Wednesday, March 16, 2011

assignment 6

1.  The Baroque period of dance lasted from 1600-1750.  Baroque dances are historical dances that are derived from the Portuguese word borroco.  It is a theatrical and social dance of Europeans upper class.  The dance was characterized by dynamic movement, overt emotion, and self-confident rhetoric.  Baroque dancing includes both ballroom dancing and ballet.  This type of dance expressed grandeur, sensuous richness, drama, vitality, movement, tension, and emotional exuberance.  Even though there are no words in the music that is playing to accompany the dancers, the movement of the dances is what speaks to the audience and expresses all these emotions and feelings.  Baroque dancing has a tendency to blur distinctions between various arts.       

In this segment from the baroque dance of Gavotte and from Atys, you can see two girl dancers dressed in old fashion European dresses dancing to classical music.  They are dancing simultaneously and side by side.  The mode and moves of the dance are very elegant.  They both have smiles on their faces, making this a happy dance.  Even though the music does not have words the moves and facial expressions of the dancers is what carries the mode and tone of the dance.

2.  People dance because it is fun and a way that they can express themselves.  One of the biggest aspect of dance is music.  In several forms of dance dancers are accompanied by music.  People love to listen to music and dance allows people to not only listen to music but watch people move with the music.  The moves that dances do are what allow them to express themselves and tell a story.  Dance is not only fun to do but very entertaining to watch.  Nothing is more impressive than watching a group of dancers engage in the same moves at the same time.  Dance is also a good was to get in shape and workout.  Dance is a big part of social entertainment and usually occurs at events such as weddings.  Dance has become very popular to our culture and is not only performed in shows, but also in movies and on television shows.  Dance has grown and changed so much over time, that it is very fascinating to learn and watch different types of dance.  Finally, dancing makes people happy and can bring joy to people’s lives whether they are involved in it or watching it.


This youtube clip is from the show Dancing With The Stars.  Mario Lopez and his professional dancing partner dance the tango.  In this dance you can see the passion by the looks on their faces and how close they get to each other.  Their moves are very sharp and concise.  This is a very entertaining dance to watch and the moves look very complicated.  But, the show Dancing with the Stars shows how dance is so popular in our society.  This show makes these couples dance all kinds of dances like ballroom, tango, jazz, hip hop, and the quick step.  This allows America to see all different types of dances and how much work dance truly takes.  We do not forget about the dances that have gotten dance where it is today, This show wants to challenge these dances to be diverse dancers.
3. 


Butoh is a type of dance that we as Americans are not use to seeing.  The movements are not smooth and composed.  The Butoh dancers appear to look scary and unnatural.  But, we have to realize that this is a different type of culture and this is how they express their emotions and feelings.  In this youtube video a man is moving his body all throughout the dance and really showing off his strength.  The music that is in the background is rather upbeat and the man is even smiling.  While the man looks unhealthy and scary, this dance is supposed to be parsing.

Non Western dance form are from the continents of Asia, Africa, South America, and countries in the Middle East whereas western dance are from Europe.  Butoh is a “dance of the dark soul” that started in 1959.  It is an experimental Japanese dance characterized by emotional insanity.  The dance can incorporate grotesque images and the setting of the dance can be in absurd environments.  One physical appearance that classifies this dance is the white make up that the dances have to wear.  This dance was created to attribute to the Japanese legends Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno.

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