Dancing has been around for quite a while being one of the oldest sports and art forms in existence in the entire world (Rookie Road, n.d.). As reported by Masterclass (2022), the earliest historical records of dance were found in cave paintings in India dating from about 8000 BC and were said to have been religious in nature. Early people danced for the purpose of enjoyment, entertainment, and even seduction. In the present age, the purpose of dance has not actually changed that much. Dance is defined by Merriam-Webster as the moving of one’s body with timing and rhythm to music. The art of dance uses the performer’s body and movements to portray an emotion, idea, or story. When dancing, the performer utilizes his entire body—his arms, legs, torso, hips, and facial expressions—to express his form of art to the audience (Cianflone, 2022).
Dance Elements
(Growing Young Movers, 2014)
Dancing consists of five elements that make up its fundamentals. To make it easier, one may use the acronym “BASTE.” BASTE stands for body, action, space, time, and energy. What do these mean you may ask? To start, the “body” basically means what the audience sees. The body is the dancer’s tool or instrument to express themselves. The dancer can choose to express their arms, legs, or even their entire body (Aldis & Muench, 2018). There really is no limit when it comes to expressing one’s self when it comes to their body and the imagination
Second, the word “action” is as simple as it gets. It means the use of any action involved in dancing. This could include minor movements with arms, legs, fingers, and even facial expressions. Moreover, the act of not doing anything at all could even be considered an action, as long as you are expressing yourself with your body, it could be considered an action. Lastly, actions could consist of a sequence of dance moves that are either choreographed or improvised (Aldis & Muench, 2018).
Third, is the element “space,” which is the place where the dancers perform. Dancers utilize space as a way to move in different ways or directions, whether it be staying in one space or moving to another space. In addition, patterns and choreography between other dancers may be used in a space (Aldis & Muench, 2018).
Fourth, is the element of “time,” where the dancers use cues or signals to perform the dance with good timing. Time is used to perform sequential actions with the proper rhythm. These cues or signals may include clock time, sound cues, or even action cues. The rhythm of the whole dance is determined by this element (Aldis & Muench, 2018d).
Lastly, the dance element of “energy.” This refers to the contrasting use of power in dance. Energy in dancing could be many things which include being sharp, dull, strong, weak, heavy, light, etc. Furthermore, the energy of the dance could be changed instantaneously by the dancer. Last but not the least, the different types of energy used in dances express and set the tone of the entire dance (Aldis & Muench, 2018).
Dance Genres
(University of Oregon, 2015)
Dance has come a long way and has developed different styles and new elements that branched out into many different genres. These genres are:
Ballet dance
Contemporary Dance
Modern Dance
Jazz Dance
Tap Dance
Street Dance
Ballroom Dance
Philippines Folk Dance
Neo-Ethnic Dance
Foreign Folk Dance
Cheer Dance
Each form of dance is unique and each requires a different set of skills.
(Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, n.d.)
Ballet dancing leads back to the Italian Renaissance. A dance developed as court entertainment, ballet was formalized as a proper dance technique in the 15th and 16 centuries (Britannica, n.d.). Moreover, ballet is a dance that requires the dancers to perform on their toes (call en pointe) to the sound of classical music. There are also 4 types of different ballet dances, namely classical ballet, romantic ballet, neoclassical ballet, and contemporary ballet.
(Unsplash, n.d.)
According to Bedinghaus (2019), contemporary is a type of dance that shows emotion. Furthermore, contemporary dances are actually composed of multiple different types of dances, and this includes, modern, jazz, lyrical, and classical ballet. There are multiple styles of contemporary dance but one thing that it really follows is being flexible and being able to improvise these moves on the spot.
(Getty Images, n.d.)
The modern dance started out as a dance form to oppose the classical ballet techniques (Masterclass. 2022). It is a highly expressive form of dance that focuses on the emotion of the dance rather than the structured, technical position of ballet. It is a dance that is freeform and fluid and is more relaxed and natural as compared to ballet.
(ITW Dance Company, n.d.)
According to ATJ Dance Company (n.d.), jazz dance is the combination of two techniques namely classical ballet and modern dancing. In addition, jazz dancing can be performed with either individual body parts only or the entire body. Lastly, jazz dance stresses the importance of energy, the precision of the movements, and the style of the overall dance.
(University Musical Society, 2019)
Tap dance is as the name suggests. The United States was where it was invented though it was from the combination of multiple “ethnic percussive dances.” It simply means dancing with specially made shoes that make periodic tapping sounds that could be heard (Frank, 2017).
(Screen Daily, 2010)
According to ISTD (n.d.), street dance is the dance that evolved from the popular culture and social dances in the 1970s in America. Street dance was a dance that you could perform anywhere outside of a studio. One of its important features was that this dance was not something that was ‘learned’ under formal tuition, but was rather a dance improvised in an informal space. The techniques of popping, locking, and breaking all fall under the umbrella of street dance.
(Flodance, 2017)
Ballroom dance, unlike the previous types of dances, is a type of dance that requires a partner (A Dance to Remember, n.d.). Couples are to dance using step patterns, moving rhythmically and expressing the emotion and characteristics of the music. Two types of common styles of ballroom dance are smooth, also known as the standard, and the rhythm, also known as Latin.
(Jontotheworld, 2021)
Philippine Folk dance is a dance form that incorporates the cultures of immigrants and conquers while still maintaining its distinct Filipino roots (Crawford, n.d.). Each folk dance reflects the daily life of the Filipinos in the past centuries. Examples of these folk dances are Dugso (a dance of gratitude for a harvest or male child), Sohten (an all-male war dance), Lawin-Lawin (a male dance with soaring eagles), Tinkling, Gaway-Gaway, etc.
(Youtube, 2017)
Neo-ethnic dance is a fusion of traditional tribal dances with classical ballet. This form was first formed and introduced by Agnes Locsin (Philippine Neo-Ethnic Choreography, n.d.).
(Pinterest, n.d.)
Foreign folk dance is a dance form that embodies the traditions of countries and different regions. These dances are also sometimes called religious or ritual dances because of their origins of the dances. These dances are based on different beliefs that slowly formed into traditions. These are usually performed at social gatherings and are usually easy to pick up and amateurs are encouraged to dance along with everyone else (Dance Facts, 2022).
(Philippine News Agency, 2019)
Cheer dance is a form of group dance that is performed to help motivate and boost the morale of the team they are cheering for. It incorporates gymnastic jumps, tumbling skills, lifts, and tosses as well as some shouting to lead the crowd to cheer for their chosen team (Geronimo, n.d.).
References
Aldis, D., & Muench, G. (2018, September). Action. The Elements of Dance. https://www.elementsofdance.org/action.html
Aldis, D., & Muench, G. (2018, September). Body. The Elements of Dance. https://www.elementsofdance.org/body.html#:~:text=In%20dance%2C%20the%20body%20is
Aldis, D., & Muench, G. (2018, September). Energy. The Elements of Dance. https://www.elementsofdance.org/energy.html
Aldis, D., & Muench, G. (2018, September). Space. The Elements of Dance. https://www.elementsofdance.org/space.html
Aldis, D., & Muench, G. (2018, September). Time. The Elements of Dance. https://www.elementsofdance.org/time.html
ATJ Dance Company. (n.d.). Class Descriptions | All That Jazz Dance Co. All That Jazz Dance Co. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from https://allthatjazzdanceco.net/class-descriptions/#:~:text=Jazz%20dance%20combines%20techniques%20of
Ballet - The establishment of the ballet d’action. (2019). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/ballet/The-establishment-of-the-ballet-daction
Bedinghaus, T. (2019, October 1). What Is Contemporary Dance? LiveAbout. https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-contemporary-dance-1007423#:~:text=Contemporary%20dance%20is%20a%20style
Dance: Basic Elements & Genres. (2022). Study.com. https://study.com/academy/lesson/dance-basic-elements-genres.html
Definition of DANCE. (2019). Merriam-Webster.com. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dance
Folk Dance - Characteristics, History and Types of Folk Dance. (n.d.). Www.dancefacts.net. Retrieved May 26, 2022, from http://www.dancefacts.net/dance-list/folk-dance/
Frank, R. (2017). Tap dance. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/tap-dance
Geronimo, C. (n.d.). Cheer dance. Www.academia.edu. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from https://www.academia.edu/31915484/Cheer_dance
History of Street Dance - Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. (n.d.). Www.istd.org. Retrieved May 26, 2022, from https://www.istd.org/dance/dance-genres/street/history-of-street-dance/
List Of Dance Facts. (n.d.). Www.rookieroad.com. Retrieved May 26, 2022, from https://www.rookieroad.com/dance/list-dance-facts/
Maerwydd McFarland. (2018). Philippine Folk Dance History. LoveToKnow; LoveToKnow Corp. https://dance.lovetoknow.com/Philippine_Folk_Dance_History
MasterClass staff. (2022a, February 25). Understanding Modern Dance: A Guide to Modern Dance.Masterclass.com. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/modern-dance-explained#quiz-1
MasterClass staff. (2022, March 2). Types of Ballet: 10 Ballet Styles and Techniques. Masterclass.com. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/types-of-ballet-explained#what-is-ballet
Philippine Neo-Ethnic Choreography. (n.d.). Artbooks.ph. Retrieved May 26, 2022, from https://artbooks.ph/products/philippine-neo-ethnic-choreography#:~:text=Neo%2Dethnic%20choreography%20is%20a
What is Ballroom Dancing? (n.d.). A Dance to Remember. Retrieved May 26, 2022, from https://www.adancetoremembertx.com/what-is-ballroom-dancing#:~:text=Ballroom%20dancing%20is%20a%20partnership
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