A.

History of Dance
The earliest history of human dance is a continuing mystery. From the evidence
of illustrated ceramic fragments, some archaeologists have speculated that dance
originated some 5,000 to 9,000 years ago in early agricultural cultures located in a
swath running from modern Pakistan to the Danube basin. Others, however, have
expressed caution regarding the reconstruction of social behavior from such
sources. Speculation aside, specific knowledge of prehistoric dances is lacking, and
thus many experts have extrapolated dance history from the preserved ritual dances
of various preliterate societies.
Dance and music
It is unlikely that any human society (at any rate until the invention of puritanism)
has denied itself the excitement and pleasure of dancing. Like cave painting, the first
purpose of dance is probably ritual - appeasing a nature spirit or accompanying a
rite of passage. But losing oneself in rhythmic movement with other people is an
easy form of intoxication. Pleasure can never have been far away.
Rhythm, indispensable in dancing, is also a basic element of music. It is natural
to beat out the rhythm of the dance with sticks. It is natural to accompany the
movement of the dance with rhythmic chanting. Dance and music begin as partners
in the service of ritual.
Dance as ritual
In most ancient civilizations, dancing before the god is an important element in
temple ritual. In Egypt the priests and priestesses, accompanied by harps and pipes,
perform stately movements which mime significant events in the story of a god, or
imitate cosmic patterns such as the rhythm of night and day.
At Egyptian funerals, women dance to express the grief of the mourners.
Sacred occasions in Greek shrines, such as the games at Olympia from the 8th
century BC, are inaugurated with dancing by the temple virgins. The choros is
originally just such a dance, performed in a circle in honour of a god. In the 6th
century it becomes the centrepiece of Greek theatre.
In India the formalized hand movements of the priestesses in Hindu temples are
described in documents from as early as the 1st century AD. Each precise gesture is
of subtle significance. A form of classical dance based upon them - known as
Bharata Nhatyam - is still performed by highly skilled practitioners today.

Dance as ecstasy
Any sufficiently uninhibited society knows that frantic dancing, in a mood
heightened by pounding rhythm and flowing alcohol, will set the pulse racing and
induce a mood of frenzied exhilaration.
This is exemplified in the Dionysiac dances of ancient Greece. Villagers, after
harvesting the grapes, celebrate the occasion with a drunken orgy in honour of
Dionysus, god of wine (whose Roman name is Bacchus). Their stomping makes a
favourite scene on Greek vases; and dancing women of this kind, whose frenzy
even sweeps them into an act of murder, are immortalized in a tragedy, the
Bacchae, by Euripides. Short of this unfortunate extreme, all social dances promise
the same desirable mood of release and excitement.
Dance as entertainment, dance as display
Egyptian paintings, from as early as about 1400 BC, depict another eternal
appeal of dancing. Scantily clad girls, accompanied by seated musicians, cavort
enticingly on the walls of tombs. They will delight the male occupant during his
residence in the next world. But dancing girls are for this world too. From princely
banquet to back-street strip club, they require no explanation.
Entertainment, and the closely related theme of display, underlies the story of
public dance. In the courts of Europe spectacles of this kind lead eventually to ballet.
18th and 19th centuries: from court dancing to Romanticism
By the 18th century ballet had migrated from the royal court to the Paris Opera,
and the director Lully "preserved the ballet du cour's basic concept of a composite
form, in which the dance was an essential and important element." During this
century the ballet was to develop throughout Europe, from a courtly arrangement of
moving images used as part of a larger spectacle, to a performance art in its own
right, the ballet d'action. This new form swept away much of the artificiality of the
court dance and strove towards "the concept that art should aspire to imitate nature."
This ultimately resulted in costuming and choreography that was much more
liberating to the dancer, and conducive to a fuller use of the expressive capacity of
the body. It also opened the door to pointework, for this acceptance of more
naturalistic costuming allowed the development of the heel-less shoe, which led to
the dancer being able to make more use of the rise onto demi-pointe.
The era of, with ballets that focused more on the emotions, the fantasy and the
spiritual worlds, heralded the beginning of true pointe-work. Now, on her toes, the
deified ballerina (embodied in this period by the legendary ballerina Marie Taglioni)
seemed to magically skim the surface of the stage, an ethereal being never quite
touching the ground. It was during this period that the ascending star of the ballerina
quite eclipsed the presence of the poor male dancer, who was in many cases

reduced to the status of a moving statue, present only in order to lift the ballerina.
This sad state was really only redressed by the rise of the male ballet star Nijinsky,
with the Ballets Russes, in the early 20th century. Ballet as we know it had well and
truly evolved by this time, with all the familiar conventions of costume, choreographic
form, plot, pomp, and circumstance firmly fixed in place.
Early 20th century: from ballet to contemporary dance
Since the Ballets Russes began revolutionizing ballet in the early 20th century,
there have been continued attempts to break the mold of classical ballet. Currently
the artistic scope of ballet technique (and its accompanying music, jumper,
and multimedia) is more all-encompassing than ever. The boundaries that classify a
work of classical ballet are constantly being stretched, muddied and blurred until
perhaps all that remains today are traces of technique idioms such as turnout.
It was during the explosion of new thinking and exploration in the early 20th
century that dance artists began to appreciate the qualities of the individual, the
necessities of ritual and religion, the primitive, the expressive and the emotional. In
this atmosphere modern dance began an explosion of growth. There was suddenly a
new freedom in what was considered acceptable, what was considered art, and
what people wanted to create. All kinds of other things were suddenly valued as
much as, or beyond, the costumes and tricks of the ballet.
Most of the early 20th century modern choreographers and dancers saw ballet in
the most negative light. Isadora Duncan thought it most ugly, nothing more than
meaningless gymnastics.Martha Graham saw it as European and Imperialistic,
having nothing to do with the modern American people. Merce Cunningham, while
using some of the foundations of the ballet technique in his teaching, approached
choreography and performance from a totally radical standpoint compared to the
traditional balletic format.
The 20th century was indeed a period of breaking away from everything that
ballet stood for. It was a time of unprecedented creative growth, for dancers and
choreographers. It was also a time of shock, surprise and broadening of minds for
the public, in terms of their definitions of what dance was. It was a revolution in the
truest sense.
The late 20th and early 21st centuries
After the explosion of modern dance in the early 20th century, the 1960s saw the
growth of postmodernism. Postmodernism veered towards simplicity, the beauty of
small things, the beauty of untrained body, and unsophisticated movement. The
famous "No" manifesto rejecting all costumes, stories and outer trappings in favour
of raw and unpolished movement was perhaps the extreme of this wave of thinking.
Unfortunately lack of costumes, stories and outer trappings do not make a good

dance show, and it was not long before sets, dcor and shock value re-entered the
vocabulary of modern choreographers.
By the 1980s dance had come full circle and modern dance (or, by this time,
"contemporary dance") was clearly still a highly technical and political vehicle for
many practitioners. Existing alongside classical ballet, the two art-forms were by now
living peacefully next door to one another with little of the rivalry and antipathy of
previous eras. In a cleverly designed comment on this ongoing rivalry the brilliant
collaboration of Twyla Tharp (one of the 20th Century's cutting edge Dance avantgardist/contemporary) and Ballet dance was ultimately achieved. The present time
sees us still in the very competitive artistic atmosphere where choreographers
compete to produce the most shocking work, however, there are still glimpses of
beauty to be had, and much incredible dancing in an age where dance technique
has progressed further in expertise, strength and flexibility than ever before in
history.
Exciting development of contemporary dance also found in the east in countries
such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
At the same time, mass culture experienced expansion of street dance. In 1974,
famous group Jackson 5 performed on television a dance
called Robot (choreographed by postmodern[4] artistMichael Jackson). This event
and later Soul Train performances by black dancers ignited street culture revolution,
which later formed break dancing rocks dance.
For the emergence of 20th century modern dance see also: Mary Wigman, Gret
Palucca, Harald Kreutzberg, Yvonne Georgi, and Isadora Duncan.
Hip-hop dance started when Clive Campbell, aka Kool DJ Herc and the father of
hip-hop, came to New York from Jamaica in 1967. Toting the seeds of reggae from
his homeland, he is credited with being the first DJ to use two turntables and
identical copies of the same record to create his jams. But it was his extension of the
breaks in these songsthe musical section where the percussive beats were most
aggressivethat allowed him to create and name a culture of break boys and break
girls who laid it down when the breaks came up. Briefly termed b-boys and b-girls,
these dancers founded breakdancing, which is now a cornerstone of hip-hop dance.

B. Values of Dance
1. Social value - to interact other people
2. Cultural value - tradition of your culture
3. Aesthetical value expression of beauty
4. Emotional value -express yourself through dance
5. Recreational value - doing for pleasure, enjoyment
6. Physical value to enhance physical fitness
Values learned: discipline, hard work, perseverance, dedication, cooperation, creativity
C. Types of Dance
1. A war dance - is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior
societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic
warfare. Martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settings for
various reasons, such as for evoking ferocity in preparation for battle or showing off
skill in a more stylized manner. It could also be for celebration of valor and conquest.
Many such martial arts incorporate music, especially strong percussive rhythms.
2. Comic dance - is a dance that depicts funny movements for entertainment for
example Vietnamese break dance
3. Creative dance - is a form of dance whose main purpose is to provide an avenue for
potential personal expression. There are no defined ways of movement in creative
dance and it's students are encouraged to draw inspiration from emotion, music and
other dances.
4. Folk dance - a dance that originates as ritual among and is characteristic of the
common people of a country and that is transmitted from generation to generation
with increasing secularization
5. Ballroom Dance - is one of the most entertaining and elite styles of dancing. In the
earlier days, ballroom dance was only for the privileged class of people, the socialites
if you must. This style of dancing with a partner, originated in Germany, but is now a
popular act followed in varied dance styles. Today, the popularity of ballroom dance is
evident, given the innumerable shows and competitions worldwide that revere dance,
in all its form.
6. Modern Dance - Modern dance involves the use of many dance steps that are
unusual and often interpret a dancer's emotions and mood. The dancer in this case
typically performs on bare feet. In Modern dance, it's not only the choreography that
speaks about the emotions to be conveyed. The lighting, costumes and props are
used with great creativity to arrange interesting and unusual dance sequences.

7. Recreational dance - is a social dance form whose primary purpose is to interact with
other individuals through dance.
8. Musical stage dance hybrid of ballet and modern dance found on Broadway stage,
movies or television.
9. Exercise dance dance like movements for fitness purposes
D. Elements of Dance
1. 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 systemsmuscles, 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
Action is any human movement included in the act of dancing
it can include dance steps, facial movements, lifts, carries, and catches, and even
everyday movements such as walking. Dancers may choose movement that has been
done before, or they may add their own original movements to the existing dance
movement vocabulary. Dancers may also revise or embellish movement they have
learned from others. Dance is made up of streams of movement and pauses, so action
refers not only to steps and sequences, but also to pauses and moments of relative
stillness. Movement that travels through space is broadly called locomotor movement in
contrast to axial movement, which occurs in one spot.
Understanding and discussing action does not require extensive dance terminology
since movement can be categorized and described according to its qualities. For
example, while a sashay in American Square Dance might be called a chass in
Ballet or an undercurve in Modern Dance technique, we can also describe it as a
slide since that essential characteristic is present in all those steps.

3. Space
There are countless variations and combinations of ways that movement can occur in
space.Dancers interact with space in myriad ways. They may stay in one place and
move parts of their body or their whole body, or they may travel from one place to
another. They may alter the direction, level, size, and pathways of their movements.
Dancers may focus their movement and attention outwardly to the space or inwardly,
into themselves. The line of travel may be quite direct towards one or more points in
space or indefinite and meandering. The dance may take place in one corner of a stage
or in a big open circle outdoors with the entire community surrounding the dancers.
Dancers may also orient their movement towards objects or in relation to natural
settings. Sometimes dances are created for specific locations such as an elevator or on
a barge for site-based performances. Spatial relationships between dancers or between
dancers and objects are the basis for design concepts such as beside, in front of, over,
through, around, near or far.
4. Time
The keyword for the element of time is when. Human movement is naturally rhythmic in
the broad sense that we alternate activity and rest. Breath and waves are examples of
rhythms in nature that repeat, but not as consistently as in a meter. Spoken word and
conversation have rhythm and dynamics, but the patterns are characteristically more
inconsistent and unpredictable.
Rhythmic patterns may be metered or free rhythm. Much of western music uses
repeating patterns (2/4 or 3/4 for example), but the concepts of time and meter are used
very differently throughout the world. Dance movements may also show different timing
relationships such as simultaneous or sequential timing; or brief to long duration; fast to
slow speed; or accents in predictable or unpredictable intervals.
Time may also be organized in other ways including clock time, sensed time, and eventsequence. Dancers may take sight cues from each other to start the next phrase or use
a shared sense of sensed time to end a dance. They may even take cues from an
event such as a train whistle during an outdoor dance performance. The inherent
rhythms in our movement and our aural landscape are a rich source of variation in
dance.
5. Energy
Energy is about howit refers to the force of an action and can mean both the physical
and psychic energy that drives and characterizes movement.
Choices about energy include variations in movement flow and use of force, tension,
and weight. A run might be free flowing or easily stopped, and it may be powerful or
gentle, tight or loose, heavy or light. A dancer may step into an arabesque position with

a sharp, percussive attack or with light, flowing ease. Energy may change in an instant,
and several types of energy may be concurrently in play.
Energy choices may also reveal emotional states. For example, a powerful push might
be aggressive or playfully boisterous depending on the intent and situation. A delicate
touch might appear affectionate or uncertain, or perhaps suggest concern.
Some types of energy can be expressed in words, others spring from the movement
itself and are difficult to label with language. Sometimes differences in the use of energy
are easy to perceive; other times these differences can be quite subtle and ambiguous.
Perhaps more so than the other elements, energy taps into the nonverbal yet deeply
communicative realm of dance.