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Brief History and Nature of Dance
Introduction to Dance
● “Dance is an activity which can take many forms and fill many different needs. It can be
recreation, entertainment, education, therapy, and religion. In its purest and most basic form,
dance is an art, the art of body movements.”
● Dance differs from athletics or other daily acts because it focuses primarily on “an aesthetic or
entertaining experience”.
Recreational Dance
● is a social activity which people of all ages can participate
● Comes from all over the world and includes folk dances, cultural and historical dances, and social
dances from the past and present.
Dance Fitness
● Is a fun way to increase cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility
● Dance-related fitness training systems such as Zumba fitness and cardio dance
Why do people dance?
❖ To please the gods
❖ To please others
❖ To please themselves
❖ To build community within an ethnic group and social interactions
Dance came from…
> the origin of dance is rooted in the prehistoric past. Various artistic, religious, and social forces
started out the incorporation and development of dance.
> dance has been a major form of religious ritual and social expression within primitive cultures
> dance became full blown and was richly recorded in ancient Egypt
> dancing was taught as an aid to military education among the boys in Athens and Sparta
> Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates strongly supported this art as an integration
of the body and soul
> the Ancient Rome, on the other hand, gave less importance to dancing
> the development of the Catholic church transformed the history of dance
> dance was wholly accepted in the courts during early renaissance
> other dance forms also came to light and have been widely recognized worldwide
BENEFITS OF DANCE AND CREATIVE MOVEMENTS
Physical Benefits
➔ Develop cardiovascular and muscular endurance
➔ Improves coordination, balance, flexibility, and body composition
➔ Lowers body mass index
➔ Lowers risks of cardiovascular diseases
➔ Enables joint mobility
➔ Helps improve and maintain bone density
Mental Benefits
➔ Keep the brain sharp
➔ Decreases increase of dementia and Alzheimer's disease
➔ Decreases depression symptoms
➔ Increase self-esteem and improves body image
➔ Aids in releasing emotional and physical
Social benefits
➔ Gives sense of togetherness within a group
➔ Encourages positive interaction and interpersonal relationship
➔ Contribute to the individuals’ potential and self-esteem
➔ Actualization in society
Cultural Benefits
➔ Promotes a place or community showing cultural dance
➔ Brings people around the world to a close understanding of lives of the people represented
ELEMENTS OF DANCE
Space
● This is the area the performers occupy and where they move. It can be divided into 4 different
aspects, also known as spatial elements.
➔ Direction
● Dance movements can travel in any direction. Performers can go forward,
sideward, backward, diagonal, circular, and so on.
➔ Size
● Movements can be varied by doing a large or smaller action
➔ Level
● Movements can be done in high, medium, or low level
➔ Focus
● Performers may change their focus by looking in different directions
Timing
● The movements in timing may be executed in varying tempo. Performers move with the tempo of
an underlying sound, known as beat or pulse.
● It can be altered by moving faster or slower than the regular beat.
Dance Energies
● The movement here is propelled by energy or force.
➔ Sustained
● Movements are done smoothly, continuously, and with flow and control. They do
not have a clear beginning and ending.
➔ Percussive
● Movements are explosive or sharp in contrast with sustained movements
● They are accented with thrust of energy. They have a clear beginning and ending.
➔ Vibratory
● Movements are consist of trembling and shaking
● There are faster version of percussive movements that produce jittery effects
➔ Swinging
● Movements trace a curved line or an arc in space
● Movements are relaxed and giving in to gravity on the downward part of motion,
followed by an upward application of energy.
➔ Suspended
● Movements are perched in space or hanging on air
● Ex: holding a raised leg in any direction
➔ Collapsing
● Movements are released in tension and gradually or abruptly giving in to gravity,
letting the body descend to the floor
● Slow collapse like melting or oozing action in downward direction
Bodily Shapes
● It refers on how the entire body is molded in space or configuration of body parts.
● Can be rounded, angular, or combination of the 2
➔ Symmetrical
● Balanced shape; similar or identical
➔ Asymmetrical
● Unbalanced; movements of 2 sides are completely different; do not match
Group Shapes
● In this element, a group of dancers performs movements in the different group shapes.
● Arranged in a wide, narrow, rounds, symmetrical, asymmetrical ways are viewed together as a
total picture or arrangement
Choreographic Forms in Dance
1. Sequential forms
● Contain themes or motifs which progress in a specific order; simple structure
a. AB Form
● simplest and similar to a verse and a chorus of a song
b. ABA Form
● Composed of introductory theme, contrasting theme, and a restatement of the
original theme
c. Rondo Form
● Unifying theme returns after each contrasting theme
d. Theme and Variations Forms
● Motif is a series of movements to which variations are added throughout the
development of the entire choreography
2. Contrapuntal Forms
● Several themes are woven together in choreography to form a complex structure
a. Ground Bass
● Single theme starts the dance and is repeated all the way through the dance while
other contrasting themes are simultaneously performed with it.
b. Round or Canon
● Two or more movement phrases or theme in which the main movement phrases is
initiated exactly and completely by successive movements, but done by
staggered manner
c. Fugue or Accumulation
● Constructed by adding a different movement or dance phrases in every repetition
of main movement
d. Suite
● Every section of the dance use different tempos and qualities
3. Episodic Form
● They tell a story through connected and progressive section called episodes
Other Compositional Form
➔ Natural structure
● Mostly come from natural structures such as the seasons, life cycles, and everyday life
experiences. All these present rich materials for organic dance structure
➔ Collage
● Consists of “a series of movement phrases that are often unrelated but have been brought
together to create a single dance with a beginning, a middle, and an end”
➔ Tableau
● Different movement phrases are performed by different dancers simultaneously in the
same space. A dancer may execute a tableau at a different location on the stage and
connect transitional movements for each scene to produce a progression of moving
snapshots.
➔ Chance
● The movement phrases are performed in random order and spatial placing. Every time the
dance is performed, it is done in different order and therefore has a different appearance.
