Dance Focuses on the Human Form in Time and Space

JM Nelson: HUM1020Dance Terms

DANCE

•Dance communicates ideas

•Dance focuses on the human form in time and space

•Scholars maintain that theatre in ancient Greece developed from ancient tribal dances

•Dance also represents a social activity

•In this context we limit ourselves to performance

•In Theatrical Dance- Dance is an art form that involves:

*performer

*performance

*audience

•This discussion concerns itself with five forms of dance:

*Ballet

*Modern

*Ritual

*Folk

*Jazz

BALLET DANCE

•Reduction of human gesture to bare essentials, heightened & developed into meaningful patterns

•Great choreographer, George Balanchine, saw single steps of a ballet as analogous to single frames in film

•Ballet is a set of formalized movements-

•All emanate from five basic leg, foot, and arm positions

•Fifth position is the most frequently used of the five basic ballet positions

•Necessary to the female dancer’s footwork is dancing on point in specialized toe shoes

MODERN DANCE

•Revolt against the stylized & tradition-bound elements of ballet

•Exploration of natural, spontaneous, & uninhibited movement

•Narrative elements are less emphasized

•Rejected conventions of ballet: feet are bare

•There is a pronounced use of the floor in the choreography, whereas in ballet it is merely a springboard for leaps and jumps

•Martha Graham: 1893-1991. Graham contributed more to the art of modern dance as an innovative choreographer and teacher than any other individual. Her technique was rooted in the muscular and nerve-muscle responses of the body to inner and outer stimuli. She created the most demanding body-training method in the field of modern dance.

RITUAL DANCE

•Dances have ceremonial functions important to one specific group

•With formal characteristics

•Particular prescribed procedures passed from generation to generation

•Center around topics important to single cultures

•Sacred- never performed for others

•Theatrical- involves cultural communication

FOLK DANCE

•Does not spring from the action of an artist or group

•Developed over period of years, passed from one generation to next

•Exist more to involve participants than to entertain an audience

•Members of the group experience a sense of oneness, and feel a part of the larger group- whether in conscious strength, purpose, or heightened power through collective dancing

JAZZ DANCE

•Arises from jazz music & African-American tradition blended with European elements

•Improvisation: dancers create the movement during the dance, all or parts of the piece not choreographed beforehand

•Syncopation: accents on unanticipated or off beats in the rhythm

•Fusion with modern dance & Broadway style

•Jazz tap is one of the early forms

ELEMENTS OF DANCE

Dance focuses on the human form in time and space. The moving image created by the dancer utilizes common art elements:

•Line- the dancer’s movements form lines in space that have specific intentions & create specific moods:

-horizontal lines indicate calm, repose

-vertical lines give an impression of grandeur, elegance, strength

-diagonal lines create action, movement

•Form- 3-dimensional moving form or shape

•Repetition- dancers move through time, repeating movements and creating variations

•Rhythm- there is a relationship of the dance to the music. Sequences of long and short motions occur which are highlighted by accents. Dance rhythms are seen as spatial arrangements; we can also perceive rhythmic relationships in the dynamics of dancers’ energy levels.

•Mime & pantomime-

Mime: bodily movement that suggests the kinds of movement we associate with people or animals

Pantomime- narrative elements appear in dance, and the dancer actually portrays a character in the theatrical sense

•Theme & purpose

Dance communicates ideas in different styles for different purposes:

1) Narrative- this style tells a story

2) Abstract ideas- this style relates to human emotion or the human condition. It includes psychology and behavior, social themes, impressions of poetry or other literature, and religious or folk themes

•Costume- costume, as in theatre

-can represent the story line or be neutral

-must allow dancer to accomplish the choreography

-can be an integral part of the piece

-Footwear- on point (toe shoes), tap, ballet slippers, street shoes or bare-foot are part of the costuming

•Symbols-

•A universal set of body language symbols exist often as gestures

•Dancers employ universal symbols that appeal to our senses

•There is a set of symbols or gestures that are common to most human communication

•Conventions of sign language may be used

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