BRIEF HISTORY

and NATURE of DANCE

What is DANCE?
Dance differ from athletics or other
daily activities because it focuses
primarily on an aesthetic or even
entertaining experience. ( Myers,
2005)
Dance is a performing art form
consisting of purposefully selected
sequences of human movement.
 Before man can do anything, he must draw breath,
he must move. Movement is the source and condition
of life. To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more
beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on
earth and it is yours for the taking.

-- Agnes de Mille (1963)

Different types of dance
 People dance for four reasons;
1. To please the Gods
2. To please others
3. To please themselves
4. To build community within ethnic
group or social interaction
 Brief History
and
Nature of Dance
Do you know where dances came from?
• Dance can be seen among all the people
and civilizations of the world?
• Dances thrived at different period of
history and mostly were a result of
intercultural exchange and contact.
( Alejandro and Santos-Gana, 2002)
• The origin of dance are rooted in the
prehistoric past
• Dance has been a major form of religious
ritual and social expression within
primitive cultures.
• It was used as a way of expressing and
reinforcing tribal unity and strength, as an
approach for;
 courtship and mating
 worship
 communication
 Therapeutic experience
• Dance during prehistoric time have not
yet been fully recorded.
• Pre-Christian the real knowledge of
dance came about within the great
Mediterranean and Middle Eastern
civilization.
• Dance became full blown and was
richly recorded in ancient Egypt.
 Benefits of Dance and Creative Movement

– Dancing is one of the oldest and most

popular forms of exercise.
– Several forms of dancing are considered
aerobic since they entail about an hour
od continuous exercise, choreographed
to music. (Fine, 1981)
 PHYSICAL
• Develop cardiovascular and muscular
endurance.
• Improves coordination, balance, flexibility,
and body composition.
• Lowers risk of cardiovascular diseases
• Lowers body mass index
• Enables joint mobility
• Helps improve and maintain bone density
 Mental / Emotional
• Helps keep the brain sharp
• Decreases incidence of dementia and
Alzheimer’s disease
• Decreases depressive symptom
• Increases self-esteem and improves body
image
• Aids in releasing emotional and physical
tension
 Social
• Gives sense of togetherness within a
group
• Encourages positive social interaction
and interpersonal relationship in group.
• Contributes to the individual’s potential
for self actualization in group.
 CULTURAL
• Promotes cultural values
 “DANCE IS FUN! IT LIFT
THE SPIRIT,
STRENGTHENS THE BODY,
AND STIMULATE THE
MIND”

--Wayne Sleep (1986)

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Product A Product B
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• Feature 2 • Feature 2
• Feature 3 • Feature 3