Kristion Thompson

Prof. Aragon

Dance 101

4/16/23

There are four main social and religious dances. They are war, courtship, work,

and community. Communal dances are usually found in cultures where cooperation is

valued more than today’s competitiveness. Some require complete conformity/unity to

the group. “While they are performing, the dancers are usually synchronized with their

steps and line dancing.” These types of dances are an important way of passing down

the beauty culture to the following generations. The costumes are usually incredibly

detailed, bright, and full of color.

Courtship dancing can appear in many different forms. Examples of the types are

reels, circle dances, and couple dances. Sometimes in these dances, there is flirting

between the sexes. A perfect example of a courtship dance is the Maidens’ Round.

“Young women come in groups and come together and dance in a closed circle, while

men watch from the outside, spoiling the round occasionally when one or another drags

his girl out of the chain. Eventually, the men join the dance, and it then transforms into a

couple dance. The traditional attire for these dances is a colored or white skirt, tall

boots, layered with colored pieces to avoid a large percent of skin showing.
 Work dances are another type of dance but categorized as folk dancing. These

dances “imitate the movements of men and women in their daily work, which bonds

groups of people based on occupation.” There’s an array of different types of work

dances including Slavic wedding dances, and Veracruz Fishermen’s Dance. The attire

for the Fishermen’s dance is best described as, for women, a big white dress with a

rose crown and hints of red near the stomach.

The last two of the four main social dances are war dances. These dances are

characterized by displays of group or individual strength and agility. Many different

cultures participate in the art war dances, therefore the costumes worn vary from culture

to culture. The dances usually involve combat. “Usually in reference to tribal warrior

societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic

warfare.” One example of a war dance is the Sagayan. The Sagayan is a war dance

from the Philippines where the costumes usually consist of weaponry.

Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, is a dance school and company

founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and her husband, Ted Shawn. They were located in

Los Angeles, California. The company was around until 1931.In an article it states,

“Shawn was inspired by American culture, aboriginal, folk, and pop culture. Shawn

wanted people from different ethnic backgrounds to dance. And join his school.” Shawn

also influenced different ethnic cultures into dance and even choreographed dances

that could be done in the churches.

Work cited

https://prezi.com/p/owdga5e6zsyr/communal-dance/#:~:text=Communal%20Dances

%20are%20specific%20to,their%20steps%20and%20lin e%20dancing.

https://mexicocityperambulations.blogspot.com/2017/11/folk-dance-in-mexico-city.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Denishawn-School-of-Dancing-and-Related-Arts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagayan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denishawn_school

https://moderndancepioneers.weebly.com/denishawn.html