Dance, What Is it?

1. Dance, What Is it? • Dance focuses on the human form in time and space. • Traditions include ballet, modern, concert/ritual, folk, jazz, tap, musical comedy • The movement of the human form through time and space, using other element s of the arts.

2. Dance • The most natural and universal of human activities • Found in some form in every culture • Seems to have arisen from religious activities • Represents human expression at its most fundamental level • This study will encompass “Theatre Dance”

3. Dance, What Is it? Cont. • Ballet-Classical or formal dance. • Highly theatrical series of prescribed movements. • Consists of solos, duets and choruses • Reduces human gestures to bare essentials heightened and developed into meaningful patterns. • George Balanchine

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soaHshlFBNI

5. Dance, What Is it? Cont. • Modern Dance-covers a broad variety of highly individualized dance works limited to the 20th century. • American in derivation, antiballeticin philosophy, began as a revolt against stylized, tradition-bound elements of ballet. • Natural, spontaneous, uninhibited movement • Martha Graham

6. Dance, What Is it? Cont. • World Concert/Ritual Dance-dances specific to a particular country and arising from ceremonial functions, having , particular prescribed procedures and passing down from generation to generation. • Some designed for public performance and some, because of the extreme sacredness on their nature, are only performed in private. • Typically center around topics important to single cultures.

7. Dance, What Is it? Cont. • World Concert/Ritual Dance, cont. • Some involve cultural communications and others are of a theatrical nature. • Particularly important in African and Asian cultures. • While differentiation is possible in most cases, lines can blur between between WC/RD and Folk Dance.

8. Dance, What Is it? Cont. • Folk Dance-A body of group dances performed to traditional folk music. • Stylistically identifiable with a given culture, developed over a period of years, passed down from generation to generation. • Prescribed movements, rhythms, music and costume. • Do not spring from the creative action of an artist or group of interpretative artists.

9. Dance, What Is it? Cont. • Folk Dance, cont. • Exist to involve participants, not to entertain an audience. • Establishes an individual sense of participation, a sense of oneness with the group through collevtive dancing.

10. Dance, What Is it? Cont. • Jazz Dancing-Traces it’s roots to Africa prior to the days of slave trade. • Exists in a variety of forums; popular theatre, concert stage, cinema, television • A vital theatrical danc form rooted in the african heritage. • Lacking precise definition, it relies on improvisation and syncopation.

11. DanceHow Is It Put Together? • Relies heavily on music. • Has its basis, for the most part, in formalized movement • Relies on the compositional elements of Line, Form and Repetition • Held together by Rhythm • Utilizes bodily movements of Mime and Pantomime.

12. DanceHow Is It Put Together? • Communicates ideas through Theme, Image and Story Line • Music-While everyr dance does not have music, Rhythm is always a part of dance in any form. • Lighting • Costume

13. DanceHow Does It Stimulate The Senses? • Moving Images • Force of Action • Sign Language • Color • More than any other art form. Dance causes the viewer to ask the question, “What does it mean?”