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Dance

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For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). "Dancer" and "Dancing" redirect here. For other uses, see Dancer (disambiguation) and Dancing (disambiguation).

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Dance

Modern dance

Originating culture

various

Originating era

Antiquity

Dance is a type of art that generally involves movement of the body, often rhythmic and to music. It is performed in many cultures as a form of emotional expression, social interaction, or exercise, in a spiritual or performance setting, and is sometimes used to express ideas or tell a story. Dance may also be regarded as a form of nonverbal communication between humans or other animals, as in bee dances and behaviour patterns such as a mating dances.

Definitions of what constitutes dance can depend on social and cultural norms and aesthetic, artistic and moral sensibilities. Definitions may range from functional movement (such as folk dance) to virtuoso techniques such as ballet. Martial arts kata are often compared to dances, and sports such asgymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming are generally thought to incorporate dance. In some cases, the motion of ordinarily inanimate objects may be described as dance (the leaves danced in the wind). There are many styles and genres of dance. African dance is interpretative. Ballet, ballroom and tango are classical dance styles. Square dance and electric slide are forms of step dance, and breakdancing is a type of street dance. Dance can be participatory, social, or performed for an audience. It can also beceremonial, competitive or erotic. Dance movements may be without significance in themselves, as in ballet or European folk dance, or have a gesturalvocabulary or symbolic meaning as in some Asian dances. Choreography is the art of creating dances. The person who creates (i.e., choreographs) a dance is known as the choreographer.

Contents
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1 Origins and history 2 Classification and genres o 2.1 Dancing and music

3 Dance studies and techniques 4 Dance competitions 5 Occupations 6 By ethnicity or region o 6.1 India o 6.1.1 Bhangra in the Punjab 6.1.2 Dances of Sri Lanka

6.2 In Europe and North America 6.2.1 Concert (or performance) dance 6.2.1.1 Ballet 6.2.1.2 20th-century concert dance

6.2.2 The influence of African American dance

7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Origins and history


Main article: History of dance

Ancient Greek bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer, 3rd - 2nd century BC, found in Alexandria, Egypt.

Dance does not leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to say when dance became part of human culture. Joseph Jordania recently suggested that dance, together with rhythmic music and body painting, was designed by the forces of natural selection at the early stage of hominid evolution as a potent tool to put groups of human ancestors in a battle trance, a specific altered state of consciousness. In this state hominids were losing their individual identity and were acquiring collective identity.[1] Jonathan Pieslak's research shows that some contemporary military units use loud group singing and dancing in order to prepare themselves for the dangerous combat missions.[2] According to Jordania, this trance-inducing ability of dance comes from human evolutionary past and includes as well a phenomenon of military drill[3] which is also based on shared rhythmic and monotonous group activity. Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archeologydelivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 9,000 year old Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from c. 3300 BC. One of the earliest structured uses of dances may have been in the performance and in the telling of myths. It was also sometimes used to show feelings for one of the opposite gender. It is also linked to the origin of "love

making." Before the production of written languages, dance was one of the methods of passing these stories down from generation to generation.[4] Another early use of dance may have been as a precursor to ecstatic trance states in healing rituals. Dance is still used for this purpose by many cultures from the Brazilian rainforest to the Kalahari Desert.[5] Sri Lankan dances goes back to the mythological times of aboriginal yingyang twins and "yakkas" (devils). According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dancesoriginated 250 years ago, from a magic ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king. Many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional,ceremonial, and ethnic dance.

Classification and genres


Partner Dancing in Art

Dance at Bougival byPierre-Auguste Renoir(188283)

Eadweard Muybridge's phenakistoscope "A Couple Waltzing" (c.1893)

Main articles: List of basic dance topics and List of dances

Dance categories by number of interacting dancers are mainly solo dance, partner dance and group dance. Dance is performed for various purposes like ceremonial dance, erotic dance, performance dance, social dance etc.

Dancing and music

Morris dancing in the grounds of Wells Cathedral,Wells, England

See also: Category:Music genres Many early forms of music and dance were created and performed together. This paired development has continued through the ages with dance/music forms such as: jig, waltz, tango, disco, salsa, electronica and hiphop. Some musical genres have a parallel dance form such as baroque music and baroque dance; others, such as classical music and classical ballet, developed separately. Although dance is often accompanied by music, it can also be presented independently or provide its own accompaniment (tap dance). Dance presented with music may or may not be performed in time to the music depending on the style of dance. Dance performed without music is said to be danced to its own rhythm[citation
needed]

Ballroom dancing is a dance art form which combines athletic fitness with artistically skillful dance steps.

Dance studies and techniques


See also: Dance theory, Choreography, and Dance moves In the early 1920s, dance studies (dance practice, critical theory, Musical analysis and history) began to be considered as an academic discipline. Today these studies are an integral part of many universities' arts and humanities programs. By the late 20th century the recognition of practical knowledge as equal to academic knowledge led to the emergence of practice research and practice as research. A large range of dance courses are available including:

Professional practice: performance and technical skills

Practice research: choreography and performance Ethnochoreology, encompassing the dance-related aspects of: anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, area studies, postcolonial theory,ethnography, etc.

Dance therapy, or dance-movement therapy Dance and technology: new media and performance technologies Laban Movement Analysis and somatic studies

Academic degrees are available from BA (Hons) to PhD and other postdoctoral fellowships, with some dance scholars taking up their studies as mature students after a professional dance career.

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