Purposes of Dance

Three Purposes of Dance: 1. Ceremonial Dance – Dancing to show praise or to commemorate important events. Ceremonial dance is dance preformed through ritual. Example - The Yoruba tribes in Africa who dance for the goddess Osun (or Oshun). Example – Native American dances such as the Eagle Dance, the Bear Dance and the Rabbit Dance. Some ceremonial dances are religious; some are performed for birthdays, weddings or other life- altering events

Three Purposes of Dance: 2. Recreational Dance – A dance to have fun or to socialize. Recreational dance styles change with time, societal structures, and group interests. Examples: Aerobic dance; Line dancing--(Electric Slide or Boot Scootin’ Boogie); Ballroom Dancing– (Waltz, Foxtrot, Jitterbug, Swing, Latin, Cha-Cha, Merenque, and Salsa)

Three Purposes of Dance: 3. Artistic Dance – Movement that is performed to entertain an audience. Example – Ballet, Tap, Modern, and Jazz Any of the recreational and ceremonial dance forms can become a presentational art form. Ballet is a very presentational and precise form of dance. Some ballets express mood while others take on a narrative art form using movement and pantomime to tell a story with beginning, middle and end. Ballet employs the use of costumes, music, sets and characters (but no dialogue).

Three Purposes of Dance: 3. Artistic Dance Cont. Tap is a percussive art form that began as a recreational dance. Jazz grew from the popular music with the same name. The very free-flowing style known as Modern began as a rebellion against the restrictive forms of ballet. Artistic dance allows dance artists to communicate emotion, ideas, information and feelings to an audience.