Dance is a form of art that is represented in form of performance in which a person moves rhythmically to some musical tone in order to communicate some latent meaning to the audience.[1] It is a way of exploring the world, understanding its ideas and emotions that are elicited by unique body movement patterns. It comprises of elements, such as time, space, force, and shape that can be viewed in both theory and practice. However, the analysis of dance mostly depends on the social and cultural context of performance.
A study of dance involves connection of ideas between the past and the present with an aim of improving the quality of performance in regards to other social practices that arise from cultural beliefs. Besides, dance is important in the modern society because one gets inspirations from the legendary past that helps people improve their compositions.[2] The latter creates awareness, and also offers a sense of belonging to the whole humanity.
Dance analysis is a very important aspect of studying because it enables one to observe the movements that he/she makes in the current dancing styles, and also provides several solutions to challenges arising. For instance, it assists one in appreciating the fact that dance can be used to improve people’s unique sense of identity by offering enough physical exercises. People also benefit from the aesthetic appeal through the use of different props.[3]
In the African continent, dance is ceremonial, and, thus, plays a major role in society since it helps in boosting productivity alongside molding expertise skills and competences among different social groups. This kind of benefit was also realized during the Renaissance period.
On the other hand, historians view dance as a form of art through which rituals are passed during rites of passages. For instance, in the times of ancient civilizations (such as the age of Absolutionism, for example,), most people considered dancing as an important element in ritual ceremonies.[4]
This was also evident in Egypt whereby women would dance at funerals to express their grief. In addition, their paintings created an outward appeal of dancing as a form of entertainment. Moreover, there are some dances, which existed in the Middle Ages that are evident through different works of literature.
However, it is pertinent to observe that quite a number of dances that originated from Spain replicate the influence of age.[5] Later on, a lot of dances emerged in different eras even as their significance continued to change. In the mid 19th century, dance became popular among different societies.
Popularity continued to grow to the late 19th century, although it was practiced by a small number of people because there were some changes that created some difficulty in practicing new styles of dancing. Hence, only a few people were interested in dancing.[6]
However, the art of dance gained momentum towards the close of 1920s as it was highly appreciated by the youth. They embraced it with great enthusiasm. Dancing at that time was equal to real life experiences in the society.[7] Myriads of dancing styles were shared across the board. These dances were also aimed at presenting the inner self instead of borrowing movements from other cultures that had established themselves.
Bibliography
Adshead-Lansdale, Janet. “Dance Analysis in Performance”. The Journal of the Society for Dance Research 12, no. 2(1994): 15-19.
Ambrosio, Nora. Learning about dance: dance as an art form and entertainment. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 2008.
Dils, Ann. Moving history, dancing cultures: a dance history reader. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
William, McNeill. Dance and Drill in Human History. New York: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Footnotes
- McNeill William, Dance and Drill in Human History. (New York: Harvard University Press, 1997), 104.
- Ann Dils, Moving history, dancing cultures: a dance history reader. (Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, 2001), 52.
- William, McNeill, p.71.
- Ibid., 88.
- Nora Ambrosio, Learning about dance: dance as an art form and entertainment. (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 2008), 76.
- Janet Adshead-Lansdale, “Dance Analysis in Performance”. The Journal of the Society for Dance Research 12, no. 2(1994): 16.
- Ibid., 91.