Ancient Egyptian Dance Culture - Article Example

s 8 May, Ancient Egyptian Dance culture 3000-0 BC and its relevance with modern dance traditions Ancient Egypt is a northeastern African civilization dating from 3000 B.C to 0 B.C. Egyptian civilization covered three periods, the Old Kingdom (3000-2100 BC), the middle kingdom (2100-1545 BC) and the new kingdom (1545-1200 BC). This paper analyzes the culture and dance styles that prevailed during all three stages of ancient Egyptian civilization and will also provide details on the comparison with modern dancing culture prevailing today. Being one of the earliest civilizations to grace the face of earth, Egyptians are considered as one of the most cultured nations. Egypt’s ancient era was a one of its kind civilization and the uniqueness lies in the versatility and richness of its culture. The standards of culture and social environment in ancient Egypt have always been very high, although discrimination existed but only on the basis of ranks not gender, quite unlike other ancient civilizations. Women were highly respected and enjoyed freedom and equal rights. They also were eligible to be heir to the throne. So Egyptians have in their own way educated the modern world on how to organize and manage society and proper treatment of women. In ancient Egypt, people were very religious minded. They had unflinching faith on their gods and goddesses and made them a part of their everyday life. Logic was rejected and they believed in the power of magic rituals. Their religious practices were linked to movements of celestial bodies like the sun, the moon, the planets and its constellations. They instantly adapted to foreign deities too. Amun-Re, Osiris and Isis were some of the most revered religious deities (Fleming and Lothian). In the field of literature, this culture was very rich. The text on pyramids walls and the inscriptions on the tombs were the earliest evidence in this regard. Arts in ancient Egypt existed for merely religious, symbolic or magical purposes and not to satisfy artistic expressions. For instance, Pharaohs were always drawn bigger than other human figures symbolizing their high stature in society. In the field of science, they invented the clock to keep a track of time; they also created the 365 days calendar. They were a nation dedicated to mathematics’ practical application and no other abstract concepts. Medical science was given a whole new dimension in this era with the mummification of corpses being a famous ritual in ancient Egypt. A part from the construction of the world’s biggest monumental buildings i-e the pyramids achievements like novel construction techniques, an effective system of medication, a mathematics system namely obelisks, the first ever ships, irrigation techniques and world famous music and dance forms are also some important contributions of this civilization. Egyptian culture is recognized as “the first great culture to infuse its entire society with the magic of music and dance” (Sayre and King). Dancing undoubtedly was the most favored activity both indoor and outdoor. The walls of ancient Egyptian temples and tombs depict a variety of dancing styles and also describe the time, event and purpose behind each style. Elizabeth Artemis Mourat, performer and dance scholar, has categorized these dances into six types: religious dances, non-religious zombie dances, banquet dances, harem dances, combat dances and street dances. ("Ancient Egypt") The dancers used to either dance solo, in pair or within a group. Pairing was done with two males or two females. Group dancing was performed in two styles one comprised of individual movements and transmitted a theme or spontaneous expression of an idea while in the other style repetitive circular movements were executed by pair of dancers. Nudity was a common feature in Egyptian dancing attires and mostly they preferred to wear chunky jewelry and short skirts. Women dancer wore long loose robes created from a fine transparent material to permit the observance of their figure and movements of limbs. Dancing originated during the old kingdom with the women in harems who danced to entertain themselves and gradually transformed into a public expression of emotions. Tom Turner sketched a scene of a 3000 BC Royal Harem as “Here food was prepared, cosmetics applied and the days and evenings were spent singing, dancing and telling stories” (Turner). The turf dance of the Old Kingdom was, in most cases, performed by a pair of men. The Egyptians danced within the temples to honor their deities and outside them during religious festivals. They didn’t consider it incompatible with the dignity of religion. Graceful attitude and gesticulations dominated this dance style and specialized groups performed dances known as “the acacia house”, the MWW dancers and the dancing dwarfs. The Dwarfs danced only at the entrance of the shaft and were considered a rare and prized possession. Mostly dances were performed during the funerals to celebrate the regeneration of the dead body soon after mummification. It was termed as the offering table dance. During the Middle kingdom, dancers started performing acrobats in funeral processions. There is also authentic information provided by researchers on Egyptology that during this era and in new kingdom women mainly at Thebes started performing at social and private events. They worked as dancing girls, musicians and acrobats (Olsen). Tombs of the middle kingdom depict scenes where funerary dances were performed in honor of Hathor (the goddess of drunkenness). The common dance styles were hbi (acrobatic), rwi (runaway) and ksks (twist). Festive dancing took place only at important festive occasions like Sed-festival, Valley festival, Opet feast, Feast of Min and Nile Flood feast. Dramatic dances served as a platform for religious education for their younger generation. Irena Lexová describes ancient Egypt’s dancing techniques during the Middle kingdom as “The dance consisted of a succession of figures in which the performer endeavored to exhibit a great variety of gestures. Men and women danced at the same time but women were preferred for their superior grace and elegance. Some danced to slow airs, adapted to the style of the movements, other preferred lively steps regulated by an appropriate tune” (Lexova). Their dances were accompanied by music which consisted of several instruments like tambourine, pipe, guitar, harp, lyre and lute etc. While at some dancing occasions mostly religious, only clapping of hands, snapping of fingers or just beating of the drums was enough to create enchanting music. During this era dancers started performing acrobats which is described by Ana Ruiz as “the dance itself was highly acrobatic and quite complex, choreographed with cartwheels, somersaults, leaps, hand-stands, backbends, twirls, splits and pirouettes” (Ruiz). Irena Lexova described the body movements of Egyptian dancers as more complex than the traditional belly dancing "the movements of the trunk may be classified from the technical point of view into forward inclines, reclines, sideways inclines, hip, belt, waist and shoulder circulation. Dancers can combine these movements and execute them whilst keeping their spines stiff or accompany them by bending the spine forwards or backwards. Having regard to the manner of execution, one could distinguish movements performed at a normal speed from swings and retarded movements". The dancers were familiar with a wide range of movements: all types of jumps, hops and ballet-style pirouettes. They used simple walking, vigorous walking, Stamping, running, short hops, or leaping. (Harding) Banquet dancing was evident during the new kingdom and the scenes on the Bani-Hasan tomb authenticate this fact. This era was where the ancient Egyptian dancing grew more sophisticated and was influenced by foreign invasions on Egypt. The dancing for Hathor during new kingdom was characterized by skipping and leaping. The groups of funerary dancers were also a common factor of all three stages of Egyptian dancing. Wonderful dancing scenes are depicted on various carvings concluding that dancing was an important element in ancient Egyptian culture and an integral part of their everyday life. Music and dance are said to be part of performing arts but for Egyptians it was not a part of life, it was life itself. Egypt’s culture certainly is a very colorful and vibrant one which we can relate to our modern times too. If we try to analyze their dancing patterns and culture from the one prevailed in west and even from our own age then there are many similarities and differences at the same time. Many of their dancing postures do not differ from our modern ballet. The scenes on the walls of the tomb of Kagemni depicting women performing pirouettes can be related to our modern times ballet techniques as well (Gadalla). Their dancing was rather complex and the way they used different props like cartwheels and backbends show how seriously they intended to improvise and enhance their dancing skills. This feature of their dancing can be related to our new age dance training exercises too. They used it to express their feelings especially of joy or sadness, which is more or less the same reason we dance for today. The entertainment provided by professional dancers at parties and banquets is a similar cultural activity observed in this era too. The one noticeable difference between todays dancing and that of ancient Egypt’s preferred style is that it was a uni-sex dancing. There were no mixed genders pairing for dancing which is the most common universal theme for dancing now. Belly dancing which is so popular today also stemmed from the different poses and postures depicted on the ancient Egyptian relics. Another difference is that the dances during that era was mostly gestural and symbolized some particular timeline and event/occasion. In Egypt special treatment was given to the gods and goddesses and also to the human body. Their dances were to remain in sync with gods and to please them, while, modern dance has always been an expression of action. It is more about nailing the step immaculately and the freedom and spirituality is gone. Gallini describes the difference between modern and ancient Egyptian dancing as “Great is the difference between the ancient and modern dances. The ancient ones were full of sublime simplicity. But the simplicity was far from excluding the delicate, the graceful and even the brilliant. The moderns are so accustomed to those dances from which nature is banished and false refinements substituted in her room that it is to be questions whether they would relish the returning in practice to the purer principles of the art” ("Lady’s magazine (And Museum”). Belly dancing which is so popular today in every part of the world also originated with Egyptian culture, which traditionally was danced barefoot to remain closer to Mother Nature while it has been modernized now and is danced with shoes on. The fact is that many aspects and features of modern dancing techniques and traditions are an outcome of ancient Egypt’s influence. For example the dancers most significantly Spanish often use some type of rhythm instrument to aid the musicians, or as the sole accompaniment to their dance. But the earliest dancers finger cymbals made of metal are those found in the area of Thebes (c.200 BC) with a large central boss and upturned rim, measuring 2-7/16" in diameter. A slightly larger pair was also attributed to Thebes (c.200 BC) with a diameter of 3-3/8" (Harding). This provides evidence to this claim that modern dance forms and culture is indeed derived heavily from ancient Egypt’s dancing culture. So we can conclude that ancient Egyptian dancing techniques have influenced the modern world greatly and many popular dance forms of our age have their roots from ancient Egyptian civilization’s dancing styles. Works Cited Fleming, Fergus and Lothian, Alan. Ancient Egypts Myths and Beliefs. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2011. Print. Turner, Tom. Garden History: Philosophy and Design, 2000 BC--2000 AD. Routledge, 2005. Print. Olsen, Kirstin. Chronology of Womens History. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994. Print. Lexova, Irena. Ancient Egyptian Dances. Courier Dover Publications, 1999. Print. Ruiz, Ana. The Spirit of Ancient Egypt. Algora Publishing, 2001. Print. Sayre, Shay and King, Cynthia. Entertainment and Society: Influences, Impacts, and Innovations. Taylor & Francis, Print. Gadalla, Moustafa. The Ancient Egyptian Culture Revealed. Tehuti Research Foundation, 2007. Print. “Ancient Egypt”. bdancer.com, BDancer. n.d. Web. 8 May. 2012. Gadalla, Moustafa. The Ancient Egyptian Culture Revealed. Tehuti Research Foundation, 2007. Print. Anonymous. The Lady’s Magazine (And Museum).. Oxford University, 2006. Print. Harding, Karol. "The World’s Oldest Dance: The Origins of Oriental Dance." danceegypt.com. Dance Eqypt. n.d. Web. 8 May 2012. Read More

Egyptian culture is recognized as “the first great culture to infuse its entire society with the magic of music and dance” (Sayre and King). Dancing undoubtedly was the most favored activity both indoor and outdoor. The walls of ancient Egyptian temples and tombs depict a variety of dancing styles and also describe the time, event and purpose behind each style. Elizabeth Artemis Mourat, performer and dance scholar, has categorized these dances into six types: religious dances, non-religious zombie dances, banquet dances, harem dances, combat dances and street dances.

("Ancient Egypt") The dancers used to either dance solo, in pair or within a group. Pairing was done with two males or two females. Group dancing was performed in two styles one comprised of individual movements and transmitted a theme or spontaneous expression of an idea while in the other style repetitive circular movements were executed by pair of dancers. Nudity was a common feature in Egyptian dancing attires and mostly they preferred to wear chunky jewelry and short skirts. Women dancer wore long loose robes created from a fine transparent material to permit the observance of their figure and movements of limbs.

Dancing originated during the old kingdom with the women in harems who danced to entertain themselves and gradually transformed into a public expression of emotions. Tom Turner sketched a scene of a 3000 BC Royal Harem as “Here food was prepared, cosmetics applied and the days and evenings were spent singing, dancing and telling stories” (Turner). The turf dance of the Old Kingdom was, in most cases, performed by a pair of men. The Egyptians danced within the temples to honor their deities and outside them during religious festivals.

They didn’t consider it incompatible with the dignity of religion. Graceful attitude and gesticulations dominated this dance style and specialized groups performed dances known as “the acacia house”, the MWW dancers and the dancing dwarfs. The Dwarfs danced only at the entrance of the shaft and were considered a rare and prized possession. Mostly dances were performed during the funerals to celebrate the regeneration of the dead body soon after mummification. It was termed as the offering table dance.

During the Middle kingdom, dancers started performing acrobats in funeral processions. There is also authentic information provided by researchers on Egyptology that during this era and in new kingdom women mainly at Thebes started performing at social and private events. They worked as dancing girls, musicians and acrobats (Olsen). Tombs of the middle kingdom depict scenes where funerary dances were performed in honor of Hathor (the goddess of drunkenness). The common dance styles were hbi (acrobatic), rwi (runaway) and ksks (twist).

Festive dancing took place only at important festive occasions like Sed-festival, Valley festival, Opet feast, Feast of Min and Nile Flood feast. Dramatic dances served as a platform for religious education for their younger generation. Irena Lexová describes ancient Egypt’s dancing techniques during the Middle kingdom as “The dance consisted of a succession of figures in which the performer endeavored to exhibit a great variety of gestures. Men and women danced at the same time but women were preferred for their superior grace and elegance.

Some danced to slow airs, adapted to the style of the movements, other preferred lively steps regulated by an appropriate tune” (Lexova). Their dances were accompanied by music which consisted of several instruments like tambourine, pipe, guitar, harp, lyre and lute etc. While at some dancing occasions mostly religious, only clapping of hands, snapping of fingers or just beating of the drums was enough to create enchanting music. During this era dancers started performing acrobats which is described by Ana Ruiz as “the dance itself was highly acrobatic and quite complex, choreographed with cartwheels, somersaults, leaps, hand-stands, backbends, twirls, splits and pirouettes” (Ruiz).

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