Cultural Dance Unit

1. Cultural Dance Unit Dances: Arabic, African, Salsa, Cha-Cha

2. Arabic Dance • Technique: focus on torso movements & strong muscle isolations. • Emphasizes communication of emotion. • Arabic dance is often improvisational. • Most often, performed by women, while mens’ style has remained separate & folk in style.

3. Arabic (cont’d) • The term ‘Arabic Dance’ covers various forms & styles of dance developed from folk dances of Egypt, w/influences from Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Greece. • A theory about Arabic dancing is that it began as a series of abdominal exercises designed to help girls prepare for pregnancy. • When the dance began evolving, it was for social purposes, rather than for performance. • The context was in the womens’ quarters, called a harem (men were not allowed).

4. African Dance • ‘African Dance’ refers mainly to the dances of theSubsaharanand of West Africa. • Many dances are from different tribes within one country. • Africans dance on all sorts of occasions to express their inner feelings of joy, sorrow, etc. • African dance is polycentric: the body is segmented into several centers of movement, incl. the shoulders, chest, pelvis, arms, legs, etc.

5. African Dance (cont’d) • This results in complex movements “inside” the body, rather than the European style of movement: moving through space with the body as a whole unit. • Even though the dancing is spontaneous & voluntary, the drumbeat provides the rhythm that holds the dancers together. • Traditional dances don’t often appear in isolation, but are parts of broader cultural activities.

6. African (cont’d) • Examples: Warrior dances, Dances of Love (at weddings & anniversaries), Rites of Passage, and Coming of Age Dances (to give confidence to the dancers as they are formally acknowledged that they have become adults). • Other examples: Dances of Welcome (showing respect for visitors, and to show how talented & attractive the host villagers are), Dances of Possession & Summoning (important in many traditional African religions). • The Summoning dances share the link of calling to a spirit. TheOrishasare the deities found in many african religions.

7. Cha-Cha • A Latin American dance from Cuba. • First called the Cha-Cha-Cha. • Developed in the early 1950’s, as a tempo-variant between the slow Rumba & the faster Mambo. • Pierre Lavelle, a dance teacher from the UK, visited Cuba in 1952. He noticed the Mambo danced w/a triple step in place of the slow one. He brought his idea to Europe and eventually created what is now the Ballroom Cha-Cha.

8. Cha-Cha (cont’d) • This dance became popular around 1954. • The Cha-Cha is danced in 4/4 time, as a rock-step, cha-cha-cha (& 1, 2-3-4). • Like most Latin dances, the weight is forward & most of the movement is below the ribcage (minimal torso movement). • The steps are small, w/ball of foot first, to better execute the hip motion. • Feet stay close to the floor, w/hips relaxed. • Upper body shifts over the supporting foots as steps are taken.

9. Salsa Dance • Danced w/6 steps over 8 counts of music. • Turns are an important feature. • Salsa has a side-to-side feel, bec. of the hip movements. • Various styles of music, using percussive instruments (several layers of instruments) • Origins are in several Afro-Carribbeandances. • Therefore, there is no single root of origin. • Though it did not develop there, the term ‘Salsa’ was created in New York City.