In her article, Embodying Difference, Jane Desmond argues that dance offers important insights into the ways moving bodies articulate cultural meanings and social identities. In other words, she explains the importance of studying the body’s movement as a way of understanding culture and society. She has two main arguments. First, she argues for the importance of the continually changing relational constitutions of cultural forms. Desmond further explains that the key to shedding light on the unequal distribution of power and goods that shape social relations are the concepts of cultural resistance, appropriation, and cultural imperialism (49). Second, she argues that movement needs more attention "as a primary, not a secondary, social text, one of immense importance and tremendous challenge" (49). She argued that because we tend to only rely on texts, art, sometimes music to learn about a culture. Desmond states that "we should not ignore the ways in which dance signals and enacts social identities in all their continually changing …show more content…
I also believe that it is important to study the body’s movement to understand culture and society. For example, if you look at Korean Traditional Dance, viewers can understand how live was in Korea, long time ago. Korean Traditional Dance tries to portray the culture and society through their dance and music. Korean Traditional dancers also wear hanbok, Korean traditional costume, when they dance and play the instruments. Korean Traditional dancers also play the instruments, while they dance to show the audience their dance and music at the same time. The dancers do this so that they can display how what kind of instruments their music is made with. Through Korean Traditional Dance, dancers can show that the way they move their body, it displays their cultural meanings and social
When you are dancing, there are many things you can channel; emotions, memories, people, experiences, stories, the list goes on and on. These properties can be portrayed through movements, facial expressions, and music. Dancing can also portray conflict; such as the conflict between Ponyboy Curtis and Darry Curtis in S.E. Hinton’s beloved novel, The Outsiders. In our dance piece, titled, Hard to See, both the music and movements work in harmony to illustrate Darry and Ponyboy’s maturing relationship.
David Sibley in the essay "Feelings About Difference" (1999), claims that communities are divided based on peoples perceptions of each other, this is solely based on someone's race, religion, gender, and income level. Sibley supports his claims by dedicating his life as a sociologist to the studies of Ecological Self, also known as the study of one's identity. His purpose is to suggest to his readers that it is this way of thinking that shapes one's feelings about where they perceive people belonging in society in order to educate one another to grow and develop new skills, compassion, beliefs and values. The author writes in a formal tone for an educated audience.
After attending a children’s talent show, Sone became enthralled by dancing. So much so that she wanted to take lessons, her mother agreed with her that it was a good idea. Her father had a different opinion, he strongly disapproved as he associated dancing with immoral and scandalous behavior, telling her mother “ ‘I’d die of disgrace if my daughter were to appear that like in public’ (p. 45).” Her life was impacted by his preconceived ideas of what was appropriate for a young girl, and since he was the ‘man of the house’ his ruling was
Dance might be just a movement of a person’s feet and body for others. But to me, it means more than that. Dance is an art, a way of expressing your thoughts through your body involving perfect posture, unstoppable practice, and confidence. Gerald Graff’s, “Hidden Intellectualism” mentions that intellect does not only exist in academic form of thinking. Non-academic subjects should be apart of intellect because knowledge can also take the form of street smarts.
Every day we use our culture. Whether it be to argue claims, express opinions, or make decisions, culture plays a part in each area. Culture is who we are, one’s identity, its extent is enormous over our views and actions. A person grows up surrounded with culture at a young age. This can affect how they learn and what they learn.
“[My dance instructor] Cindy believed that ballet was richer when it embraced diverse shapes and cultures. There would be times in my career when I would struggle to remember that, but I would eventually come back to that conviction, that the stage on which I performed was brighter for having me, even if some in the audience or dancing beside didn 't always agree” (“Misty Copeland
A local Northwest Coast dance company, Dancers of Damelahamid, will facilitate day three (Dancers of Damelahamid, 2012). It will take place inside the school’s gym, where they will demonstrate the one of their dances and song for the students. After the performance, the members of Dancers of Damelahamid will educate the students on what the importance of dance is for them, the history of specific dances, as well as the symbolism behind the specific moves they had performed. Indigenous cultures use their varieties of dance to convey different emotions and stories, they use them to connect themselves to their community, nature and spirituality. These dances are more than just movements, they are an expression of their culture, a projection of their hardships and what they have been through in their
No other choreographer of African-American decent in his time could be even slightly comparable to Ailey’s success. The style of ballet and modern dance were predominately domain to white choreographers and performers. Even today, to some extent, they still are. Ailey was one of the first to modify the norm by inspiring multiethnic dance opportunities.(11) Ailey’s goal as a choreographer was not only to place emphasis on black culture, but moreover to completely remove the idea of colour itself.
To dance is to be knowledgeable about the stories of the ancestral heroes. Dancing, unlike painting and singing, is learnt at an early age. This allows large groups of people to demonstrate their clan rights in front of an audience. Dance is also seen as an occasion to entertain and to be entertained and through the work of dance to show their love for families and kin. It is for this reason that dance may be performed at the end of every day in some communities.
A dance film, on the other hand, employs dance as a main character with a more pivotal role in the transformation of the protagonist. Thus, in Shall We Dansu?, because it is an active force in the narrative with human-like characteristics, such as being shrouded in shame, ballroom dance becomes an initiator of intimacy. In Salsa and DanceSport, McMains explains Mexican-American Giselle Fernandez’s need for a creation of an alter ego despite already being
Throughout her lifelong anthological studies and dance performances, Dunham has shown to be responsible for the exposure and establishment of dance as a cultural topic of anthological
Sampson Paquette Professor Edwards ENGL101C 9-13-2016 The Dance The essay: “Silent Dancing” By Judith Ortiz Cofer reflects on the transitional period in her life where herself and her immediate family made the move from Puerto Rico to the Big Apple, otherwise known as New York city. The timeline for the essay was set in the 1950’s where cultural fusion and blatant racism ran rampant in the streets.
“Artworks have ‘aboutness’ and demand interpretation” (Barrett 71). This statement creates a foundation for writing, specifically about dance, as each dance piece is always about something, no matter how simple it appears to be. As I began to write about dance I knew not only to provide a description of the piece, but utilize the description as evidence as I develop a possible meaning. Additionally he explains, “There can be different, competing, and contradictory interpretations of the same artwork” (Barrett 73). When I would begin to develop an explanation from the description I provided, I had to remind myself that my interpretation was only one view of the dance and I should not try to provide one comprehensive interpretation for the
European colonialism in Africa was a violent process of exploitation and dominance in the political, social, and cultural sphere of native society. Pop culture music and dance are dynamic social products that provide insight into the shifting sociocultural formations of a society. Through this analysis of pop culture I will discuss the classist social hierarchies established by colonialism and defined power by proximity to whiteness. I will explore native actors’ response to colonial social hierarchies in their alliances or resistance to colonialism and their influence on music and dance styles. Finally, we will evaluate ways in which music and dance are forms of resistance that challenge the status quo in colonial societies.
The dancers were observed to be full of energy which showed through their movements and dancing. Every movement was sharp and clean. Furthermore, the action portion of the basic dance elements was seen through the dancer’s basic movements that turned into dancing. For example, in one scene, the actor jumped off the table and broke into a little skip-glide dancing movement.