Main Aspects of Dance in Culture - Essay Example

Dance Culture is an important factor when it comes to the history of a nation. Culture usually represents the customs, beliefs and practices of a particular society. Many societies used dance as a way to entertain themselves, different societies had different dance methods that they could be identified with. Through art and culture we are able to identify a country or a community using these characteristics. Dancing is an element that can be used to identify a community, it usually represents that particular community it has a lot of significant aspects of that community and its lifestyle. For example, the Zulu people of South Africa have unique dancing styles that have been in the society for decades, these styles are used to represent their culture which they hold dear. This is the same case for every African society, each having its own style that separates it from the rest. Several performers in the world have been involved in creating dances that have been used to associate their community and their countries. Through this chorographical works, these artists have managed to express their feelings about gender, race, ethnicity and religion. Jowole Zollar is one such artist born in Kansas City. Ever since she was a child, she was always fascinated by music and dance, something she embraced from her family’s lineage. From a tender age, she created most of her dance styles and learned them all by herself (III). She developed her interest and focused on Jazz Music to accompany her choreography. Zollar used her skills to express her cultural, social and political interest mainly because of her background. She was black and because of this, she attracted most of black societies who accepted and supported her music. Zollar pursued further education and received a master’s degree something which allowed her to own a music studio in 1980 (Mattingly). By that time McIntyre was the only black woman who owned a studio and they both collaborated to produce Jazz music that expressed the racism the blacks suffered in the society. The two developed a dance group drawing most of the black dancers from Cuban and African American background. They used their dances to express women dreams. They also told stories through their songs about African descent their struggles and their ultimate triumphs. For this reason it is evident that Zollar has been able to use dance as a tool of expression race, gender, and social cultural values in the society. Her main target was to draw out the women of color. She has been able to achieve that by the fact that she is well educated. Moreover, she has been able to show the society that color and race does not matter when it comes to achieving the societal dreams. She was able to own a studio something that was rare for black women during the 80’s within American society. Zollars contribution to the society was magnificent. Through the Urban Bush Women group she engaged in community projects that aimed at promoting the local communities in development of their cultures. She promoted poetry and dances. During the early 70’s the theme of feminism was a central pillar when it came to American music. A lot of studios in New York and California engaged in composing music and exhibitions that explored the female gender. This was also done in colleges and universities exploring most of the intellectual artists both male and female that promoted art in one way or the other. For example, in California women created materials from ordinary rituals of daily life. However, this was not the only way women in the US presented their culture. They also organized exhibitions that expressed their art such as a kitchen wallpapered with rubber molds of women’s breast. This was all aimed at expressing womanhood and also identifies a woman with her role in the society. In most cultures most of the women play a central role in the kitchen. In Europe the exhibitions were not as that of the US and this was because of the differences in political and cultural views. Due to the high intensity of political influence in Europe most artists made their artistic presentations in a metaphorical manner (Goldberg). This was also accompanied by emotional and searing performances and tableaux. For those American artists who lived in Europe, their main artistic agenda was to create an identity. Identity was embraced as a sign of pride claiming and naming common qualities (Smith). Other performing artists like Ishmael Houston Jones also targeted identity in their performances mainly aiming to embellish the ethnic differences that existed. This was mainly effective during the live performances and public displays. (Portes) Another interesting social character that embraced the western culture was the same sex marriage. Gay activists and writers also chose to use gay pride as a means of identifying themselves. Through gay pride performances were made at places like the Dixon Place or the WOW café where lesbians also expressed their identity. (OShea) American Musical has been one of the most important events taking place annually that has played a central role in promoting American culture. The event has always nurtured some of the best artists we have within the American music industry (Pacheco). However, it is also through the American musical that we have been able to find elements that have portrayed a woman as an object. Hair the American tribal love musical in 1967 was a rock musical and one event the promoted an expression of nude females in their representations (Knapp). Due to this, nudeness as a female expression has taken a central pillar when it comes to American music and dances something that is evident to this date (Garfield). Tepiscore in Sneakers is another work that shows the development of American contemporary dance to the modern dance we see today. in the nineteenth century, America did not have ballet dancing tradition. Fuller was one of the few that embraced modern dancing styles through incorporating different cultural dances. She made the size of the dancer’s skirt, fuller and rounder in an exaggerated manner. With time her dancing style made great changes in dance through art. Thus ballet was born full of colors and light. Isadora Duncan was an American dancer who attracted many with her unique dancing styles, she made great strides in Greek dances which she represented wearing loose robes and barefoot. She was always attracted to natural movements such as waves, trees and those changes in seasons. Her dancing was simple just like the simple movement of water in the Greek vases used in the Greek chambers. Ruth st. Denis was another dancer who like fuller and Isadora represented the culture of a particular society in the modern stage. She used dances from different cultures, for example the Chinese and Japanese and incorporated them into one choreographed dance move (Banes). With time these dances were adopted into dancing schools and interested learners had first of all to understand the culture of that society before they could learn the particular dancing styles. In my opinion, over the years, people have learnt how to interpret cultures of different societies through dances. This means that the culture of societies are being represented and not misrepresented. Works Cited Banes, Sally. Post Modern Dance. New Yoork: Wesleyan University Press, 2000. Garfield, Simon. "Hair restorer." The Guardian UK (2005): 25-40. Goldberg, RoseLee. Performance: Lve Art Since 1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. III, John O. Perpener. Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. New York: Princeton Book Company, 1999. Knapp, Raymond. The american Musical. New York: Princeton University press, 1967. Mattingly, Kate. "Dancing the Voice of the people." Dance Magazine (2001): 11-45. OShea, Alexandra Carter and Janet. "Dancing with The Stars." Routledge Dance Studies Reader (2001): 193-256. Pacheco, Patrick. " "Peace, Love and Freedom Party",." Los Angeles Times (2001): 10-38. Portes, Alejandro. "Conclusion Towards a new World- The origin and effects of Transnational activities." Ethnic and Racial studies (2000): 464-477. Smith, Sid. "Pearl Glows With Energizing vivid movement." Chicago Tribune (2004): 119-139. Read More