History of dance

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Veiled dancer, ancient Greek terracotta figurine from Myrina, ca. 150100 BC.Louvre Museum

Ancient Greek terracotta statuette of a dancing maenad, 3rd century BC, fromTaranto.

Dance does not often leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts that last over millennia, such as stone
tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to say when dance became part of human
culture, which can be called as the history of dance.
Joseph Jordania recently suggested, that dance, together with rhythmic music and body painting, was
designed by the forces of natural selection at the early stage of hominid evolution as a potent tool to put groups
of human ancestors in a battle trance, a specific altered state of consciousness. In this state hominids were
losing their individual identity and were acquiring collective identity.[1] Jonathan Pieslak researched, that some
contemporary military units use loud group singing and dancing in order to prepare themselves for the
dangerous combat missions.[2]According to Jordania, this trance-inducing ability of dance comes from human
evolutionary past and includes as well a phenomenon of military drill[3] which is also based on shared rhythmic
and monotonous group activity.
Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before
the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archaeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as
the 9,000 year old Bhimbetka rock shelters paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing
figures from c. 3300 BC.
One of the earliest structured uses of dances may have been in the performance and in the telling of myths. It
was also sometimes used to show feelings for one of the opposite gender. It is also linked to the origin of "love

making." Before the production of written languages, dance was one of the methods of passing these stories
down from generation to generation.[4]
Another early use of dance may have been as a precursor to ecstatic trance states in healing rituals. Dance is
still used for this purpose by many cultures from the Brazilian rainforest to theKalahari Desert.[5]
Sri Lankan dances goes back to the mythological times of aboriginal yingyang twins and "yakkas" (devils).
According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originate, 2500 years ago, from a magic ritual that broke the
spell on a bewitched king. Many contemporary dance forms can be traced back
to historical, traditional, ceremonial, and ethnic dances.
An early manuscript describing dance is the Natya Shastra on which is based on the modern interpretation
of classical Indian dance (e.g. Bharathanatyam).
The ancient chronicle, the Sinhalese (Sri Lankans), the Mahavamsa states that when King Vijaya landed in Sri
Lanka in 543 BCE he heard sounds of music and dancing from a wedding ceremony. Origins of the Dances of
Sri Lanka are dated back to the aboriginal tribes. The Classical dances of Sri Lanka (Kandyan Dances) feature
a highly developed system of tala (rhythm), provided by cymbals called thalampataa.
In European culture, one of the earliest records of dancing is by Homer, whose "Iliad";
describes chorea ( khoreia). The early Greeks made the art of dancing into a system, expressive of all
the different passions. For example, the dance of the Furies, so represented, would create complete terror
among those who witnessed them. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, ranked dancing with poetry, and said that
certain dancers, with rhythm applied to gesture, could express manners, passions, and actions. The most
eminent Greek sculptors studied the attitude of the dancers for their art of imitating the passions.

Contents
[hide]

1 Asia
2 Europe
o

2.1 18th and 19th centuries: from court dancing to Romanticism

2.2 Early 20th century: from ballet to contemporary dance

2.3 The late 20th and early 21st centuries

3 Diagram of dance history

4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit]Asia

Dancing is historically entwined with many cultures around the world. Here, 17th centuryPersian women dance in a
ceremony in Iran.

Main articles: Dance in India and Dances of Sri Lanka

[edit]Europe
See also: Medieval dance, Renaissance dance, and History of ballet

Pietro Longhi, "La lezione di danza" (The Dancing Lesson), ca 1741, Venezia, Gallerie dell'Accademia.

[edit]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 demipointe.
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.

[edit]Early

20th century: from ballet to contemporary dance

Since the Ballets Russes began revolutionising 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.

[edit]The

late 20th and early 21st centuries

After the explosion of modern dance in the early 20th century, the 1960`s 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 artforms 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 avant-gardist/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[6] artist Michael 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.[7]

[edit]Diagram

of dance history

[edit]See

also

Folk dance

Ballroom dance

Jazz dance

African-American dance

[edit]References
1.

^ Joseph Jordania, 2011, Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution, Logos, pg.98-102

2.

^ Jonathan Pieslak, 2009, Sound Targets: American Soldiers and Music in the Iraq War
(Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press

3.

^ William H. McNeill, 1997, Dance and Drill in Human History. Harvard University Press

4.

^ Nathalie Comte. "Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World". Ed. Jonathan
Dewald. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. p94-108.

5.

^ Guenther, Mathias Georg. 'The San Trance Dance: Ritual and Revitalization Among the Farm
Bushmen of the Ghanzi District, Republic of Botswana.' Journal, South West Africa Scientific Society, v30,
1975-76.

6.

^ Ntongela Masilela's essay.

7.

^ Hip-Hop Dance History.

[edit]External

links

Historic Illustrations of Dancing from 3300 B.C. to 1911 A.D. from Project Gutenberg

The history of pointe shoes and technique (ballet)

Istoria dansului Presentation Transcript

1. Istoria Dansului quot;Dansul este cea mai frumoas art, pentru

c el nu este traducerea sau abstractizarea vietii; el este viata
nssiquot; (Havelock Ellis)

2. La indienii antici dansul nsemna geometria ideala a formei,

ngemnarea artelor, dar n acelasi timp dinamism. SHIVA,
simbolul mitologiei hinduse, considerat sursa oricrei activitti era
si Printul suprem al dansului. El dansa fr ncetare, dansul lui
simboliznd forta creatoare a naturii. Cele 108 stiluri inventate de
SHIVA s-au transmis pn la nvtatul BHARATA, autorul
celebrului tratat (6.000 de versuri) despre dans, poezie si teatru.

3. ARISTOTEL explica originea ritmului prin functiile fiziologice ale

omului, referindu-se mai ales la btile inimii, cel mai perfect
metronom. Nevoia de a dansa este n ultim instant o nevoie de
ritm caracteristic omului normal si sntos.

4. Evident, ritmul civilizatiei actuale nu mai corespunde cu cel al

veacurilor trecute. Nobilul vals si distinsul tango au czut n
desuetitudine. Explicatia o dau sociologii, medicii, n special
fiziologii. Omul contemporan a devenit mai sedentar, mai inactiv.
Dansurile rapide ar corespunde, deci, necesitatii fiziologice a
organismului care nu se poate lipsi de miscare si efort fizic. Ele
devin, asadar, un mod original de destindere dup oboseala
provocat de inactivitatea muscular. Cu alte cuvinte, dansul s-a
transformat pe toate meridianele ntr-un soi de antrenament fizic.
Fcnd bilantul unor cercetri medicale complexe putem scoate n
evident avantajele dansului n vederea mentinerii snttii si a
vigoarei.

5. Miscarea n ritmul alert al muzicii fortific muschii, mbuntteste

circulatia sngelui, intensific respiratia, oferind o oxigenare
pulmonar mai bogat, produce un quot;masajquot; al muschilor
abdominali, contribuind la o functionare mai bun a stomacului si
intestinelor. Dansul pstreaz supletea siluetei si provoac un
somn mai sntos dect toate tranchilizantele. Si nici nu s-ar putea
altfel, cci, dup observatiile unor fiziologi, dansul necesit 750 de
kilocalorii pe or, cam aceeasi energie ct consuma un boxer pe
ring timp de 9 - 10 reprize.

6. Dansul nseamna emotie, dansul nseamn si cucerirea

spatiului, curajul de a depsi mobilitatea. MALLARME spunea:
quot; orice emotie ar pleca de la noi lrgeste un spatiu ori se
npusteste asupra noastr si l ncorporeaz.quot; Astfel, dansul
ofer multiple satisfactii, fr a le uita pe cele estetice. El ne nvat
s fim armoniosi n ntreg limbajul gesturilor.

Bun venit la Wikipedia! Dac dorii s contribuii v recomandm s v nregistrai/autentificai.

Dans
De la Wikipedia, enciclopedia liber

Dansul Kailao din Polinezia

Dansul este un mijloc artistic de exprimare a unui mesaj printr-o succesiune de micri ritmice, variate i
expresive ale corpului, executate n ritmul muzicii, avnd caracter religios, de art sau de divertisment.

[modificare]Istoric
Originile dansului coincid cu nceputurile comunitilor omene ti, avnd func ii rituale (mistice, rzboinice), de
invocare a forelor divine, pentru reuita la vntoare, confruntri tribale etc. La unele popoare, caracterul ritual
s-a pstrat, decantat i abstractizat, pn n zilele noastre.

n Grecia antic, dansul fcea parte dintre disciplinele fundamentale ale educaiei, considerat eficient pentru
sdirea, meninerea i ntrirea sentimentelor de solidaritate social. n acest scop, se practicau dansuri
rzboinice (pirice), pacifice (emelii), de cules al viilor (epilenice) etc.
n Roma antic, exista dansul ritual saltatio, cu funcii invocatoare, dar acesta a degenerat odat cu
decderea Imperiului Roman.
n Evul Mediu, n ciuda tendinei clerului de a menine funcia religioas a dansului, influenele laice a devenit
din ce n ce mai puternice, accentundu-se n sec. 13, cnd n practica social s-au genuri diverse de dans
(denumite chorea, charola, carole, danse, estampie, ductia, pastourelle .a.), ca o expresie simpl i puternic
a dragostei de via a poporului.

Renaterea a adncit acest proces. Paii simpli din dansurile vechi s-au dezvoltat, au combinat gesturile i
micrile, s-au individualizat. Au aprut forme noi i s-au creat succesiuni tipice, n care un dans lent, binar, era
urmat de altul rapid, ternar. n felul acesta, a luat natere suita, care consta din n patru pri fixe: allemanda,
couranta, sarabanda i giga. n vremea lui Johann Sebastian Bach, suita se executa independent i a jucat un
rol important n dezvoltarea muzicii instrumentale. Pe lng cele patru dansuri de baz, au nceput s fie
incluse i altele boure, gavota, musette, polacca, menuetul (foarte important, devenind parte constitutiv
a simfoniei), ciacona, passacaglia (variaiuni pe o tem ostinato, cu rol determinant n unele forme muzicale).

Dansatoare de Samba

Spre sfritul sec. 18, din Viena s-a rspndit valsul, un dans derivat din Lndler. n aceeai perioad, au
nceput s se impun i dansuri ale altor popoare, ca mazurca, polca, boleroul, jota, fandango, ceardaul .a.
care au ptruns n toate mediile sociale, avnd rol de seam n constituirea i afirmarea colilor na ionale.
La hotarul dintre sec. 19 i 20, s-au rspndit dansuri de origine american, precum tango, samba, habanera,
charlestonul, foxtrotul etc., care poart amprenta muzicii de jazz, influennd creaia unor compozitori moderni.

Dansul a existat inca de la inceputurile omenirii .Poate chiar inainte sa

apara primele triburi, dar sigur cu aparitia lor a aparut si primul dans.
Asadar dansurile isi au originea din cele mai stravechi timpuri. Inca
din acele vremuri dansul facea parte din viata oamenilor nu doar ca
distractie. Nu se putea concepe dansul daca nu avea o tema despre
nastere, moarte, renasterea naturii, anotimpuri, maturizarea
adolescentilor, casatorie, plecarea la vanatoarea , castigarea unei batalii
sau razboi cu vecinii. Se folosea dansul si pentru agricultura , venerarea
zeilor, sexualitate, prosperitatea sau alungarea relelor .

In timp dansul nu a mai avut aceeasi semnificatie el insemnand in

ziua de azi doar o forma de arta si o modalitate de comunicare si
inplicare intre parcicipanti.
Aristotel explica originea ritmului referindu-se mai ales la btile inimii,
metronomul perfect.
Astfel in timp sau desprins mai multe tipuri de dansuri, care au
diverse semnificatii dar un sigur scop acela de a arata si a scoate la iveala
cele mai elaborate miscari, tinuta morala, manierele si eleganta
dansatorului.
La inceput intre dansurile folclorice si cele de societate nu prea era
o mare diferenta , apoi in timp, a capatat alte aspecte .Menuetul a fost
inca din secolul 17 un dans al elegantei deorece se practica la curtile
aristrocratiei. Valsul a fost destul de popular la vremea lui dar si destul
de controversat din cauza tinutei foarte apropiate dintre cei doi parteneri
de dans.
Cele doua razboaie mondiale au remodelat dansurile.Asadar in
secolul XX au aparut foxtrotul si shimmy . Dupa ce femeile au inceput sa
aibe drept de vot a aparut in 1920 charlestonul. Din imporovizatiile
de Swing din anii 40 a aparut Jitterbug. In anii 50 a aparut rock-n-rollul.
Dansul de salon (ballroom dance) este astfel impartit: international
si american. In stilul american exista dansuri ritmate si dansuri moi
(smooth dance). Categoria ritmata din stilul american este
asemanatoare cu cea latino-americana din stilul international, dupa
cum si categoria smooth este asemanatoare cu cea standard. Dansul
de salon poate fi considerat dans de societate pentru ca incurajeaza
interactiunea sociala, deoarece partenerii danseaza in pereche.
Principiile specifice pot fi aplicate oricarui tip de dans, indiferent ca este
rock, disco sau vals clasic si aceasta pentru ca dansurile de salon au un
tempo strict de 3/4 sau 4/4.
Din dansurile internationale sau cele latino americane cele
mai cunoscutele ritmuri sunt: mambo, salsa, merengue, bossa nova si
multe altele, din acestea doar 5 sunt incluse in clasa internationala
sectiunea latino (Samba, Rumba, Cha-Cha, Jive si Paso Doble) in
timp ce la sectiunea standard cele 5 dansuri sunt: Vals vienez, Vals
lent, Tango, Slow Fox, Quick Step.

Dansul este una dintre cele mai vechi forme ale artei. El este o miscare
ritmica a tuturor partilor corpului si include baletul, valsul, flamenco, step,
samba si disco. Dansul poate exprima emotii, poate spune o poveste, poate
crea o atmosfera specifica sau poate etala rezistenta fizica a dansatorului.
Sunt doua tipuri de dans: dansul de societate, pentru distractie, si dansul
creat pentru a sustine un spectacol.
Oamenii au dansat de mii de ani - figuri de dansatori apar in picturile rupestre din
Europa si Africa, datand din timpuri preistorice. Multe dansuri primitive sunt inca
populare si astazi, fiind corelate cu ceremonii religioase sau superstitii. Dansul englez
morris se bazeaza pe vechi ritualuri razboinice, iar dansatorii voodoo din Haiti intra in
transa in timp ce cheama spiritele. Expresivul dans dramatic al vechilor greci a avut o
influenta de lunga durata asupra culturii Vestului. Dansurile de societate, unde sunt
respectate seturi de pasi, au aparut cu multe secole in urma. Dansul Bugaku din Japonia
a aparut in secolul al VII-lea. In Europa medievala, dansurile de societate erau populare
la curtile regale. Multe erau adaptari are dansurilor populare ale oamenilor obisnuiti. In
secolul al XV-lea existau deja profesori de dans care predau ultimele dansuri aparute.

Baletul isi are originea in curtile regale ale Italiei anilor 1400, insa s-a dezvoltat si in
Franta. Regele Louis al XIV-lea a fost un dansator entuziast si a deschis prima academie
de dans la Paris, in 1661. Pana atunci majoritatea dansatorilor erau amatori, apoi au
aparut si profesionisti. Directorul academiei, Charles-Louis Beauchamp, a contribuit la
standardizarea miscarilor clasice. Se crede ca el a creat primele trei pozitii ale
picioarelor si mainilor in balet. A doua jumatate a anilor 1800 a fost era baletului clasic,
cu mari capodopere precum Lacul Lebedelor a lui Ceaikovski.
La inceputul anilor 1900, unii dansatori au inceput sa creeze un stil liber, renuntand la
modelele rigide si la antrenamentele baletului clasic. Pe masura ce a trecut timpul,
tendintele dansului de societate s-au schimbat odata cu muzica. Noile dansuri incitante
ale secolului al XX-lea s-au bazat in mare parte pe traditiile africane, americane si
irlandeze, cum sunt jazzul si stepul. In prezent, dansul s-a transformat pe toate
meridianele intr-un soi de antrenament fizic. Facand bilantul unor cercetari complexe,
medicii au demonstrat avantajele dansului in vederea mentinerii sanatatii si a vigorii.
Miscarea in ritmul alert al muzicii fortifica muschii, imbunatateste circulatia sangelui,
intensifica respiratia, oferind o oxigenare pulmonara mai bogata, produce un masaj al
muschilor abdominali, contribuind la o functionare mai buna a stomacului si
intestinelor. Dansul pastreaza supletea siluetei si provoaca un somn mai sanatos. Si nici
nu s-ar putea altfel, caci, dupa observatiile unor fiziologi, dansul necesita 750 de
kilocalorii pe ora, cam aceeasi energie cat consuma un boxer pe ring timp de noua-zece
reprize.