WHAT IS DANCE?
• Dance is an expression of the body following rhythmic patterns and is
accompanied by music. It differs from athletics or other daily activities
because it focuses primarily on “aesthetic or even entertaining experience.
Dance is one of the oldest and most popular form of exercise.
WHY PEOPLE DANCE?
a.To please the Gods
b.To please others
c.To please themselves or self-expression
d. To build community within an ethnic group or
social interaction
BRIEF HISTORY AND NATURE OF DANCE:
Pre-Historic Era
*religiousrituals *courtship/mating
*communication *therapeutic
*tribal unity
Pre-Christian Era
Mediterranean Ancient Rome:
Ancient Egypt: *less importance to dancing
*wall paintings *literary records *brutal and sensationalize
Ancient Greek: *dancers are slaves/captives
*religious expression *military education *corruption
*entertainment/display *underground dancers
*Plato/Aristotle/Socrates
-noble and ignoble
BRIEF HISTORY AND NATURE OF DANCE:
Catholic Era
* religious ceremonies
*approved of dancing
Dark /Middle Ages
*performed in village squares/castles
*social dancing
*court dances
*peasants dance in grass
Early Renaissance /Europe
*contemporary dances
*ballet
*dancers are valuable
*dance as an art
*wholly accepted
BENEFITS OF DANCE AND CREATIVE MOVEMENTS
IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND AND TALK ABOUT THE ELEMENTS OF DANCE, WE NEED FIRST TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE
WHAT WE SEE WHEN WE WATCH A VIDEO OR A LIVE PRESENTATION OF DANCE. LOOK AT THE PHOTO:
*WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
*WHAT QUESTIONS DOES THIS WORK OF INQUIRY RAISE FOR YOU?
*WHAT MEANING DOES IT CONVEY TO YOU?
1. BODY
• The art of dance takes place in and through the human body. In dance, the body is the mobile
figure or shape, felt by the dancer, seen by others. The body is sometimes relatively still and
sometimes changing as the dancer moves in place or travels through the dance area. Dancers
may emphasize specific parts of their body in a dance phrase or their whole body.
• When we look at a dancer’s whole body we might consider the overall shape design; is it
symmetrical? Twisted? Another way to describe the body in dance is to consider the body
systems--muscles, bones, organs, breath, balance, reflexes. We could describe how the skeletal
system or breath is used, for example. The body is the conduit between the inner realm of
intentions, ideas, emotions and identity and the outer realm of expression and communication.
Whether watching dance or dancing ourselves, we shift back and forth between the inner-outer
sense of body.
•
2. ACTION
Direction- dance movements can travel in any direction. Forward, side, backward, diagonal,
circular and so on. Can also face any direction while executing a single movement or several
phrase.
b. Size- movements can be varied by doing larger or smaller actions.
c. Level- movements can be done in high, medium or low level.
d. Focus- performers may change their focus by looking at different directions.
* This figure shows the use of spatial elements. (a) shows how movement is done in different sides while
(b) shows how to vary focus. Both shows how movement is done in different levels.
4. TIME- the keyword for the element of time is “when”. The
movement in timing may be executed in :
a. rhythmic patterns- metered or free rhythm
b. beat/pulse- performers move the tempo of an underlying sound
c. patterns- 2/4 or 3/4
d. tempo- speed
e. simultaneous or sequential timing
5. ENERGY- is about “how”- it refers to the force of an action and can mean
both the physical energy and psychic energy that drive and characterizes
movement. Six qualities of dance energies are:
a. Sustained- smoothly, continuously with flow and control. Does not have a
beginning and ending
b. percussive- explosives or sharp in contrast to sustained and with clear
beginning and ending.
c. vibratory- trembling and shaking, a faster version of percussive.
d. swinging- curved line or an arc in space, movements are relaxed.
e. suspended- perched in space or hanging on air. Ex. Holding a raised leg
f. collapsing- released in tension and gradually or abruptly giving in to gravity
6. BODILY SHAPES- It refers to how the entire body is molded in space. The body can be
rounded, angular or combination of two, wide to narrow, high to low.
a. symmetrical- identical or similar on both sides
b. assymetrical- unbalanced shape, completely different from each other.
