Many people do it without ever asking what is the basic meaning of dance? Where did it begin, and how did it develop into the art form that it is today? I did a little research and came up with some answers and information:
Wikipedia gives us this definition of dance
"Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music,used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting."
Dance can be participatory (seen a lot at weddings-such as the macarena or the chicken dance), social (square dancing or swing dancing) or performed for an audience. We will be focusing on performance dancing on this website. Performance dancing then breaks off into mulitple styles from classical to hip hop-and then breaks off into even more specific categories like ballet & ballroom in the classical style; and break dancing and krumping in the hip hop style. Performance dance can also be separated into solo dances, partner dances, and group dances.
Dance can embody or express ideas, emotions or tell a story. While dancing is considered an art form it also requires athleticism, flexibility and physics. All parts must work together to support the aesthetics of the movement.
No one knows exactly when dance began, but it has been a part of rituals and ceremonies since prehistoric times as evidenced by the 9,000 year old Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from circa 3300 BC. People all around the world have used dance for many different kinds of ceremonies and many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial, and ethnic dance.
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