Dance
Every dance is as unique as every dancer. Every dancer dances differently every time there is a dance. “To dance is human, and humanity almost universally expresses itself in dance,” writes Judith Lynne Hanna in the book To Dance Is Human (1987). She goes on to write, “Dance interweaves with other aspects of human life.” It is a form of communication, prayer, health, expression, art, as well as a way to connect the four aspects of the human being: body, mind, emotions, and spirit. “Dance as an art,” writes Margaret N. H’Doubler in Dance: A Creative Art Experience (1959), “when understood, is the province of every human being.” Therefore, dance is not only a beneficial way to exercise, but it is also a way to understand other forms of movement.
Studying dance is an extensive process that can show much more than written words. Dance is a form of communication that goes beyond words. “Bodies and dance are not only legible but comprehensible,” writes Ellen W. Goellner in Bodies Of Text (1995). Every person, each culture, in different points of time have had a unique expression that could be only understood by the viewer in the moment.
For these reasons, the history of dance is very difficult to document because “its very nature lacks the elements necessary to permanency,” writes Margaret N. H’Doubler in her book Dance (1959). H’Doubler continues in saying, in regard to man in ancient forms of dance, “The autointoxication of rapturous movement brought him into a self-forgetful union with the not-self that the mystic seeks.” Furthermore, she writes, “To him dance was magic motion by which he could influence the great forces of nature around him,” and one of these natural forces included his deities. Through dance he could please the universe and perpetuate joy. For tribal and ancient cultures dance was a projection of “feelings, wants, and needs,” H’Doubler says, thus, for these cultures a dance was an expression of everyday life as well as a way to connect with the gods.
Traditional dance is a spiritual ritual. It is the expression of myth and emotion. There are traditional dances for every season in every tribe. Some traditional dances have made it through the trials of technology. Sufi dancing is a religion based around dancing and singing as a main practice of prayer. African, traditional Mexican, and South American dances are still practiced with the same vigor that they were created with. Also, traditional Indian, Native American, Hawaiian, and Middle Eastern Dances are still very popular. There are folk dances for almost every culture, religion, and tribe.
In the past, “Dancing has been an important component of many religious rituals,” as stated in an article found online at www.erowid.org/spirit/dancing/dancing.shtml. The same article also said that the Christian Bible has evidence of dance as an important part of the religion. The article said, “In the Gnostic gospel ‘Acts of John,’ even Jesus danced and said to his disciples, “To the Universe belongs the dancer. He who does not dance does not know what happens.” Psalm 150, v 4 says, “Praise him with the timbrel and dance.”
In Hindi thought and religion, dance is a form of worship. The deity Shiva has a cosmic dance called nataraj which “expresses the symbolic movements of the universe and the rhythms of ongoing existence,” according to the article published online at www.erowid.org/spirit/dancing/dancing.shtml. In the Middle East, a form of dance called Belly Dancing is practiced in worship and also in events such as weddings, childbirth, and in other rituals.
The religion of the Sufis is based on dance among many other interactive rituals such as music and poetry. Sufis are Muslims who “connect with God through experience” according to the web site www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Music/Dance2.html. One of these experiences is dance. The dance they practice is often called “Whirling Dervishes” and it is connected to a ritual called sema. Rituals and dances such as these are believed to bring the dancers in “closer contact with God,” says the same web site.
There are also many other religious dances such as the Macedonian Folk Dance and the Paneurhythmy dance which is a sacred Bulgarian dance. African dancing is a spiritual dance that focuses on the feet and uses dramatic, high steps as well as jumping to music. It uses drummers and dancers both of which dance. Dan Gorlin wrote in an article called Dance-Drumming (2000), “When Africans dance, they are drumming. When they drum, they are dancing.” Furthermore he says that these dancers exercise the enhancement of “a wide range of physical and mental skills” as well as “an elusive element of spiritual growth.” Such music and dance is the key to being whole and healthy.
Many Native American tribes celebrate dance in their Powwows and Sun Dances. “Dance can be a form of prayer, a way of expressing joy or grief, and a method of becoming closer with man and nature,” wrote a Native American in an article called Native American Dance (2005)that was published online at www.experiencefestival.com/native_american_dance. In ancient times, living and religion was interwoven and religion and dancing were united; life and dance were one and the same.
Traditionally, group or tribal dance has been the ritual of acting out a myth or story that expresses a common or mutual emotion or situation. “Dance is a mythical site where the body speechless, and thus uncorrupted, plays, “writes Goellner in Bodies Of The Text (1995).Therefore, dance is a play or act that tells a myth. A myth can be a ritual explanation of the divine. The dance is an expression or an art, using the body and other material things as the median. However, unlike speaking, Goellner says that “Movement never lies.”
By acting out an expression of any kind with movement, one creates large amounts of mana. This mana is even greater when done by a group of people. When so much mana is in one space, spirits are naturally invoked. Therefore, when indigenous people get together and dance a ritual dance that expresses the feeling of being thirsty and the desire for rain, then the spirit of the rain cannot help but hear the call. If the spirit of rain feels friendly toward the people who are dancing, then the rain will fall.
Dance, done alone, is equally as powerful for the dancer. This type of art turns nothing into something. This transformation may seem purely physical and visual at first, but it affects every level. Art is the impregnation of nothing. What comes out of this impregnation is up to the dancer and to the spirits. Dance is the union and relation between opposites. It brings together the body and the mind, impulse and intelligence, light and shadow, abstraction and nature, sight and imagination, as well as stagnant space and movement of material. When these opposites join, then higher levels are achieved for all aspects of the self.
Our self has many layers, all of which are nourished by dance. Dance also “is a gesture of the whole body which can ally the body with the soul,” the article at www.erowid.org/spirit/dancing/dancing.shtml states. The same article states that dance “is a dynamic tool for awakening and stirring the subtle forces and energies of life.” Furthermore, “Exercise is an ongoing dialogue between mind and body,” writes Eric N. Franklin the author of Conditioning For Dance (2004). Therefore, there is a connection between the body, mind, emotions, and spirit in all forms of dance.
This ultimate transformation and unification of all these aspects is the ultimate goal of not only exercise but of life. It has been said many times before in many ways that life is a dance. Everything is dancing. John Seed said, “We are the stones dancing,” in the book Think Like A Mountain (1988).Without our dance we are nothing but pieces of matter on the earth’s crust. So we begin to think about our actions more when they are a dance. If you realize that every action you perform is part of the universal dance, then you begin to think about each move you make. This requires intention. “Intention is the beginning of every movement,” writes Eric N. Franklin in Dance Imagery For Technique And Performance (1996).Creating art with every motion in every moment will create a unique expression as well as a healthy being. Franklin also writes that dance will allow you to feel “comfortably at home in your body.” When people disregard their dance as merely action or undesired tasks then the dance becomes sloppy and the other dancers are thrown off. In the end, the art becomes ugly and eventually unhealthy.
A dancer walks down the street with elegance and grace. Other dancers notice the beauty he or she walks with and try to add a bit of motion to the dance. Furthermore, the dancer is healthier, not only because he or she went out and danced down the street instead of taking a taxi, but also because every step the dancer took was deliberate, beautiful, and beneficial. Likewise, dancers do not have damaged joints when they grow old because they have alert senses while they move. The attention to movement does not allow the dancer to damage his or her body because that would ruin the dance.
Beyond the base of dance as a universal movement, there are specific dances and styles of dance that when practiced may help a dancer learn how to apply it to everyday movement. The list of dances is as endless as the list of people who dance. The type or style of dance is not important, since every dance is different with every dancer in every moment. No matter how you dance, dancing freely is very important for every type of dancer because, “Technique is not an end in itself; it cannot stand alone, without feeling and expression,” writes Eric Franklin in Conditioning For Dance (2004).Also,Smith-Autard writes in his book Dance Composition (2004) that even the most structured composer must “explore and experiment within a wide range, so that he/she becomes fully acquainted with movement connotations. He/she should, at times, set out to explore a full range of movement without using it in composition, for this enriches movement experience and, inevitably, when starting to compose there is a better basis from which to make a choice of content. While exploring, the composer will consciously or intuitively experience the expressive properties of the movement, and the feel of it will be stored in the memory for future use.” Therefore, every dancer or person who wants to dance must dance in freeform and freestyle to be good at dancing in any form or style of dance.
When dancing freeform or freestyle to music the mind has to pay close attention to the music so that the body can keep up with the rhythm. Freeform is the type of free dancing that is done when a particular dance is done with a particular style and outcome in mind. Freestyle has no restrictions and can involve any motion the dancer wishes and any outcome that fate desires. If dancing a memorized choreographed dance, the dancer has to remember the motions and how they apply to the music. In both cases the mind has to work as well as relax while the body is in motion. Both are beneficial.
Almost any type of dance can become a pathway to the connection and development of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies within yourself. Once you know how to dance in a particular way or to music whether it is improvisational or choreographed, then you can learn to hear music in all sound while you dance throughout life. This path will allow you to be healthy and one with the wholeness of the universe.
“As long as the dance continues, life goes on,” said the article online at www.erowid.org/spirit/dancing/dancing.shtml along with this poem:
Dance, when you’re broken up.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance, in the middle of the fighting.
Dance, in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free. —Rumi
Every spiritual oriented exercise’s main goal is to learn how to do the exercise in everyday life. Therefore, every exercise you can imagine, can be just as spiritual as yoga, Tai Chi, or traditional dancing. There is no reason to limit yourself. On the contrary, once you have learned how to balance the mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies in any exercise, then you can learn how to balance these bodies in every moment.
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