DANCE

What is Dance?
Accoding to American dancer, dance educator, author and film
video producer Barbara Mettler...

“Dance is an activity which can take many forms and fill many
different needs. It can be recreation, entertainment, education,
therapy, and religion. In its purest and most basic form, dance is
an art, the art of the body movement.”

Dance is an act or instance of moving one’s body rhythmically

usually to music: an act or instance for dancing.
 Features of Dance
• Movement of body which includes hands, arm, and head
• Movement from one space to another
 Reasons of People for Dancing
1. To please the Gods
2. To please others
3. To please themselves [self-expression]
4. To build community within an ethnic group
[social interaction]
 Brief History and Nature
of Dance
• People from the prehistoric era performed ways they hoped
would appease the forces of nature or give them new powers
of their own.
• It was only during the pre-Christian era that the real
knowledge of dance came about within the great
Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations.
• Dance became full blown and was richly recorded in ancient
Egypt as reflected in their wall paintings, reliefs, and in the
literary record hieroglyphs.
• The Greek also used dance to aid education in general as
philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates strongly
supported this art as an integration of the body and soul.
• The history of dance transformed following the development of
the Catholic Church, which was by then the sole custodian of
learning and education as well as the source of morals. During
this time, theatrical entertainment was prohibited and dance was
performed only during worships, church services, and religious
ceremonies.
• In the 15th and 16th centuries, new court dances in Europe
performed by the nobility came about at about the same time as
the rise of the art of ballet in Italy and France. From then on,
several other dance forms continued to sprout and spread across
several countries.
• After the pinnacle of ballet prominence, contemporary dances
that were stylistic variations of ballet emerged and evolved in
Europe. Other dance forms also came to light and have been
widely recognized worldwide.
Examples of Dance
Folkdance
Ballet
Ballroom
Hip-hop
Festival Dance
 Benefits of Dance and Creative
Movement
PHYSICAL
• Develops cardiovascular and muscular endurance
• Improves coordination, balance, flexibility, and body
composition
• Lower risk of cardiovascular disease
• Lower body mass index
• Lowers resting heart rate
• Improves lipid metabolism
• Enables joint mobility
• Helps improve and bone density, thus helping prevent
osteoporosis
• Helps recover coordination and neuromuscular skills after injury

MENTAL/EMOTIONAL
• Helps keep the brain sharp
• Decreases incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease
• Decreases depressive symptoms
• Increases self-esteem and improve 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 a group
• Contributes to the individuals potentials for self-actualization in
society

CULTURAL
• Promotes cultural values
Report by Group 1
Aldana May D. Rosalita
Agnes B. Sua
Shenna Ronquillo
Uriel Cody Ronato
Mark Laurence Sandolan

GRADE 12-St. Monica