Tradition in evolution : traces of influences in contemporary dance today

Abstract

"The impulse to move is the raw material that cultures shape into evocative sequences of physical activity that we call dance." Dance is a form of expression which portrays the individual's frame of mind, as influenced by his environment and therefore, his culture. "This phenomenon is universal. Courting and courtly dances; wedding dances and funeral dances; dances to arouse, amuse, or uplift onlookers; dances that appeal directly to the Gods; dances that tell stories. and dances that seek to create a formal beauty that cannot be put into words. There is no end to the variety of purposes to which the dancing body can be put.... " In this dissertation one aspect I will discuss is that of the evolution of new forms of dance which have developed parallel to the growing and ever changing societies shaping different cultures. "Meaning as well as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and one person's shudder of religious ecstasy may be another person's shimmy of sexual abandon. So intensely personal is dance, so closely linked to cultural identity, that when people disagree about the meaning and value of specific dances, the resulting confusion may breed contempt, anger, even violence. To question or belittle other people's dances is to challenge their right to be themselves. As the famous line of W.B. Yeats reminds us "How can we know the dancer from the dance?"