Looking at Dance

1. Chapter 1: The Power of
Dance
Looking at Dance
Summer 2016 Online Course
Professor Zdrojewski

2. Something to think about...
• Think of the words POWER and DANCE. What words/ images come to
mind when you think of those two words? Are they connected? Why or
why not?
• As you read over these notes/ watch my lecture and look back on this
chapter, I want you to think about ways you can find connections
between power and movement, or dance, that perhaps you were
unaware of previously.

3. The Power of Dance
• Dance is one of the most powerful forms of human expression, and
therefore it is one of the most powerful forms of communication.
• Through movements of the human body, dance conveys the whole range
of human emotions; tells stories and strengthens, disciplines and
refreshes the whole person.
• For many of the world’s people, dance also has the power to heal, to
provide salvation, and to invoke and appease deities (gods/ goddesses).

4. Brief Overview on the Power of Dance
• The two major elements that make dance uniquely powerful are its full
use of the person (the body) and its ability to serve societies in many
important ways. Any definition of dance should incorporate both its
physical and social/ cultural functions.
• Questions to Consider:
1. What service does dance provide society in America today?
2. If you had to define dance, how would you do it?
*At the end of this powerpoint presentation, please answer each of these questions in 2-3 sentences
in the quiz section of Week 1. Other questions may appear in the presentation, but do not need to
be formally answered in writing.

5. Dance and the Power of the Human Body
• The human body is unique in its ability to choose to move freely in a way
that has meaning, and in its ability to give meaning to whatever
movement it creates.
• Other art forms, such as painting, sculpture, and poetry, are at least one
step removed from immediate experience. They have a creative output,
but the medium isn’t the body itself (like with painting and the canvas).
• In dance, the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual powers of the
body are evident in a single act.

6. Dance and the Power of Religious Worship
• Dance, as exemplified in religious worship, displays of power, rites of
passage, courtship or dating, celebrating and entertainment, is a primary
form of communication in most societies.
• Think for yourself: Is this true in our society?
• What types of dance (or movement) are we seeing in religions, dating or
even wedding ceremonies?

7. Dance and the Power of Social Practice
• Dance is inherently social, and it reflects a society’s views about life- ideas
about the body, relationships between men and women, relationships
among age groups and classes, relationships to deities and so on.
• Between cultures, dance can be an important means of mutual
understanding once cultural biases have been set aside.
• Think for yourself: Compare how men/women dance with one another in
your age group versus that of your grandparents. How do these images
reflect the culture of that time?

8. Dance and the Power of Tradition
• Dance has the power both to conserve and expand culture, keeping a
society’s traditions alive while adapting to new realities.
• In this way dance sustains the integrity of culture in a turbulent world of
high-speed, high-impact change. Through the traditional Bhangra, a
farmers’ dance from the Punjab area of India, for example, Punjabis living
in England are able to keep their Punjab identity and culture alive.
• To Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwisELhLWrk
^ Traditional Bhangra Dance

9. Dance and its Unique Power
• Human movement that can be called dance is extremely varied- from simple hand gestures to
complex ballets, to masses of people swaying in rhythm at a rock concert or at a religious
service.
• There is no shortage of definitions but few, if any, manage to convey the feeling of a person
who has been seized by the power of dance and has transcended the limits of his or her own
body and entered a state of ecstasy.
• To Watch: How is this similar/ different from what you perceive to be traditional Western American
dance?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Erbp1Isk96M
^^ Aspara Dance Royal Ballet of Cambodia

10. Something to think about… Part 2
• As you read through the notes, and watch some clips of traditional dance
from other parts of the world, where did you find evidence of power?
• What experiences from your own life are similar to those you witnessed?
• Why do you think that dance is an art form found in all societies?
Remember!
• Powerful elements, or lenses, include bodily movement, religious
worship, social participation or practice, and tradition. You can view
dance through any of these elements, or lenses.

11. Power of Dance Vocabulary to Know
Words that would be helpful to know:
• Bhangra: A farmers’ dance of the Punjab region of India
• Choreography: The arrangement of movement in dance
• Cultural Identity: The orientation of the self in regard to familial or ethnic
group, class, nation or ideology with a resulting feeling of close emotional
association
• Gesture: The use of motion of the limbs or body as a means of
intentional expression; movement of body or limbs that symbolizes or
emphasizes an idea, sentiment or attitude.