This paper will present a study concerning teachers’ assessments of dance knowledge. The aim is to explore and analyse the phenomenon of assessment of dance knowledge in Swedish upper secondary schools from a teacher’s perspective. What goals for knowledge development, and thereby assessment, appear? What value assessments could be seen? In what ways do teachers motivate their choices of assessment? A starting point for life-world phenomenology is to be adherent to the phenomenon. To be able to grasp the phenomenon material was gathered through observations of grading conversations and one teacher´s written reflections. The observations took place during dance education and separate grading conversations in the course Dance techniques 1. The method used for analysis was inspired by Spiegelberg's stages of analysis. In the analytical process the phenomenon was seen and broadened out, varied and condensed, aiming to find the essence of the phenomenon. Assessment in dance can be seen as a complex phenomenon where embodied dance knowledge constitutes the basis for what should be assessed. Two dimensions in assessment will be presented. It is necessary for the teacher and student to be in agreement about the meaning of the assessment, though the communication has implicit meanings, goals and intentions.