![]() ![]() The monks would dress in long white robes and high conical hats and slowly revolve with their right hand extended and left palm facing downwards. Under the Muslim religion only one sect, the Sufis, followed a dance rite as a form of worship. The dancers wore elaborate costumes, masks, often their face was painted to give effect of super humans and interpreters of Gods. They dance for joy and they dance for grief they dance for love and hate they dance for prosperity and to avert calamity they dance for religion and to pass the time." Similarity in Indian Hindus the dance forms like Kathakali were inspired by a completely different school of thought which was to please the God. In fact in 1935, a young Englishman Geoffrey Gorer, travelled through these parts and noted that " It is very difficult for Europeans to understand the place dancing takes in Negro lives. This not only challenged the definition of dance but also broadened it. Unlike ballet, they stress on parallel feet, jerky movements, hip-movements, isolations and sharp transitions in contrast of the softness in ballet. As the black people were not allowed to be part of ballet groups, they created tap and jazz dancing which is influenced by African folk dances. Because parallel to these Western dances, there is another culture of dance termed as `ethnic dance` or folk dance. So can we say that classical and modern dances put together is dance ? Actually not. This really expanded the range of dance but at the same time made it more complicated to define what is dance and what is not dance. They simplified stage decor, costumes (feet was bared) and all movements were inspired by freedom of expression rather than a set technique. ![]() Each of the modern artists in their own way rebelled against the superficiality of classical ballet and the lack of creativity in show-dancing. To restore dance to a high art form instead of entertainment, she sought the connection between emotions and movement: “ I spent long days and nights in the studio seeking that dance which might be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of the body’s movement.”. Isadora Duncan was among the first artists who challenged the rigid ballet technique and started moving away towards what she perceived as natural movement. Modern dance began to grow and there was a lot of freedom in what people considered art of movement. There was an explosion of new thinking and exploration and artists began to appreciate the qualities of the individual, the expression and the emotions. Then times changd and early 20th century brought a big change to the definition of dance. During the reign of Mughals, dance was only performed in the courtrooms and the status of dance fell down to `nautch`, an unethical sensuous thing of courtesans and later during British rule, it was linked with prostitution and being overtly sexual. In fact the word `ballet` comes from the Greek word `ballizo`, which means `to dance, to jump about`. In the West, dance was almost synonymous with classical ballet. At that time it became easier to define what is dance and what is not dance. These movements were called dance but the definition was still fuzzy until 15th and 16th centuries when classical dances came into picture in India and Europe. Movements were also performed in order to tell myths and passing on stories down from generation to generation before the written languages came into production. Movements were also used as a method of healing in cultures like Brazilian rainforest to the Kalahari Desert. Movements were done for celebration and social interaction in many civilisations. Where do we start ? Maybe we need to look at the history of dance to know how dance started and how it evolved over time to actually understand what exactly is dance.Īrcheology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times starting from 3300 BC. really ? What if I feel dead bored while doing these movements ? This definition does not definitely capture the `art` in dance. If I clap my hands, that is dance, if I nod my head that is dance, if I walk that is dance. This means if I open and close my mouth, that is dance. Dance, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is " to move rhythmically to music, typically following a set sequence of steps". ![]()
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