However Copeland’s point is clear There are as many ways to define dance as there are reasons to dance Dance in Society Any time the Village People’s 1970s song YMCA is played at a US baseball game the result is invariably the same A few people roll their eyes some people grin and then even the introverts have their arms in the air shaping the letters as the Village People spell them out in song But if an African tribe watched this show they might stare blankly and wonder what the dancers were doing Styles of dancing differ from culture to culture and they change with the times But one fact remains the same whatever the culture or time may be dance is a part of it Young girls learn a traditional Indonesian dance in Ubud Bali Indonesia 8 ABD_CULT_DANC_FPGS indd 8 10 30 14 2 22
DANCING PLAGUES In 1518 a woman in France began dancing and did not stop for several days More people joined her and by the end of the month there were 400 dancers Strangely no one wanted to dance Many died from the exertion It was only one of several dancing plagues to occur in Europe during medieval times Today scientists think the people might have been affected by a form of mass hysteria Social factors including shared hardships caused the people to join in communal action in this case dancing Dance can formally show social rank as it did in the royal European courts of the 1600s and 1700s Or it may informally establish who is dominant in a community as it did with hip-hop dance battles in the 1970s In some cultures men and women dance separately In these cultures touching one another is taboo In other cultures couples embrace each other tightly What is and is not accepted in a dance reflects a community’s morals and standards And when dances change it is often a sign a culture’s standards are being challenged Ancient Greek Thoughts on Dance Dance has been part of societies for centuries Ancient Greek philosopher Plato envisioned an ideal society He included scientists and other workers as part of his society but he left professional dancers out Certainly the ancient Greeks danced But the Greek myths also told stories of dances gone terribly wrong ABD_CULT_DANC_FPGS indd 9 9 10 30 14 2 22
People dancing for the Greek god Dionysus once went overboard becoming so involved in the dance they became violent Plato charged himself with hammering out the details of what made good and bad dance He approved of war dances and tolerated other secular dances celebrating order and beauty But many Greeks did not want a repeat of the Dionysus debacle so Plato offered some helpful guidelines For example he advised dancers to keep their feet close to the ground instead of jumping around He also claimed dancing in a group was preferable to dancing alone when the lack of peer pressure may cause a person to get a little out of control At Jewish weddings dancing is a religious requirement Becoming an Art The ancient Greeks had their own ideas about dancing as do societies everywhere in the world Styles and standards change but people have used the medium of dance to celebrate and express themselves for centuries People dance at weddings and funerals They dance at religious festivals and before going into battle With time dance 10 ABD_CULT_DANC_FPGS indd 10 10 30 14 2 22
In many cultures it is customary to dance at weddings evolved into a distinct art form In Western culture a good place to begin the story of dance is in Europe during the Renaissance Ballet began in the courts of the European nobility in the 1400s to entertain people at court and allow royalty to impress others Within a few decades ballet moved to professional theaters and evolved so the performances told stories Meanwhile the nobility still desired entertainment so ballroom dances involving couples emerged as a new form of dance ABD_CULT_DANC_FPGS indd 11 11 10 30 14 2 22
