Dance was born in the earliest human civilisation, it was a ritual celebration ceremony and some cultures also used dance for a healing cremony and telling a story.
There is some evidence regarding the connection between the authentic roots of dance and culture, religion and politics.
Chinese dance has a long recorded history, which tells the story of the Tang Dynasty.
Indian dance has its roots in Sanskrit text and the religious performance arts of Hinduism.
The North American Indians danced for the sun, rain and for a good harvest.
Australian folk dancers imitate the actions of a particular animal in the process of telling a story.
Arabic culture has a traditional dance form which is belly dance. It was a sacred dance in the earliest civilisation. The women in the tribe helped the bearing woman during childbirth with hips movements.
In early European culture, dance was also used for the telling of myths before the production of written language and the Greek philosopher Aristotle ranked dance with poetry.
During the mid-20th century every civilisation preserved its folk tradition by folk dance. Folk tradition which was popular in the country side and in villages included the folk dance form, which presented the folk tradition.
Studies in anthropology have shown that the transformation of dance is dependent upon the culture, religion, society and political situation.
‘The idea of dance as a formalised performance tradition is usually associated with industrial economies, urban societies, and a culture's economically secure or educated classes.’
(Source: New Dictionary of the History of Ideas COPYRIGHT 2005 The Gale Group, Inc.)
The political situation influenced ballet in the 18th century. The glamorous luxury of the French Royal court provided a good foundation for the formation of ballet.
There is further evidence regarding modern dance.
The creation of a new form of dance art such us modern dance formed in Europe after World War I. It is based on ballet but the artist began to appreciate the individuals thoughts, the religion, the emotions and they left the strict rules of ballet behind. It gives freedom and a new form of expression. Modern dance is still very popular and was the foundation of contemporary dance.
In my opinion, dance is everywhere and is for everyone in every civilisation. Every situation provides an opportunity for the creativity, which is the foundation of art. When I take a look at what I have written, I realise that the traditional dance form transformed over the centuries to the perfect physical implementation and that today’s dancers have returned to the authentic meaning and to the communicative dance forms.
It can be concluded that dance is not just for entertaining, it is a reflection of every civilisation and has authentic roots, a history and a future.
