Modern Folk Dance and Ballet - Essay Example

Jazz Dance incorporates the three basic elements of dance – line, form, and repetition – in such a way that it shows the richness and rebelliousness of African-American culture.

Jazz dance also occurs in various forms like the jazz walk, the toe rise, the pirouettes, the ball change, the pivot step, and the contraction, which is characterized by a contracted torso, a back curved outward and the pelvis pulled forward. Jazz dance occurs in repetitive forms characterized by syncopated rhythm, or an interruption of the regular dance rhythm, which is characteristic of the rebellious character and distinct identity of jazz dance (Feliksdal, 2004). Overall, the elements of jazz dance help to create a type of dance that is full of energy and at the same time reveals the themes of surprise and rebellion through its syncopated rhythm.

On the other hand, ice dancing is made up of long, short, continuous, and transverse axes. The continuous axis is the most important as this is the “imaginary line running around the ice surface that serves as the basis for the dance pattern,” and which is joined at each end by a semi-circle (General Terminology, 2012). This is the strict path of the ice dance. The forms are creative but formally and gracefully executed. These include the lifts where the man will hold the lady high and in a creative manner. There are also spins, where the couple or the lady rotates at least three revolutions and changes feet positions. Moreover, there are twizzles, where the ice dancers turn at least four revolutions while moving across the ice (Farris, 2012). These forms then repeat in several patterns. Original steppings as well as positions and timings may be set but the dancing couple may modify the spins, lifts, and twizzles, and may modify the starting positions or location of the dance relative to the axis (General Terminology, 2012). Overall, the elements of the ice dance help each other create a dance of numerous creative and graceful moves but with strict discipline.

When it comes to the general characteristic of the dance, modern dance usually focuses on the “natural and spontaneous or uninhibited,” which means that it is creative and simply new in terms of style and form and that it does not have the conventional or traditional aspects of other dances (Dance, 2012). Ballet, on the other hand, has a set of “prescribed” movements and actions, while folk dance has not only prescribed movements and actions but also traditional music and costumes (Dance, 2012).

When it comes to form, all three types of dances have narrative elements. However, this narrative element is more emphasized in ballet. The narrative element in folk dance is more like that of a concert and somehow seeks to reveal the story behind the particular country’s tradition (Dance, 2012).

Other specific characteristics of the three dances which make them different from one another include the modern dance’s elaborate use of the human body to convey expression and human emotion, and the extensive and emphatic use of the dance floor to emphasize the message of the dance. Ballet, on the other hand, ballet is all about the “reduction of human gesture to bare essentials, heightened and developed into meaningful patterns” (Dance, 2012). Lastly, folk dance has a special kind of purpose which is to awaken one’s nationalism or one’s loyalty to his own culture. Read More