College Dance Final

Hora

Israel National Dance. Performed in a circle, often at celebrations.

Savila Se Bela Loza

Serbia. Grapevine like entwined on itself.

Syrtos

Greece. Lead or Pull dance in a circle, often at celebrations.

Tropanka

Bulgaria. “Stamped”

Den Toppede Hone

Denmark. “The Crested Hen”

Pljeskava Kolo

Serbia. “Clapping Dance”

Troika

Russia. “Three Horses”

Les Saluts

French Canada. “From a larger dance called “Le Saratoga”

d’hammerschmiedsgselln

Germany. “The Blacksmith's Dance”

Hukilau

Hawaii. “The fishing Party”

Highlife

Ghana. From a spiritual dance called juju

Gathering Peascods

England. Elizabethan Harvest Dance

Virginia Reel

U.S. Adapted from English country dance “Sir Roger de Coverly”

Alunelul

Romania. “Little Hazelnut”

Korobushka

Russia. “little basket”/ “Peddlers pack”

Ancient Mimetic Ceremonies (Religious worship)

Depended on elements outside themselves

Nature

Rain/weather

changes of seasons

reproduction of animals

Ancient Mimetic Ceremonies (Fears)

Sickness

Death

Hunger

Drought

Storms

Spirits of the dead (human and animal”

Ancient Mimetic Ceremonies objective

Wanted to manipulate/appease/communicate with these unseen forces.

We’re one with the environment.

Observers of Animals/environment. Reproduced individual movements of animals into ritual ceremonies. Reproduced structure of groups of animals

Closed Circle

Most ancient. Possibly from the observation of the sun.

First stage (closed circle)

Entered circle without regard for sex/social position

rotation of circle engendered magic

clockwise masculine/ counterclockwise feminine

breaking the circle let spirits in or out-depending on culture

Second stage (closed circle)

complexity of circle increases-reflects cultural changes

dances for alternating sexes or single sex

movement directions (forward/backward) (weaving in/out)

Double circle- men inside and women outside

fertillity riites/ occupational dances

Chain

From closed circle to broken circle

mimetic of animal formations

traveling allowed magic/goodluck to be distributed over wider are

usually asexual

Processional

Double or single line of dancers

men on one side women on other

Once a complete dance then used to introduce a program of dancing

Originated from 2 tribal customs (cleanse a community after hard winter/ to ensure fertility")

In England moved through the town with May branch or green broom-became Processional Court dance

Music

Early music was non aesthetic and had lack of notation

Improvised and spontaneous

Had magicofuntional purpose to carry out and perpetuate tribal traditions

Rhythms of Primitive Peoples

Found in nature/ environment

seasons

wind

water

Physiological functions (breath and heartbeat)

First percussion instruments

Hands and feet

Grunts and shouts

Evolution of instruments (percussion)

Drums primarily

accompany ritual dances and for communication

rattles, sea shells, twigs, gourds

Wind

flutes, trumpets, reeds

flute and trumpet associated with magicoreligious functions

trumpet for signaling function

String

least developed in primitive cultures

vocal and rhythmic character did not necessitate melody of pitch

cave paintings shows a human in animal skins possibly playing a bow

Cultural Significance

Serious and sacred activity

Basis of survival of the social system

Contributed significantly to the society’s functional and instruments needs

Religion

Pre-Christian era

Egypt-dance an essential part of every religious celebration (death and rebirth rituals) (First to describe dance on paper)

Biblical evidence Old testament-dance for victory or hymn of praise. generally joyous and circular

Education in Greece

Dance a chief branch of education

Plato- “to sing and to dance well is to be well educated”

The Pyrrhic was the great dance of war- accompanied by flute

Sparta- every child over the age of five to learn the Pyrrhic and to practice it in a public space

Philosophy

Terpsichore-muse of the dance

Defined soul as the harmony of the body

Dance was medium through which total integration of the mind body and spirit was achieved

New England

Recommended children learn to dance to learn poise, decline and good manners

John Locke- Nothing appears to me to give children so much becoming confidence and behavior as dancing

Native Americans

war dances/ hunting dances

Health

Preservation of health and power to cure ills through dance rituals common to every culture

The Death Dance among primitives

United rhythmic effort to remove ghost

dust the spirits from the house

quiet emotions

dispel fears of those who remained

Other notions of the Death dance

15th C.Happened only in the minds of medical writers and artists. Paintings and Woodcuts from the era

University of death

Equality of Death

Vanity of wealth and riches

All eventually succumb regardless of cast

Appeared as Skelton as warning of impending death

Hornpipe

Captain Cook required crew to dance

to assure immunity against disease

Tarantella

14th C. Italy

Violent and nervous dance

to relieve tarantula bite

Devil Dances

Drive out ghosts, basis of many funeral dances

San Carlos Apache

“na ih es” girls puberty ceremony

4 holy days after girls power is strong enough to cure the sick

Residual effects of dance has been known to cure aliments such has bow legs

Fertility Rites

Used universally

propagate species (fertility of people)

secure food (fertility of land)

Fertility themes

initiation-youth danced into adulthood

courtship

marriage

birth

Fertility Dances

fertility is abducted by the power generated by encircling a maypole, tree, sword. Passage from one phase to another, transfer of power, purification

Nature and humans were one

Sowing and copulating

germinating and bearing

harvesting and delivering

Rhythm

Regular pattern of movement and sound

relationship between time and force factors

felt seen or heard

Beat

basic unit that measures time

underlying beat- duration of time becomes established by the pulse as it is repeated

accent

stress placed upon a beat to make it stronger or louder that the others

primary accent on first beat of the music

secondary accent not as strong as the primary accent

accent on the unnatural beat makes syncopated rhythm

measure

defined as a group of beats made by the regular occurrence of the heavy accent

represents the underlying beat enclosed by two adjacent bars on a musical staff

meter

defined as the metric division of a measure

division into parts

equal time and value/ regular accents

recognized by listening for the accent on the first beat

Time signature

a symbol that establishes the duration of time

upper number indicates the number of beats per measure

lower number indicates the note value that receives one beat

2/4 two beats to the measure- accent on the first beat- quarter note gets the beat

phrase

musical sentence, can be a group of measures a group of phrases can express a group of complete thoughts

locomotion

defined as movement through time and space. 8 types

walk

even rhythm, steps from one foot to another, weight transferred from heel to toe

run

fast even rhythm, weight is carried forward on the ball of the foot

hop

even rhythm, transfer of weight by springing action of the foot from one foot

jump

even rhythm_, spring from one or both feet and land on both feet

leap

even rhythm, transfer from one foot to the other foot

skip

uneven rhythm step and hop on the same foot

slide

uneven rhythm, movement can go right or left

gallop

uneven rhythm