onion Skin

In-Between/Key Frame. Two dark teal circles labelled "Key Frame" with five lighter teal circles between labeled "In-Between Frames"

In-Between / Key Frame

Insert Shot. Two boxes showing an overhead image of a dark skinned person at a computer, with a third box added in the center showing the same shot from a side angle.

Insert Shot

Pixel. A pixelated green and brown tree and two larger green pixels.

Pixel

Resolution. Two black cat faces, one clear and one fuzzy.

Resolution

Storyboard. Four squares illustrating how a story will be filmed.

Storyboard

Theater

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Actor's Neutral. Two young people side by side in different relaxed positions

Actor Neutral

Articulation. An open mouth with a speech bubble.

Articulation

Audience. Illustration of a group of people as audience members in different types of seats or chairs.

Audience

Blocking. Illustration of a person moving from position "A" to position "B" in an abstract space representing a stage.

Blocking

Character. Three people in costume as a cat, a pirate, and a judge.

Character

Cheating Out. A child stands facing front with his arm to the side.

Cheating Out

Ensemble. Five people in a mix of standing and seated positions making the same gesture with their right arm held out.

Ensemble

Entrance. An illustration of two people entering from stage left and right.

Entrance

Environment/Setting. Green hills, skyscrapers, a sun, a raincloud.

Environment / Setting

Exit. Illustration of two people exiting stage left and right.

Exit

Gesture. A light-skinned teen with glasses and braces holds her arms up and smiles.

Gesture

Levels. A child with a yellow cap sits on the ground with a fidget, a child with afro puffs sits in a wheelchair, and an adult in a yellow shirt stands, singing.

Levels

Projection. An adult with glasses and dark hair opens his mouth and sound waves come out.

Projection

Quite Backstage. A blond child with a yarmulke holds his finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.

Quiet Backstage

Tableau. An illustration of a tree on the left and three people on the right using their bodies and levels to recreate together the shape of the tree. together on the right.

Tableau

Visual Arts

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2D. A square.

2D

3D. A cube.

3D

Abstract Shape. Three shapes with no clear meaning.

Abstract Shape

Background & Foreground. An orange cat at the front and a tree further back and smaller.

Background & Foreground

Complementary Colors. A circle of color shades with arrows pointing to each color's complement: Purple and yellow, orange and blue, red and green.

Complementary Colors

Composition. Image of a teenage girl waving in front of skyscrapers, with the image divided into thirds.

Composition

Contrast. This is an illustration of two trees. The tree on the left is low contrast, and the tree on the right is high contrast.

Contrast

Convex and concave. This illustration is of two geometric shapes side by side. One shape demonstrates a convex form and one a concave form.

Convex Concave

Cool Colors and Warm Colors. Purple, Blue, and Green for cool colors. Red, Orange, and Yellow for warm colors.

Cool Colors & Warm Colors

Crossing. This illustration is of thee lines; two are parallel, and one is overlaid crossing the parallel lines.

Crossing

Gallery of Work. Four framed artworks, abstract, portrait, and landscape.

Gallery of Work

Landscape. Green hills, blue clouds, a yellow sun.

Landscape

Mural. A building with a painting of music notes on the side with paint cans and a brush beside it.

Mural

Negative Space. A blue chalice which seems to have faces carved into its edges, a green tree with a cut out space of a deer.

Negative Space

Organic Shape. A four leaf clover, a cloud, a fish.

Organic Shape

Parallel. This is an illustration of two sets of parallel lines.

Parallel

Patten. A bow ties with green and yellow designs on each side of the tie.

Pattern

Perspective. A road with trees and telephone wires receding into the distance.

Perspective

Portrait. A dark skinned girl with afro puffs and one foot sits in a wheelchair beside a framed image of herself.

Portrait

Primary Colors. Red, Blue, Yellow circles.

Primary Colors

Scale. A tall dark skinned man with a beard stands beside an orange cat.

Scale

Sketch. Pencil outlines of a face, a duck, and a hat.

Sketch

Symmetry and Asymmetry. A yellow goblet with a clear line of symmetry. A teal shape with no line of symmetry.

Symmetry and Asymmetry

Zigzag. This illustration is of a zigzagging line.

Zigzag