Relationship of Dance to Representing Cultural Identities - Essay Example

Relationship of dance to representing cultural identities. Culture is a form of human knowledge, behaviors, practice,values and beliefs that are different and very unique to a group of people. On the other hand, dance is a type of art that involves the movement of the body often in rhythm to music. It is performed in very many cultures globally as a form of social interaction, exercise, and emotional expression. It is therefore regarded as a type or form of nonverbal communication that occurs between humans. However, definitions vary on a social or cultural norms basis. Furthermore, it may also vary based on the type of movement the dance portrays. Dance play’s an important aspect of representing culture. Firstly, dance has different aspects that can identify culture because it has something that sets each culture apart from the others. Throughout the centuries, dance has always remained to be a controversial issue in representing culture. Different dance styles stipulate or relate to different cultures globally. Basically, before a performance on stage, choreographers do plan the dance to signify some importance to a certain culture. Furthermore, the dance may also be organized to give credit to a certain group of people or a certain culture. However, dance does not discriminate because when different groups attend a dance performance, it depicts a social bond between the different ethnic groups. Therefore, despite the dance belonging to a certain group, it is actually appreciated by the lot of people. In addition, dancers and choreographers connect to the dance at an emotional level so as to create the expressions required. That attachment to the dance creates a sense of belonging which helps them in body movement and coordination to appease the audience (Carter 1998). On the contrary, culture has always been misrepresented by dance on stage. There are different people who feel that their culture is never represented on stage because there are other cultures whose dance is given priority. For instance, ancient natives of America and the east and southern Asian cultures have always been represented well during dance performances. Their cultures are treasured for the immense color and meaning they give to dance. Their dance performances are also attended thoroughly because these groups of culture are given credit due to the immense meaning they hold to culture. They are believed to have strong roots in their beliefs and culture is a virtue to them. Moreover, other cultures do feel that they are not represented entirely during on stage dance performances. They feel that choreographers do not do enough to ensure that dance represents all cultures equally in stage performance. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a change of how dance revolved around culture. There was a new integration of dance into the political arena (Goldberg 1998). Major artists did their performances based on their philosophical agenda or based on the candidates they supported. Mostly, dancers and choreographers created dances that aimed at fulfilling the theme in the political field. It therefore was a competition of the might in order to lure more audience to support their esteemed candidate. By then, there was vast competition and rivalry among artists and the pressures was upon them to create pieces of dance that could signify political might. However, this did not entirely replace, the relationship between dance and culture because the two go in handy. It was until then that artists later embarked on concerts aimed at luring the audience in their performance. Dance therefore proved to attract different feeling on stage because the question of representing culture was a big concern. Zollars piece of work was one of a kind. Her dances were ones that involved vast research in order to produce the desired output based on the cultural complexities involved. She was inspired by Dianne McIntyre and the great African-American choreographers Pearl Primus. She was connected to the legacy of a primus piece of work that led her into performing an original artwork of Zaire’s dance. It was entitled Bushasche it was a great project that saw collaboration with college students that primus had worked with. This was because she wanted to grasp the intensity, passion and spirituality of an aesthetic they were unfamiliar with. The dance was to memorate the Zaire culture because it was performed every twenty years. She was so deeply connected to Primus that their dance was based on the African roots of culture. This dance argued on the basis of African muscularity. The theme of the dance was I favor of African as it encouraged African-Americans to be proud of their heritage as theirs is a deeper and more profound culture. Another theme of her dance was based on black woman’s beauty and strength that saw her performances also portray intiation of black women into womanhood. Upon thorough analysis, Zollar’s artwork was very great and had lots of themes relating to black people. She was doing a great job in educating them by attracting vast African-American audience though other cultures also appeared in her dance concerts. However, her dance signified cultural misrepresentation because she never produced work based on other cultures to show equality of dance as an art representing the diversity of culture. Her piece of work was authentic in the sense of representing one type of cultural group in her performances. On the other hand, she produced entirely original art work that implied her entirely talented abilities and her understanding of dance in relation to culture. Dancing with the stars is another amazing piece of work that took dance to another level when it premiered in televisions in 2005. It brought artists all over America and from different parts of the world in a very competitive environment. Performers of the different dance styles and different genres of music that symbolized different cultures enthusiastically danced for the one single prize. This type of dance television show portrayed a cultural representation because it featured different performance across all cultures. The audience involved socially though from different cultural backgrounds thoroughly cheered their different performers. Therefore, upon a critical evaluation, dancing with the stars thoroughly represented culture on stage and it showed the prowess different cultures have when it comes to dance. Conclusion Culture is a form of human knowledge, behaviors, practice, values and beliefs that are different and very unique to a group of people. On the other hand, dance is a type of art that involves the movement of the body often in rhythm to music. It is performed in very many cultures globally as a form of social interaction, exercise, and emotional expression. Dance is very significant because it portrays or summarizes the unique philosophy of different cultures all over the world. It also brings different cultures together and hence creates a social bond between the different cultures. Therefore, dance is very significant in the modern world in reminding people of their roots and hence avoid inter-war between cultures, but create a cohesive bond that appreciates dance and its expression in different cultures. Furthermore, it is upon choreographers and artist to maintain equal cultural representation during stage performances. Works cited Carter, Alexandra. The Routledge dance studies reader. London: Routledge, 1998. Print. Goldberg, Roselee. Performance. New York: Harry N. Abrams Publishers, 1998. Print. Banes, Sally. Terpsichore in sneakers. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1987. Print. (Banes 1987) Read More