History of Dance
When Did Dance Start? -
The point in time where people started to dance is very hazy. Indeed, there are people who believe that man has danced since before sapiens was a species. This is true in the fact that before he had the power of speech, ancient man conveyed thoughts, wishes, and emotions through actions.
The first recorded dancing, is among the ancient civilizations of the Middle East and India and among the Aboriginal people of the Americas, Australia, and Africa. The Hindu god Shive, known as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, is portrayed as a many-armed being balanced on one leg. Actual dance forms appear to have been in place in India around 6000 B.C. In studying the First Dynasty of Egypt, (around 3000 B.C.), archaeologists have found reliefs showing a kind of dance or body language, and as culture in Egypt advanced, paintings were made showing musicians and dancers.
In the Americans, Australia, and Africa the aboriginal people danced both for spiritual reasons and for entertainment.
American Indian
Pow Wows are the Native American people's way of meeting together, to join in dancing, singing, visiting, renewing old friendships and make new ones. This is a time to renew thought of the old ways and to preserve a rich heritage.
Dancing has always been a very important part of the life of the American Indian. The outfits worn by the dancers, like the styles of clothing today, evolve over time. It is not a stagnant culture but a vibrant and changing way of life
Dancers have always been a very important part of the life of the American Indian. Most dancers seen at Pow Wows today are social dances which might have had different meanings in earlier days. Although dance styles and content have changed, their meaning and importance has not. The outfits worn by the dancers, like the styles of clothing today evolve over time, it is not a stagnant culture, but a vibrant and changing way of life.
The Oklahoma Feather Dancer or "fancy dancer" is the most popular style of dance and outfit seen at modern powwows throughout the Plains. The fancy dance outfit, as such, has no tribal identity and thus is often called a "Pan Indian" outfit.
The "Fancy Dance" originated as Fancy War Dance by the Hethuska society in Oklahoma. The individual who invented the dance was Gus McDonald. He was also the first World Champion Fancy War Dancer. The McDonald family, specifically Juel Farmer McDonald, the Ponca Tribal matriarch still presents the trophy to the fancy war dance champion each year because of this family honor.
Jingle dress is also called a prayer dress. There are differences in the origins of the dress among the tribes, though all agree one thing. The dress was seen in a dream, as an object to bring healing to afflicted people. It comes from the Northern tribe Ojibewea, or Chippewea, along the Canadian border.
A medicine man's granddaughter became very ill one day. In a dream, his spirit guides told him to make a jingle dress for her and have her dance in it. This, he was told would heal her. When the outfit was finished, the tribe assembled for a dance. On her first time around, the illness would not permit her to dance and she was carried. As time went on she was soon dancing in the circle.
Jingle dresses are decorated with rolled up snuff can lids that are hung with ribbon. The ribbon is then sewed to the dress, the jingles placed close enough so they can hit together, causing a beautiful sound. If one were to close their eyes as the Jingle dancer passes, it would sound as though it were raining!
CORN DANCE
Or TABLETA DANCE, from ‘tablets’ on the women’s heads; often the principal fiesta ceremony of the pueblos. Two main division of the pueblo, the Summer and Winter People, form two dance teams which alternate, returning between dances to their respective headquarters or kiva. Each team in the larger pueblos may number ninety dancers with as many more in each chorus; they may dance the last afternoon dance at nearly the same time, intermingling, each following its own drum beat.
Gestures of the chorus are a sign language for invoking clouds, rain and growth. The tall banner is emblematic of all life: eagle and macaw feathers are seen ocean shells are said to be attached, a fox fur hangs over a strip like the dance kilt of hand-spun native cotton.
An origin myth relates that the supernatural Mother who ruled wished her people to have a public dance which all could enjoy. War Captain (still a dance director in the pueblos) was pleased and made prayer sticks to try to bring the legendary character called Koshari- ‘he who talks a lot and seems to know everything’ - to instruct dancing. The black and white painted dancers are privileged clowns from Koshare Society. They have a dual role as they are said also to represent the sprits of the remembered dead.
Traditional African Dance FormsAfrican dances are as varied and changing as the communities that create them. Although many types of African dance incorporate spirited, vigorous movement, there are also others that are more reserved or stylized. African dances vary widely by region and ethnic community. In addition, there are numerous dances within a given community. African communities traditionally use dance for a variety of social purposes. Dances play a role in religious rituals; they mark rites of passage , including initiations to adulthood and weddings; they form a part of communal ceremonies, including harvest celebrations, funerals, and coronations; and they offer entertainment and recreation in the forms of masquerades, acrobatic dances, and social club dances.
European explorers of Africa hardly understood either the aesthetics or the meanings of dances in the cultures they sought to scrutinize and conquer. Writers such as Joseph Conrad depicted African dance as an expression of both "savagery" and aggressiveness. European observers often focused on certain types of African dance that reinforced their stereotypes of blacks as sexualized, warlike peoples. Abandoning these stereotypes, a careful survey reveals extraordinary variety in both the social meanings and aesthetic styles of African dance forms.
Traditionally, dance in Africa occurs collectively in a community setting. It expresses the life of the community more than the mood of an individual or a couple. Dances mark key elements of communal life. For example, dances at agricultural festivals mark the passage of seasons, the successful completion of projects, and the hope for prosperity. In an annual festival of the Irigwe in Nigeria, men perform leaps symbolizing the growth of the crops.
Dance does not merely form a part of community life; it represents and reinforces the community itself. Its structures reproduce the organization and the values of the community. For example, dances are often segregated by sex, reinforcing gender identities to children from a young age. Dance often expresses the categories that structure the community, including not only gender but also kinship, age, status, and, especially in modern cities, ethnicity. For example, in the igbin dance of the Yoruba of Nigeria the order of the performers in the dance reflects their social standing and age, from the king down to the youngest at the gathering. Among the Asante of Ghana the king reinforces his authority through a special royal dance, and traditionally he might be judged by his dancing skill. Dance can provide a forum for popular opinion and even satire within political structures: the Ubakala and Bambara use dance as a form of criticism and commentary. Spiritual leaders also use dance to symbolize their connection with the world beyond.
Dances provide community recognition for the major events in people's lives. The dances of initiation, or rites of passage, are pervasive throughout Africa and function as moments of definition in an individual's life or sometimes key opportunities to observe potential marriage partners. Highly energetic dances show off boys' stamina and are considered a means of judging physical health. The learning of the dance often plays an important part in the ritual of the occasion. For example, the girls among the Lunda of Zambia stay in seclusion practicing their steps before the coming-of-age ritual. Throughout Africa dance is also an integral part of the marking of birth and death. At burial ceremonies the Owo Yoruba perform the igogo, in which young men dance over the grave and pack the earth with stomping movements.
Dance plays a central role in therapy and healing in many parts of Africa. In the West African religious practice of bori, or ajun, women suffering from mental illness are brought to a shrine where they learn a ceremony involving song and dance for three months. This process of learning is as important for the women's therapy as the ceremony itself. The Tiv of Nigeria have a dance that expresses the vital life force in the world that combats disease and death. The Kung San of Botswana perform a healing dance that includes both sexes and all ages, the healthy as well as the sick. Possession dance is another form of therapeutic ritual movement. Among the Shona in Zimbabwe the mhondoro spirit occupies the bodies of dancers, who move to a rhythm as the ancestors communicate wisdom.
Dance traditionally prepared people for the roles they played in the community. For example, some war dances prepared young men physically and psychologically for war by teaching them discipline and control while getting them into the spirit of battle. Some dances are a form of martial art themselves, such as Nigerian korokoro dances or the Angolan dances from which Brazilian capoeira is derived.
Dances often tell stories that are part of the oral history of a community. For example, the bamaya dance of Ghana narrates the legend of a man who was hungry and entered the market dressed as a woman in order to steal a chicken. During the dance men play the role of the women in the market, imitating women's hip movements as women call out. Such stories often lie at the heart of a community's identity. The Ewe people of Togo and surrounding countries have created a dance to narrate a tale of the origin and migration of the community. Imitating the movements of a bird with the arms, dancers relate the story of the Ewe who followed the path of a bird when the group migrated from Benin to the west.
The one unifying aesthetic of African dance is an emphasis upon rhythm, which may be expressed by many different parts of the body or extended outside the body to rattles or costumes. African dances may combine movements of any parts of the body, from the eyes to the toes, and the focus on a certain part of the body might have a particular social significance. The Nigerian Urhobo women perform a dance during which they push their arms back and forth and contract the torso in synchronization with an accelerating rhythm beat by a drum. In Côte D'Ivoire a puberty dance creates a rhythmic percussion through the movement of a body covered in cowrie shells.
Africans often judge the mastery of a dancer by the dancer's skill in representing rhythm. More skillful dancers might express several different rhythms at the same time, for example by maintaining a separate rhythmic movement with each of several different parts of the body. Rhythm frequently forms a dialogue between dancers, musicians, and audience.
Typically, the rhythmic dialogue occurs between the dancers and the drums in West Africa and between the dancers and the chorus in East Africa. The call-and-response dynamic found in African traditions all over the world characterizes the rhythmic dialogue among dancers, music, and audience. Unlike many Western forms of "art" dance, in which musicians and audience maintain a distance from the dance performance, African dance incorporates a call-and-response relationship that creates an interaction between those dancing and those surrounding them. The integration of performance and audience, as well as spatial environment, is one of the most noted aesthetic features of African dance.
Observers describe many of the dances as "earth centered," unlike many floating or soaring European ballet forms. Gravity provides an earthward orientation even in those forms in which dancers leap into the air, such as the dances of the Kikuyu of Kenya and the Tutsi of Rwanda.
One of the most remarkable aspects of African dance is its use of the movements of daily life. By raising ordinary gestures to the level of art, these dances show the grace and rhythm of daily activities, from walking to pounding grain to chewing. In the Côte d'Ivoire dance known as ziglibit, stamping feet reproduce the rhythm of the pounding of corn into meal. During the thie bou bien dance of Senegal dancers move their right arms as if they were eating the food that gives the dance its name. The Nupe fishermen of Nigeria perform a dance choreographed to coincide with the motions of throwing a fishing net.
According to the beliefs of many communities, traditional African dancers not only represent a spirit, but embody that spirit during the dance. This is particularly true of the sacred dances involving masquerade. Dancers use a range of masks and costumes to represent spirits, gods, and sacred animals. These masks can be as much as 12 feet high; sometimes they cover the entire body and sometimes just the face. At funerals and an annual festival, members of the Yoruba Egungun ancestral society perform in elaborate costumes representing anything from village chiefs to animals and spirits as they mediate between the the ancestors and the living.
Masquerades take a number of different forms. Some masquerades are representative. For example, many of the pastoralist groups of Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda perform dances portraying the cattle upon which their livelihood depends. During one such dance the Karimojon imitate the movements of cattle, shaking their heads like bulls or cavorting like young cows.
In stilt dances, another variety of masquerade, stilts extend the dancers' bodies by as much as 10 feet. In the gue gblin dance of Côte d'Ivoire, dancers perform an amazing acrobatic stilt dance traditionally understood as a mediation between the ancestors and the living.
Acrobatic dances, such as those performed on stilts, are increasingly popular outside of their original sacred contexts. The Shope, the Shangana Tonga, and the Swazi of southern Africa perform complex dances in which dancers manipulate a long shield and spear with great finesse as they move through a series of athletic kicks. The Fulani acrobats of Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea perform movements similar to those of American break dancing, such as backspins and head- and handstands.
Modern African Dance Forms
Colonialism and nationhood have transformed African society, and new African dance forms have developed in new social contexts. Colonial rule shifted borders and the cash economy prompted labor migrations. These migrations, often to multiethnic towns, undermined the tight-knit communities so basic to traditional dance, though the art form has survived in rural areas and in connection with traditional ceremonies. At the same time, urban living has given rise to an abundance of new dance forms. Thus modernization in Africa has allowed for some continuity, but it has also encouraged much innovation.
Christian missionaries initially forbade or limited traditional dance among Christian converts for fear of the dance's connection to indigenous religions. In parts of West Africa colonial administrators banned dancing, which they felt might keep workers out too late at night or, worse, stir anticolonial sentiment.
Meanwhile, traditional dance shifted along with its social context. As people traveled during the colonial period, their dances went with them. As a consequence of labor migrations, people from a given ethnic group found themselves next to neighbors with very different dance styles. As rural migrants gathered in cities, for example in South Africa, dance forms gained new significance as markers of ethnic origin and identity. Since the 1940s at the Witwatersrand gold mines, "mine dancers" have competed in teams organized around ethnic origins.
New dance forms expressed nationalism and resistance. One dance of the Zulu in South Africa used rhythmic stomping and slapping of leather boots to express both the meter of work and a march against the oppression of apartheid. As a stirring cultural expression, dance could both express tradition and forge a new national identity. During the nationalist period, nationalist movements and later governments used dance as a way of expressing a country's identity. With schools such as Mudra-Afrique, founded in 1977 in Dakar, and events such as the All-Nigeria Festival of Arts, national governments used dance to transcend ethnic identity. Some dance companies, such as Les Ballets Africains in Guinea, the National Dance Company of Senegal, and the National Dance Company of Zimbabwe, gained international renown and represented their new nations abroad.
In recent years modern artistic productions have increasingly drawn on traditional dances. Dance troupes performing on stage have integrated traditional forms with new, improvised themes and forms. The dance theater of the Ori Olokun Company of Ife, Nigeria, for example, created a performance called Alatangana that depicts a traditional myth of the Kono people in Guinea. Dance has influenced several of Wole Soyinka's plays, including The Lion and the Jewel (1963), A Dance of the Forests (1963), and Death and the King's Horsemen (1975).
After World War II hybrid forms of dance emerged that integrated European and American dance influences. Highlife was the most famous of these forms, synthesizing the European ballroom dance techniques learned by soldiers abroad with traditional dance rhythms and forms. The highlife music and dance rose to popularity in the cities of West Africa during the 1960s, cutting across ethnic boundaries to express a common regional identity derived from the experience of colonialism and urbanization. In southern African people danced in discos to the modern African beat of kwela, and in Central and East Africa "Congo beat" music gained popularity.
The modern transformation of Africa has thus fostered remarkable creativity and diversity in dance forms. An essential element of everything from improvised traditional performance to ritual coming-of-age ceremonies to the nightlife of dancehalls and discos, dance remains a vibrant and changing part of African life.
Chinese dance dates back nearly 5000 years. As in most cultures, Chinese dance is closely linked to and reflective of life experiences and concerns. Thus the dances can be divided into
(1) CEREMONIAL; for praying to the gods for bountiful harvests,
(2) DRAMATIC; for reporting and commemorating historical events,
(3) MARTIAL; for demonstrating fighting techniques, and
(4) AGRICULTURAL; for celebrating nature and work.
In old China, dancers belonged to the slave class and their chief function was to perform in the courts for royalty and the nobles. During the Tang Dynasty (618-906 A.D.) the famous Silk Road was often travelled by Indians, Persians and others who came to trade silk. Buddhism thus found its way into China and had an enormous impact on Chinese culture. The Flying Apsara, a minor deity, plays music and is
pictured in many murals from this period. The unique poses of the dancers represented on these murals influenced Chinese classical dance.
Like the United States, China is a nation of many different nationalities. Each has its own history, language and tradition, and maintains its own distinct customs and style of dress. The Han make up the majority of China's population. Some of the larger minority groups are the Mongols, the Dai, and the Miao
According to archeological findings, Chinese dance has a history of over five thousand years. Until the Han dynasty (206 B. C. - A. D. 220), most of the Chinese dances were originated from the folks. During the Han period, a musical entertainment court was established for the imperial family, which was essentially a center for systematically documenting and enhancing folk songs and dances. Because of the political stability and the economic prosperity of the Tang dynasty (A. D. 618 - 907), poetry, music and dance were given opportunities to flourish. The Tang dynasty has been regarded as the golden age for dance in ancient China.
Dances in the Tang dynasty inherited techniques that were developed in the past dynasties such as Zhou, Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, and Nanbei. During the early Tang period, Buddhism was introduced to China and because trade and social relationship with other countries rapidly expanded, dances was influenced by folk dances of other countries such as India, Rome, Persia (Iran), Korea, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, and other Central Asian countries. In addition, it also combined with other forms of fine arts such as painting, scenery, and colorful costumes as well as poetry, classical music and drama. The combination of these colorful traditions brought the performing arts to a new peak of entertainment.
The emperors of the Tang dynasty, in general, paid significant attention to the development of the Chinese dance and music. Several of them directly contributed to this effort. Among them, Emperor Li Shimin personally composed a song Pozhenyuetu, which was successfully staged for a major dance festival. The choreography of Pozhenyuetu was further enhanced by Emperor Li Lonji (also known as Tang Minhuang) and was later introduced to India, Tulufan (currently known as Xin-Jiang), and Japan. The Tang dynasty also had another brilliant piece of music Nishangyuyi, which was composed by the Tang Minhuang who was talented in music and dance. Tang Minhuang used graceful traditional dance techniques combining with marvelous Indian dance skills and music to portray an elegant fairyland with beautiful maidens. Staged by Tang Minhuang, danced by his famous concubine and dancer Yang Guifei, and music played by Liyuan, the Nishangyuyi dance has been regarded as one of the splendid treasures in China's dance history.
Based on the Dunhuang murals of the Tang Dynasty, the Gansu Song and Dance Ensemble Group created and performed a spectacular classical dance Siluhuayu (Along the Silk Road). The story took place in Hexi Corridor in the Tang Dynasty. Enus, a Persian merchant, came to China for trade. Magic-brush Zhang, a painter, saved him in a sandstorm. Five years later, Enus paid a large sum of ransom to redeem Yingniang, Zhang's daughter, when he learned that Yingniang was kidnapped to an acrobatic troupe. With his acrobatically trained daughter and dancer, the happy family reunion excited Zhang a trend of thoughts in his paintings. Among his imaginations were the graceful dance of Fantanpipa (Reverse Playing Chinese Guitar) and the Dance of the Lotus Fairies. The dance Fantanpipa depicts a beautiful fairy playing her pipa (Chinese guitar) freely in the sky. Sometimes, she is like a dragon and other times, wild geese taking off from the ground, spreading its wings and flying away. Imitating these animals and many more and mythical creatures, the fairy brings the audience to a Dunhuang world. In the Dance of the Lotus Fairies, childlike fairies hide in lotuses and joyously pop out to dance when the petals open. ( Picture on the right is copy of a part of the dance on a High Tang Mural from Dunhuang at Cavern No. 148 in the Mogao Caves. - See Reference: Wang Kefen, "The History of Chinese Dance," Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, China, First edition, 1985.)
The magnificent dance of the Tang period was the result of inheriting the traditions, enhancing the Chinese classical and folk dance techniques, as well as widely incorporating music and dance skills from other countries. Due to the broad spectrum of styles, characteristics and topics, dance was one of the favorite performing arts and was very well received by almost every social class during the Tang period. It also played a significant role in the social relationship among different countries as well as different ethnic groups. The Chinese classical dance has passed from generation to generation, and is still practiced by the Chinese classical and folk dance community.
The above article was written in Chinese by Jean Yu and translated by Kokmeng Lee (May 2, 1999).
The lion dance is an important tradition in China. Usually the dance is part of festivities like Chinese New Year, the openings of restaurants and weddings. If well-performed, the lion dance is believed to bring luck and happiness.
Although lions are not native in china, they came to there via the famous Silk Road. Rulers in what is today Iran and Afghanistan sent lions to Chinese emperors as gifts in order to get the right to trade with Silk Road merchants. The lion dance dates back to the Han Dynasty (205 B.C. to 220 A.D. in China) and during the Tang Dynasty (716-907 A.D.) it was at its peak. It was particularly performed during religious festivals. The lion dance was not only introduced in China, but also in Korea and Taiwan, where lions are not native as well. The dances are not exactly the same in these countries, but the symbolism is quite similar.
The lion is enacted by two dancers. One handles the head, made out of strong but light materials like paper-mache and bamboo, the other plays the body and the tail under a cloth that is attached to the head. The "animal" is accompanied by two to three musicians, playing a large drum, cymbals, and sometimes a gong. A little Buddha teases it with a fan or a giant ball. The head dancer can move the lion's eyes, mouth and ears for expression of moods.
The costuming of the southern lion is a composite of many magical and mythical elements. Its five colors: black, red, green, white and yellow (orange is considered a variant of red) represent the lions control over the five directions: north, south, east, west and center. Its curved horn is from the phoenix; the ears and tail are from the unicorn; its protruding forehead, adorned with a mirror to dispel evil, and its long beard are from the dragon. Throughout the performance, the lion walks in a zigzag path in order to confuse evil spirits, which are only able to walk in straight lines. All these elements are meant to dispel evil, provide blessing, and guard against misfortune.
Quite often people observing the dances think that they are looking at dragons. The main difference between lion dance and dragon dance is that the latter is performed with more people than two. A Short History of
Dance in Japan
The history of Japanese dance shows that China and religion have influenced dance styles. This fact gives us a better idea of why the Japanese people dance, and why they like dancing.
Written by Morinishi Mayumi,
When we dance, we move our whole bodies, expressing emotions like joy, sorrow, enthusiasm and frustration. The first human beings probably expressed feeling through motion rather than words. Even today, when we visit another country and cannot speak the language, we use gestures to make ourselves understood. Dance may have been one of the earliest forms of communication throughout the world.
Using dance to express emotion would have led to using dance to pray. In ancient Japan, dancing was called kami asobi (gods' play). A god was thought to enter a person, then charm him into dancing. This ancient belief is associated with the sacred music and dance performed at shrines today. In Japanese mythology, the sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, became angry and hid in a cave, and came out only after some girls danced for her. This myth indicates that the ancient Japanese believed dancing was suitable for a religious ceremony honoring a god.
Two folk dances introduced to Japan from China in the 8th century were bugaku and sangaku. In bugaku, which is still performed at the Imperial Court , dancers hold their arms out and raise them high, creating a serene, expansive effect. In contrast, sangaku was a lively display of pantomime, acrobatics and stunts. sangaku was banned from the Imperial Palace around 950 A.D., but adapted by the general public under the name sarugaku. In about 1350, sarugaku gave birth to a spoken dance drama called Noh, or Sarugaku Noh. Noh's masks and dance techniques restrain movement, rather than flaunt it.
Noh is very sophisticated in its ability to express inner feelings.
Buddhism, too, has influenced Japanese dance. Nembutsu-odori dancers console the spirits of the dead. This dance had its beginning around 1000 A.D., and influenced the development of a related dance, furyu-odori, in the 15th century. Furyu-odori dancers dressed up in showy costumes and fanciful finery. Later, other dances with religious significance, like the Bon-odori, became events that everyone could participate in. Dance thus evolved in two directions - some dances were best when everyone joined in, while others were performances given by accomplished artists, to be enjoyed by an audience.
Soon after 1600, furyu-odori evolved into kabuki-odori, the dance of the kabuki theater. Kabuki, started by a women's dance troupe led by Izumo-no-Okuni, was soon transformed into wakashu (young men's) kabuki, then finally into yaro (men's) kabuki. Kabuki, once only a collection of dances, became plays that were complete with story, script, song and dance. Since only men were allowed on the stage, women's roles in the story were played by onna-gata (male actors), adding another exotic element to the performance.
The dramatic story line in kabuki gained importance in time, but dance remained an essential element as well. After around 1750, dancers began depicting a complete story with the help of vocal accompaniment. Nakamura Tomijuro I showed this could be done effectively when Kyo-ganoko Musume Dojoji (The Dancing Girl at the Temple) was first performed. Starting in the 19th century, tachiyaku (actors playing male roles) also performed dances on the kabuki stage. Soon, the drama was heightened by one dancer playing several roles during a single musical piece, and by dances that artistically portrayed the actions of everyday life.
Meanwhile, the Kyoto-Osaka area (formerly called Kamigata) drew on its ancient historical and cultural heritage to develop dance styles. Today, traditional Japanese dance is called Nihon Buyo. But purists use the term odori for dance forms that developed on the kabuki stage, and the term mai for dance forms developed in the Kyoto-Osaka region. Mai, which is also called kamigata-mai (after the region it springs from), draws on 12th-century traditions established by courtesan dancers and singers at banquets in Kyoto and Osaka, and on Noh and other styles also developed in the region.
Both of these styles use movement to develop a story line - in this regard they are more expressive than the dances of many other countries. But the differences between odori and mai are readily apparent as well. In odori, the dancers may leap into the air, following the folk traditions of nembutsu-odori and the ostentatious furyu-odori. In mai, each dancer shuffles, always keeping at least one foot on the floor. Compared with the lively choreography of odori, mai is tranquil and elegant
