CHAPTER 1: BRIEF HISTORY AND NATURE OF DANCE

“Before man can do anything, he must draw breath, he must move. Movement is the source and
condition of life. To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is
power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking” – Agnes de Mille (1963)
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 art, the art of body movement.” - Barbara Mettler (American dancer, dance educator,
author, and film and video producer)
“Unlike athletics or other daily activities, dance focuses primarily on “an aesthetic or even
entertaining experience” - Myers, 2005
REASONS OF PEOPLE FOR DANCING
1. To please the gods
2. To please others
3. To please themselves (self-expression)
4. To build community within an ethnic group (social interaction)
BRIEF HISTORY OF DANCES
 People from the prehistoric era performed ways they hoped would appease the forces of
nature or give them new powers of their own.
 It was only during the pre-Christian era that the real knowledge of dance came about
within the great Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations.
 Dance became full-blown and was richly recorded in ancient Egypt as reflected in their
wall paintings, reliefs, and in the literary record in hieroglyphs.
 For ancient Greeks, who thought highly of dance, it was closely linked with other kinds of
experiences such as an aid to military education among the boys in Athens and Sparta,
as well as a form of entertainment and display.
 As Kraus and Gaufman (1981) said, “Man danced originally to supplicate the gods on all
important occasions of life”.
 The Greek also used dance to aid education in general as philosophers such as Plato,
Aristotle, and Socrates strongly supported this art as an integration of the body and soul.
 The ancient Rome gave less importance to dancing as the nation grew wealthy and
powerful.
• It became brutal and sensationalized as their entertainers were slaves and
captives from many nationalities.
• It was used more often for gruesome purposes.
 • It eventually became an integral part of the corruption in the latter days of the
Roman Empire, resulting in the condemnation of dance by the early Christians.
 In fact, Plato himself immensely gave importance to dance in education as stated in his
elucidation on the Laws. He highlighted the two kinds of dance and music: the noble
(fine and honorable) and the ignoble (imitating what is mean or ugly).
 After the fall of Rome, the history of dance transformed following the development of the
Catholic Church, which was by then the sole custodian of learning and education as well
as the source of morals. During this time, theatrical entertainment was prohibited and
dance was performed only during worships, church services, and religious ceremonies.
 Although the Church had condemned dance as entertainment, some singers, dancers,
poets, actors, musicians, and jugglers continued to wander in village squares to perform
during the Dark and early Middle Ages
• These performers were eventually welcomed in the castles and chateaus of
feudal lords.
• The common people also amused themselves by doing dances that were social
in character, marking the beginning of social dancing.
 The peasants performed two basic types of dancing: the round dance and the couple
dance. In round dance, dancers hold each other by hand, forming a long chain and
move about in an open or closed circle, or in an extended line. Couple dance, at that
time, was not as popular as round dance as it was considered scandalous when first
seen.
 Nobility soon followed the peasants’ lead in dancing but in a more refined and courtly
form as court dances emerged as part of the chivalric way of life.
 During the Renaissance, dance, and art in general, was wholly accepted and gained
impetus.
• The old restraints were loosened and clerical ideas and purposes no longer
dominate all creative expressions of the human spirit.
• The entertainers now became valuable appendage to the courts of Italy and
France.
 In the 15th and 16th centuries, new court dances in Europe performed by the nobility
came about at about the same time as the rise of the art of ballet in Italy and France.
From then on, several other dance forms continued to sprout and spread across several
countries.
 After the pinnacle of ballet prominence, contemporary dances that were stylistic
variations of ballet emerged and evolved in Europe. Other dance forms also came to
light and have been widely recognized worldwide.
BENEFITS OF DANCE AND CREATIVE MOVEMENT
PHYSICAL
 • Develops cardiovascular and muscular endurance
• Improves coordination, balance, flexibility, and body composition
• Lowers risk of cardiovascular diseases
• Lowers body mass index
• Lowers resting heart rate
• Improves lipid metabolism
• Enables joint mobility (hip motion and spine flexibility)
• Helps improve and maintain bone density, thus helping prevent osteoporosis
• Helps recover coordination and neuromuscular skills after injury
MENTAL/EMOTIONAL
• Helps keep the brain sharp
• Decreases incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
• Decreases depressive symptoms
• Increases self-esteem and improves body image
• Aids in releasing emotional and physical tension
SOCIAL
• Gives sense of togetherness within a group
• Encourages positive social interaction and interpersonal relationship in a group
• Contributes to the individual’s potential for self-actualization in society
CULTURAL
• Promotes cultural values