Birgitta Ardhana Neswari – 194214085 – Cultural Theories Class C

Final Essay of Cultural Theories

Dance

One semester following the Cultural Theories course making me gain ore knowledge on
arts & societies. I have been studying about several art forms, such as dance, music, painting,
sculpture, and also literature. However, here in this essay, I want to talk about art and dance.
First, what is art? Art is a combined of humans’ intellectual, emotional, and also physical. Art is
also a form to express our true self into other people or communities. While dance is also one of
many art forms. What makes dance is different with other art forms, dance is more like the
“performing arts”. Dance needs the dancer & audience, so the meaning or expression behind the
dances can be transferred from one person to the others. Dance is an act or instance of moving
one’s body rhythmically usually to music (Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, 2020).

Therefore, I choose to talk about dance is because it is the only art form that has
movement. I also believe that dance is not only dance, it has much more meaning and purposes
behind the movement. It has purpose which is letting people to express their inner feelings,
thoughts, and even experiences through their body movement. Not everyone is good at
expressing themselves through words or picture, so dance is another choice to express ourselves
without directly telling it to people. Mostly of dances are keeping its implied messages. Dance
and society are sharing a same trait. In both dance and society, humans have the right to be free,
and to feel safe in whatever we are decided to do in our life. Through the body movements, these
can help the audiences to see the expression on how free we are as a human doing. There are no
proper rules about either the choices we choose in society or the movements we choose in dance.
Surely, dance is also related to culture. Through dance, we can gain more knowledge on culture
and humanities (understanding and kindness towards other people). From the anthropological
point of view, dance can be defined as cultural practice and as a social practice (Radcliffe-
Brown, 1994). It means that dance can be seen as an art pleasure and used to establish specific
structure in society. Sometimes, the culture’s values are illustrated on the dance forms &
movements. Even, for mostly civilizations of the world said that dance id the most important
expression as a “window” to see the “world-view”. Dance contains historical and mostly current
cultural values. It can also help to define genders, identities, even religious status. These are the
reasons why dance is also cultural.
Birgitta Ardhana Neswari – 194214085 – Cultural Theories Class C

Our country, Indonesia has a motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” which means “Berbeda-beda
Tetapi Tetap Satu” or in English “Unity in Diversity”. Until now, there are 633 ethnic groups
that have been recognized. Usually, each ethnic group has its own dances. Therefore, there are
also so many dance forms in Indonesia, for about 3.000 dance forms. As we all know, Indonesia
is the fourth most populous country in the world, so it will not come to a surprise that Indonesia
is famous with its classic ancient traditions and also folk dances. Indonesia & colonialization are
also very related. As the result of that, dances in Indonesia are influenced by Asian and Western
style. Dances are not only divided into traditional and contemporary, but also other several
aspects. First one is Historical Aspect; Pre-historical Era (the beginning of all dances used to
ritual and religious worship), Hindu-Buddhist Era (influenced by India’s story, Ramayana &
Mahabharata), Islamic Era (used in religious worship and the costume is more modest). Genres;
Court Dances (Applied in Istanas & Keratons to reflected its culture), Folk Dances (demonstrate
the social stratifications, and developed by common people). Tradition; Traditional Dances (It
is reflected the uniqueness & diversity in Indonesia on each ethnic culture), Contemporary
Dances (mostly are influences by dances overseas, like ballet or modern dance). Here, I want to
give several examples of famous & unique dances in Indonesia. Lengger from Wonosobo is
highlighted cross-gender in Indonesia because the male dancer is dressed as a woman. Pendet
from Bali is a dance for religious purposes, danced by young girls to purify the temple. Serimpi
from Yogyakarta is mostly associated with Sultan Palaces as the court dance.

America is a country that has many unity & combinations of culture. Many people
overseas even that are not based on English Society are coming to America because it is famous
as a home of a free expression. At first, dance was not the part of American Heritage. However,
when Europe started to develop the “Folk” or “peasant” communities and created several
choreographies, then America initially followed European. People of America believed that
dance (folk dances) are an original heritage that can be passed down generation to generation and
can shape cultural identity. On the World War II Era, folk dances were very famous and used to
point out the national identity. At that time, people in America have been trying to find the
“original” America’s folk dances. However, it was very hard attempt because one folk dance
could not embrace all of cultural expressions of American because America is also full of
multicultural society. As a result of the failed attempts, American technique dances are mostly
influenced by Europe, mostly from England and France. Here is some examples of dances,
Birgitta Ardhana Neswari – 194214085 – Cultural Theories Class C

even not originally from America, but mostly developed in America. First one is The
Charleston, Cake Walk, Irish Clog, The Buzzard Lope, etc. Which are based on “African-
Slavery Era”. Mostly, these dances were made by the slave that forced to dance by their captains,
consisted of any steps, and also a soulful dance form. Swing Dance which developed in “Jazz
Era”. It is a coupled dance, characterized by lots of swinging and tosses movement. Modern
Dance, danced by a broad group in a theatrical or western concert. The dance is very contrasting
to the ballet dance because it is more free and no more strict rules.

In dance, we can find many free expressions because basically dance is about how we
can express ourselves through our body movement. Expression in dance is more like when we
are showing our movements and body language in order to convey our emotions and thoughts.
From the Indonesian dance, I will narrow it down to be more specific. I am going to analyze
Pendet Dance from Bali. It is one of many traditional dances in Indonesia, so I believe that the
free expressions are not being really applied here. However, everyone can try to express
themselves through Pendet Dance because it does not need require intensive training, but mostly
only women (adult & young girls) that can perform this dance. This dance is being performed in
a group of 4 women, with no appliance of the “free” movement or costume to express
themselves. Usually, the dancers are applying the “fixed” expressions, and are not changing it
like other dances. They express themselves and to communicate with the audience by their eye-
contacts and bowl of flowers that they bring. This dance is used in religious rituals and also as a
welcoming dance. During the performance, dancers are moving all their body parts and
expressions movement (eye-contacts), they also spring the flowers that they bring as the
expression of “welcoming” the audience. Pendet Dance surely also have the aesthetics. The
standards of beauty in Pendet Dance started from the dancers. Although both adult and young
girls are given the permission to performed this dance, but it is narrowed to women that are not
married yet, because they will bring pure dish of food for God to the Temple. The more agility
and flexibility that the dancers can perform, it will make the dance more pretty to the audience.
They will move all of their body parts, started from feet, hands, fingers, body, neck, and for
addition their eye and facial expressions, so agility and flexibility are also the standard of beauty.
The origin Balinese costume also included to its aesthetic. Usually, they use Balinese fabric
(tapih), tube top (kemben), belt, hair pieces & flowers, and also sharped make up which focusing
on their eyes.
Birgitta Ardhana Neswari – 194214085 – Cultural Theories Class C

On the other hand, in English society, I am going to analyze the Modern Dance which
developed in America. Modern dance is the opposite of the Pendet Dance, which is the
traditional dance. Modern Dance is a genre that usually performed in theatrical show. It is not a
“structural” and “fixed” dance. The free expressions are likely to be found on the modern
dance. As the result of “not fixed” movement, this dance is formed by the dancers’ own
interpretation and their expressions are based on their inner feeling. Mostly of the movements are
made before there is an event/show expected. The dancers will make the movements based on
their feelings at that time, so when they are performing the dance, they tend to give the same
expressions like they made the movements before. In modern dance, usually the dancers are
encouraged to use their moods and emotions to make their own dance routines. The main
aesthetics from modern dance is its diversity. Mostly of the dancers will be performing their
own routines, with their own unique movement which based on their own inner feeling. Their
costumes are also not “fixed”, it is depends on their decision which clothes they want to wear on
their performance.

To sum up, dance as the cultural forms is very necessary for us to understand. As the part
of arts, this form of art is not distributed into words nor painting, but on performing arts. The
purpose of dancing is transferring the meaning behind the dance into the audience. From
dancing, we can also learn about humanities (the condition of being human). One example of
humanities that we can find from dance is diversity. Surely, there are any dances in all around
the world from each country, nationality, even ethnic groups. Dances also divided into several
aspects. The most famous one is, traditional & modern dance. Each dance form has its own
uniqueness. One has strict rule movements, costumes, expressions. On the other hand, does not
have any rules, making the movements only based on the dancers’ inner feeling. About the free
expressions & their own aesthetic are also different to each other. Overall, even though all the
dances form are joined into one aspect of art, which is “dance”, yet we cannot generalize that all
the dances are similar and look-alike to each other.
Birgitta Ardhana Neswari – 194214085 – Cultural Theories Class C

References:

1. Kogon, C. (2013). Dance as a Tool for Creativity with Young People. Salto-Youth Euromed
and Good Practices Magazine. Retrieved from https://educationaltoolsportal.eu/en/tools-for-
learning/dance-tool-creativity-young-people#:~:text=Dance%20is%20a%20fully%2Dfledged,so
%20therefore%20does%20the%20spirit.

2. Bresnahan, A. (2020). The Philosophy of Dance. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=dance

3. No Author. (2017). Pendet Dance, Traditional from Bali. Steemit. Retrieved from
https://steemit.com/art/@allaboutarts/pendet-dance-traditional-from-bali

4. No Author. (2010). American Folklife Center. Library of Congress an Illustrated Guide.

Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/folklife/guide/dance.html