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Traditional African religion and culture
Short note about african culture
Traditional African religion and culture
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While watching the African dance, Malinke Harvest Dance, I saw the dancers embracing their culture through their movements and the music. I enjoyed how the dance felt like a community affair. The dancers movements embodied the musicians playing, including everyone in the celebration; children, musicians, and the women. In each dance, the dancers would isolate their rib cage and move their arms in circles faster when the tempo of the music increased. Thus, this meant that the dancers would perform faster motions when the tempo would increase in the music. This was a direct correlation that I noticed throughout each set of dances. Also, each dance would start out slow through each dancer coming in with hand movements of step-touches. This was
“Who knows only his own generation remains always a child.” This quote from George Norlin echoes the edification that cultural exposure can offer. How does African dance relate to do modern dance? The two are so heterogeneous in their make-up that one would not think of them as having similarities. The truth, however, is that all dance forms are linked in some way or another; they all strengthen and sharpen each other. Modern dance has its roots in African dance with the emphasis placed on the connection of weight and gravity. Brenda Dixon Gottschild names five aesthetics that are present in African dance. A particular piece that draws attention to the relation of the five aesthetics to modern dance is “Split Sides”, choreographed by Merce Cunningham.
Every dance that is created by a choreographer has a meaning and or purpose behind it. The dance choreographed could be used to send a political, emotional, or a social message. Regardless of the message being sent, each dance created possesses a unique cultural and human significance. This essay will examine and analyze two dance works from history and give an insight into what each dance work provided to the society of its time.
Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
To conclude, one can say that dancing has been a true life saver for some of them because not only is it allowing them to express themselves but it also gives them another option than just being a gang member. Dancing also helps them express their passion for the art and it a form of spiritual connection, while connecting them to the African culture. They relieve all their stress and anger through dancing. Lastly, dancing give them a sense of pride and hope that life could get better with hard work and perseverance.
As a society, we are constantly pairing things together in hopes of enhancing them: apple pie and ice cream, Indians and cowboys, and most relevant to this paper, music and dance. In an art form like ballet, it seems as though music and dance complement each other equally. Truly, it is hard to picture, or perform, a dance without music. However, this may not be the case for music, even if that music is composed specifically for a dance routine. The compilation of the music and the dancing from a scene in the American cowboy ballet Rodeo will be examined to ultimately help us understand they way in which they serve each other as a unit and their ability to function independently.
Ramsay, B. (2000). Dance theory, sociology, and aesthetics. Dance Research Journal, 32(1), 125-131. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1478286
Brief History From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern: the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art of the cuisine so treasured and carefully transmitted to their daughters has become part of the great culinary classics of these lands. But seldom are the African blacks given that recognition.
Native American Ritual Dancing “It has often been said that the North American Indians ‘dance out’ their religions” (Vecsey 51). There were two very important dances for the Sioux tribe, the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance. Both dances show the nature of Native American spirituality. The Ghost Dance and the Sun Dance were two very different dances, however both promote a sense of community.
[6] Cohen, Selma Jeanne. International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
New Dance is described as a developing art form; this dance was articulated in the early 20th century. According to Chapter 8 in History of Dance book, “the new dance emerged as a response to the ballet that populated the variety shows and music halls, which had a rigid formula of steps and poses” (Kassing). The New Dance was a product of several strands that interlaced together dancers’ studies and backgrounds; these strands and others were woven together in a historical, political, and societal framework. For instance, one strand of New Dance consisted of the concepts, techniques, costumes, and stage settings from around the world. These strands influenced major dancers and choreographers, such as, Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn.
With our country in such disarray racially and politically, the image of African American women raising their fist really spoke to me. Using the fist as my motif, I spent a lot of time experimenting with movement that could be done while holding a fist. In hopes to avoid my choreographic habits I tried to reflect on the Martha Graham’s Lamitations piece I viewed earlier this week. Her movement was so simple, which was what I tried to reflect in my original piece. However I took the simplicity without the development. Unlike Martha I lost growth and improvement in my dance. I just repeated the same motif over and over. Ironically I was moving not only in my preference but I was being a lazy choreographer. In pursuit of being abstract by give
With the themes of different types of dance styles discussed and the history behind dance, we can see how dance has evolved over time. I feel that elements of blackface minstrelsy and African dance forms has increased my knowledge of dance. These two styles of dance were emphasized in this course that wasn't discussed in other dance classes I have taken in the past. Thus, learning these styles specifically help me connect the different dance styles together to understand the history of them and their influences in dance culture. Some elements that I felt were important to help me understand the blackface minstrelsy module were the influences of African American culture in the dance world. Some dances like the jig and the ring shout are similar
Whether we notice it or not any movement can be considered dance. Walking the dog, mowing the grass, or even brushing one’s teeth require movement. At first observation, a child swinging on a swing or a mother cooking spaghetti are not forms of dance by any chance. If the observations of a child on a swing and the observation of a mother cooking spaghetti are carefully analyzed, they will both contain space, time, and energy. If the movement has space, time or energy, then the movement can be considered dance. The movement does not have to be performed a certain way, but as long as it has those three elements, any observation can be
Dance was also a big part in the music of West Africa. Dance was performed at ceremonies surrounding fertility, death, worship, adulthood, and other kind of certain concerns of the village.
“Dance has no language”- it is often said at the concerts and festivals. Indeed, in order to understand the beauty of the dance and what dancers want to express you do not need to know particular language, so Kazakhs, Russians, Koreans, Germans, Chinese etc. will perceive dance performance in the same way. Traditional dance involves not only dance performance, but traditional national music, costumes and attributes as well. So, through the traditional folk dances people can get acquainted with one or another’s culture. However, according to Bridget Rose Nolan (2008, 8) the nature of the traditional dances are very complex, and the question about to what extent such dances are traditional is arguable. She states that “dance is arguably one of the hardest forms of cultural expression to pass from one person to another unchanged, let alone from one generation to another through hundreds of years”. As Brennan (1999, 15)said “dance is, by its nature, ephemeral”. Brennan points that traditional dance itself underwent the process of evolution. Nevertheless, culture is learnt, so it can be changed and it changes slightly from one generation to another, and traditional dance as a part of culture changes as well. This will not be the eradication of culture. Therefore modern traditional dances can be regarded as part of culture and they can be considered as the way to understand particular culture. This paper is focused on this way, to be precisely, how traditional dances affect the understanding of culture. Firstly, the research problem will be described. Then essay will proceed to the description of the practical part, particularly, of the fieldwork, methods and expectations of the participant observation. Furthermore, there will be an an...