I can say that I’m quite open-minded person and I’m not afraid to try new things, but going to a dancing class that only girls do was something that I never thought that I’d do. I don’t consider myself a good dancer but neither a bad one. As a matter of fact, I really like dancing, especially when I’ve had a few drinks. During the time when I was on the 6th and 7th grade I joined a hip-hop dancing class. My mother wanted me to join a Latin dancing class, but I thought that hip-hop is more for boys. I don’t think of myself as a very masculine boy, but trying to dance a girly dance is against my norms. Nevertheless, after this experience, I realized that the way you dance does not define gender; rather, it’s an art of expressing the way you feel …show more content…
What I had done before was breakdancing, or other styles of hip-hop dancing, but never shaking my hips. What I noticed, was that on the contemporary dancing styles, the woman’s moves are all about shaking your hips and dancing in a sensual way. I think that this comes from the masculine nature of this society. All this dancing moves are the way that men define what’s beautiful and sexy. According to men, that’s how sexuality is expressed on women. All these female dancing styles are to entertain men and their gaze. On the other hand, the hip-hop that I used to dance was different. We had dancing battles between boys and the dances looked like we were expressing aggression and actually fighting, but only through dancing. I think that this is related to the fact that hip-hop originated from the streets, Brooklyn more specifically, and breakdancing was considered as one of the five pillars of hip-hop. It was something created by males, and of course it had to have masculinity in it. On the contrary, the choreography that I danced was more of an R&B, pop, and hip-hop related. I’ve tried that dancing too before but not the woman’s …show more content…
I still think that there’s a huge difference between a girl’s dance and a boy’s dance, and that’s how it’s supposed to be. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me as a male to shake his body like that, as I don’t like it when I see a girl breakdance. This is not only I, and as a part of being a human we have to comfort. Nevertheless this project helped me realize something of a bigger scale. It helped me realize the impact that the society has on even the smallest and random things. Because this society is masculine, the traits that it preaches are transmitted in almost every aspect of our everyday lives. When males dance hip-hop is all about expressing your aggressiveness, because “being a man” means being strong and competitive and “proving” your masculinity and social status through aggressive acts. On the contrary, what’s defined a sexy and seductive by men, is all expressed in the contemporary dance moves by girls. If you watch a concert you’ll definitely see girls either twerking or doing some other sort of sensual dancing through the expose of their body parts. As a conclusion, this project as a whole didn’t make me change my thoughts about dancing, but it did make me think outside the box about the power of the social influence of this patriarchal society. I think it will take a long time until this patriarchal mentality will change. It might take decades or more until every one can
Strictly Ballroom, with a ballroom and romance plot is more difficult to project the male stereotype. However even in this difficulty area, it manages to still capture the following masculine traits – mateship, trivialised larrikinism, physical apperarance, durnkenness, determination to win the ballroom dancing championship using new steps –the macho Spanish pasodoble.
A discourse community is a group of people that are involved in and communicate about a particular topic, issue, or in a particular field. I chose to do my discourse community ethnography on the dance community. The reason why I chose the dance community is because I find it amazing how a group of people can convey an idea or a message without saying a word, just through dancing. The definition of dance is to move rhythmically to music, typically following a set sequence of steps. There are many dance styles from the more traditional like contemporary and hip-hop, to the lesser known like African jazz and waacking.
Jensen, Jill Nunes. "Transcending Gender in Ballet’s LINES." When Men Dance: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders (2009): 118.
There was a collaboration between male and female dancers making dance or show a significant increase. Partnering has become less conventional, utilizing alternate supports in a variety of body orientations (upside down, sideways), with variety also in the energy between the partners which can range from aggressive to sterile.
“The Dancer’s gift” is a love story between a young man and woman, Marcel and Samantha. But this novel was written not only to call feelings about love and passion; the main goal was to introduce students to sociological concepts. Overall, the book includes more than 180 sociological terms that flow with the story and closely connected to happening events. Marcel, a black man, arrives from Martinique (an island in the Caribbean Sea), and Samantha, a rich American girl, meet each other in college and fall in love. Both of them face obstacles in their lives: Marcel was grown up in a poor extended but a friendly family, while Samantha was a daughter of rich but divorced parents. Marcel comes to the U.S. to become a professional dancer, while Sam decided to become an attorney at law just like her father. Being lovers they decide to spend their Christmas holidays together and go to New York. Next holidays they go to Marcel’s homeland, Martinique, where they realize that there lives a woman who is pregnant by him. At that time all dreams of Sam just collapse due to this bitter disappointment, which becomes one of the reasons why they break up. Throughout the story, they both meet with numerous social issues such as education, marriage, gender issue, racism, deviance, divorce, religion, race and ethnicity. In this essay, the three main reasons why this novel is an effective tool for learning sociological concepts will be discussed.
Daly, A. (1989). To dance is "female" dance, sex and gender: Signs of identity, dominance, defiance, and desire. TDR, 33(4), 23-27. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1145961
To begin with, many of the social dances that are popular today are come from dance instruction songs made relevant by popular culture. Dances such as the “Dougie” and the “wobble” have become popularized through the sharing of there accompanying music videos and songs. The music video for the song “Wobble Baby” by V.I.C has over twenty three million views on Youtube. The movement of the “wobble” is a slight lean while slightly bouncing the body up and down. I find the performance of dances at clubs and parties such as the “wobble” to be both embarrassing and entertaining. It was an interesting experience to watch my peers learn the social dances during our hip-hop class. Many of my peers appeared to be very uncomfortable while learning the
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.
I have always been fascinated by the many arts. Around September of last year, I discovered a show that had to do with dancing and singing, which caused me to have a slight interest in the former. In November, my best friend showed me a band that is talented in dancing, and this group has fueled my curiosity. Furthermore, I have already taken a few steps towards learning their dances. I aspire to accomplish the ability to dance because of this group, I am trying to learn the choreography to their songs, and I want to perform in front of people who enjoy watching others dance.
“Sex and the Social Dance” was a streaming video which examined the sexuality of social dances around the world. Regardless of geographical location or decade of popularity, dance conveyed social values. In particular, the sexuality was expressed through physical contact or lack thereof, in the gender roles of the dance, and in the purpose of the dance.
Although she doesn’t like men ogling her classes, Belinda Shakar does not shy away from the sensual aspects of her dance. In fact, that’s what attracted her to belly dancing as a teenager. “I really liked the sensuality of the dance and even the blatant sexuality,” she says. She had been taking traditional dance classes in Los Angeles in hopes of becoming a performer but thought belly dance seemed more interesting than the styles she was learning. She finally switched to belly dance after injuring herself in a ballet class. The accident convinced her that ballet is unnatural: “It distorts the body and torments it. That is still my feeling o...
What Does the Research Evidence on Stability and Continuity tell us About Criminal Behavior? Module 1: Issue Paper 1 By Collin Hill West Virginia University at Parkersburg Professor Wharton Research shows that the study of stability and continuity provides us with important insights into criminal behavior that can be useful in addressing and correcting criminal behavior. As discussed in Wright, Chapter 2, in study after study, the strongest predictor of future criminal behavior is past criminal and delinquent behavior (Wright, J. P., Tibbetts, S. G., & Daigle, L. E., Chapter 2, pg 15). This information is linked in the behavioral concepts of both stability and continuity.
Having been a dancer for several years and a budding fashion designer, it has always eluded me why there is rarely a clear direct link between the two. Occassionally, dance dabbles in fashion, seeping in through sportswear and some flashy television commercials, but it’s rare to find any more depth in it. Fashion appears to found in dance, but most of this comes in the form of costumes for shows. My own experience of semi-professional urban dance styles only touches the surface of dance as a whole, and by no means is a fair representation of it, but it’s enough to have intrigued me to find out more. I hope to look at how dance and fashion compares side by side, looking at the differences and similarites. Why, from my point of view, is there not more of an overlap. I want to explore both, relative to each other utilising my own knowledge of hip hop culture. I expect to touch upon performance and costume, and my research will look into the history and backgrounds of such.
Dancing and music in general have evolved through time. People who danced in style in the sixties would not fit n the generation of the new millennium. As years have passed by, it seems the style of dancing is getting to be dirtier than ever. Parents do not approve of this lifestyle and this way of dance. It is inevitable that dance will change throughout our lives and so will its style. Dancing has changed in relation to music, behavior and time passed.
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”