Dance

The rhythmic movement of the human body – usually to music – is called dance. It is one of
the oldest forms of human expression. Dance movements tend to be organised into patterns.
They normally follow a certain order of steps and a regular beat, or rhythm. Dance
movements are often closely related to the gestures of everyday life.

Types of Dance
Throughout the world, two types of dance evolved as cultures developed: social dances and
magical, or religious, dances. In early cultures social dances were performed on occasions
that celebrated births, observed deaths and marked special events. Magical dances were
performed as a prayer to the gods to end a famine, to provide rain or to cure the sick.

Today there are many kinds of dance, from ethnic dances and popular social dances to
classical and modern theatrical dances that feature highly trained performers. Ethnic dances
are associated with particular cultures or ethnic groups. They evolved from the earlier
magical dances and still reflect their original purpose. Certain groups in India, some Native
American groups and cultures in Africa perform such dances. Like ethnic dances, folk dances
are associated with a particular country or locality. The hora, for instance, is linked to Israel,
while morris dancing is a traditional English form. These dances are often performed by
dedicated groups of amateurs who want either to preserve the dance tradition of their
ancestors or to share in another country’s culture. They are also performed for entertainment,
though, and are not associated with their original purpose or meaning.

Social dances include such ballroom forms as the waltz and the tango in addition to more
modern forms such as hip-hop. These dances are performed in a social setting and offer
enjoyment and entertainment to the dancers themselves. In theatrical dance, such as ballet,
modern jazz and classical Indian dances, trained performers present the dance as an art form
to an audience.
Elements of Dance
Rhythm
In dance, a regular rhythm is important. It is the best way to pace the movement. Rhythm is
also necessary to generate the emotional power of dance. The sounds of clapping and drums
can intensify the effect of the dance. A slow, heavy beat can create a mood of tension, while a
fast beat may build the dance to a joyous or dramatic high point.

Music
Most dances are accompanied by some form of music. Sometimes music can determine the
style or dramatic quality of a dance. In the Middle Eastern raqs sharqi, more commonly
known as the belly dance, the song or music sets up the mood or story of the dance. The
dancer then interprets this through movement. In ballet, it is common for whole sections of
music to be written in the style of the character dancing to them.

Music can add to the enjoyment of a dance even when it was not written specifically for that
dance. In the bharata-natyam, a form of Indian classical dance, many dancers wear bells
around their ankles, supplying their own accompaniment in addition to the musicians.
Modern social dances are almost always accompanied by music that not only helps the
dancers keep time but also increases the excitement of the dance. In experimental modern
theatrical dance, the concept of musical accompaniment has been stretched to include any
kind of natural sound, electronic score, spoken words or even silence.

Costumes and Other Design Elements

In most war and hunting dances, the participants use weapons, masks, makeup and animal
skins to heighten the effect of the dance. Wearing special clothes in ritual dances is also a
way of signaling a sacred occasion.

In festive dances, too, clothes and special ornaments play an important role. They decorate
the movement of the dancers and add to the gaiety. Social dances often have special clothes
associated with them, such as the evening suits and sequined dresses of ballroom dancing.

Modern dance companies often experiment with sets, lighting and costume design. Loie
Fuller was a U.S. solo dancer whose performances in the 1890s and early 1900s incorporated
magical visual effects. She created elaborate shapes by draping herself in semitransparent
material. Coloured lights and slide projections playing across the floating material enhanced
these illusions.

Martha Graham, on the other hand, got rid of all unnecessary decoration on the stage.
Graham was a U.S. dancer and a choreographer, which means that she designed the steps and
movement of the dances. Her costumes were cut along simple lines so that the dancers’
movements were clearly revealed.

Space
The space where a dance is performed influences the way spectators perceive it. Religious
dances usually take place within sacred buildings or on sacred ground, thus preserving their
spiritual character. Dances that occur in a theatre give the audience a feeling that it has
entered a different world. Most performance sites create some kind of separation between the
dancers and the audience. This strengthens the feeling of being in a different world.

History
Origins
Although the exact origins of dance are unknown, cave paintings left by prehistoric peoples
seem to indicate that even the earliest peoples danced. Dance may have been used to express
emotion or to communicate with others before there was language. The early cave paintings
suggest that prehistoric peoples also danced in order to control the events of their lives. They
may have appealed to the gods for rain, for success in war or for health.

The first written records of dance date back some 4,000 years, to the ancient Egyptians. For
them, dancing was an important part of life. Dance was a crucial element in the festivals held
for Isis and Osiris, who were among the most important gods of ancient Egypt.

Dance Traditions in Africa and Asia

Since then every culture throughout the world has developed its own dance traditions. The
origins of African dance are not clearly known. African dances were used to express joy or
grief, to perform religious rituals and to enjoy as pastimes. Some of these ancient dances
survive to this day.

Asia has a long history of formal, theatrical dance. In India, the earliest book discussing
dance, the Natya-sastra (Treatise on the Dramatic Arts), dates to sometime between the 2nd
century bce and the 3rd century ce. The bharata-natyam, a classical dance form based on this
treatise, is an example of a long and unbroken dance tradition. Dances also spread from one
region to another. The dances of the Japanese royal court, known as bugaku, were derived
from forms imported from China, Korea, India and Southeast Asia. Dance is also an
important feature of the two traditional forms of Japanese drama – Kabuki and No.

Development of Dance in the West

Ancient Forms

In Europe, from the time that people began to form cities and civilisations, dance had several
different purposes. For the ancient Greeks dance was an important feature of religious rites,
or ceremonies, as well as everyday life. There were hundreds of Greek dances, and they
reflected every mood and purpose. The dances associated with the god Dionysus were so
elaborate that they led to the development of Greek drama in the 5th century bce. At festivals
to honour Dionysus, dancers would act out stories about the god’s life. Eventually the lead
dancer became an actor and the focus of the dance began to include other subjects.

Dancing was also important in ancient Rome, which rose to power beginning in about the 5th
century bce. Festivals for Roman gods featured dances, and wealthy young Romans attended
dancing classes. Dances were also part of the drama. By about the 1st century ce, however,
the Romans had become less interested in simple dramas. For entertainment they preferred
spectacular shows featuring many different elements. Dance was no longer the most
important part of the show.

Middle Ages

The period known as the Middle Ages followed the collapse of the Roman Empire in about
500 ce. Towards the end of the Roman era the religion of Christianity began to take hold in
Europe. Once again dance was used in religious ceremonies along with music and dramatic
dialogue. These works soon became a form of entertainment and were performed outside of
churches. Some dances celebrated religious feast days, but others celebrated the changing of
the seasons and good harvests.

At the same time, new kingdoms were being formed throughout Europe. Dance became an
important part of the life of the royal courts of these kingdoms. The members of the court
learned to dance and to move gracefully. At the same time, the ordinary people had their own
dances. At times the court dancers would learn and adapt dances from the common people. In
general, however, the court dances were more stately while the peasants’ dances were more
lively. The peasants’ dances eventually became the ethnic and folk dances of today, while the
court dances evolved into social dance.

Renaissance

In about the late 1300s a period known as the Renaissance began in Europe. This was a time
of great learning and attention to the arts, including dancing. During this period dancing
moved from being simply a form of entertainment to being an art.

As in the days of ancient Greece, dance became associated with the theatre. People known as
dancing masters were hired to teach members of the court. They also began to turn the dances
into short dramas by giving them a theme or subject. The courts began to put on festive
pageants in which the dancers wore costumes and combined dance with music. At first these
were performed only by members of the court, but later professional dancers began to appear.

Some of the dancing masters were very educated men. They wrote books that describe these
short dramatic dances, or balli, that they invented. Others wrote books that described how to
perform the dances of the time. One of the best-known works was Orchésographie, published
in 1588 by Thoinot Arbeau.

Meanwhile the court pageants became more and more elaborate. A work created in 1581 for
the queen of France, Ballet comique de la reine (comic ballet of the queen), is said to be the
first true ballet. The work launched the form known as ballet de cour (court ballet), in which
the French monarchs themselves participated. Other countries had similar forms of court
entertainment. When the French king Louis XIV decided to stop participating in theatrical
presentations in the late 1600s so did the other nobility. The dances then moved to theatres
with professional dancers. This marked the beginning of ballet as a form of theatrical dancing
separate from the social dancing that court members continued to perform at court for their
own amusement.

Theatrical Dance

Ballet became extremely popular in 18th-century France. Individual performers often added
steps and gestures of their own, and it was during this time that the first great soloists were
recognised. In the 19th century a French choreographer named Marius Petipa went to Russia
and helped make that country the centre of the dance world. He created such works as Don
Quixote, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker for the Russian ballet. The Russian promoter and
manager Sergey Diaghilev spread the Russian ballet through Europe and the Americas in the
early 20th century. In the United States ballet gained its greatest popularity in the 20th
century. The New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre, both formed in the
1940s, became two of the world’s top ballet companies. (See also ballet.)

A new tradition in theatrical dance was born at the beginning of the 20th century when the
American dancer Isadora Duncan started what is now known as modern dance. She was
trained in ballet but found that it did not allow her as much expression as she desired. Rather
than changing the standard postures and steps, Duncan did not use them at all. Her new form
of dance was free-spirited and highly personal. Several dancers carried on the style of
Duncan, but none was as influential as the American Martha Graham. Her company and her
school trained generations of devoted students. Graham influenced every modern dancer of
importance, including José Limón, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham and Twyla Tharp.

The American choreographer Agnes de Mille made dancing an important part of musical
theatre in 1943. Her production of the musical Oklahoma! in that year featured a combination
of ballet, folk dance and modern dance. The dances choreographed by Jerome Robbins for
West Side Story (1957) brought a new edge to musical theatre. Robbins, in his turn,
influenced such later choreographers as Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett.

Social Dance

Once ballet became a professional form, the dancing done in the courts from then on was
simply social dancing. In the 18th century social dancing moved outside the courts to
ballrooms and private houses, where more people were able to participate. Over the years
various dance forms went in and out of style. Some of the most popular were the minuet in
the 17th and 18th centuries and the waltz in the 18th and 19th. Many popular social dances
were adapted from folk dances, such as the polka (from Bohemia, in what is now the Czech
Republic) and the mazurka (from Poland).

Dances moved from country to country as well. Europeans brought their dances with them
when they settled in the Americas. By the 20th century, however, many dances started in the
Americas and moved to Europe. These include the tango from Latin America and dances
associated with the jazz movement in the United States, such as the Charleston. As music
became less formal so did dances. Popular music, from big band to rock and roll, continues to
inspire new forms of social dancing.
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"dance." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 16 Jun. 2023.

school.eb.co.uk/levels/foundation/article/dance/440201. Accessed 22 Oct. 2023.