CHAPTER I - BRIEF HISTORY AND  Can be seen among all the

NATURE OF DANCE people and civilization of the

world. Dances thrived at different
periods of history and mostly were
“Before man can do anything, the
a result of intercultural exchange
must draw breath, he must move.
and contact (Alejandro and
Movement is the source and
Santos-Gana, 2002). The origin of
condition of life. To dance is to be
dance are rooted in the
out of yourself. Larger, more
prehistoric past. Various artistic,
beautiful, more powerful. This is
religious, and social forces
power, it is glory on earth and it is
started out the incorporation and
yours for the taking. -Agnes de Mille
development of dance.
(1963)”
 Has been a major form of
religious ritual and social
The human being has an innate
expression within primitive
yearning for regular rhythmic
cultures. It was used as a way of
movement. Whether this is in the
expressing and reinforcing tribal
form of athletics, activities of daily
unity and strength, as an
living, or dance, human body is the
approach for courtship and
primary instrument for each (Myers,
mating, and as a means of
2005. Dance uses the body as an
worship, communication, and
instrument of expression in time and
therapeutic experience. It was
space.
said that the first use of dance
was as a gesture in order to
DANCE
communicate. People from the
 Differs from athletics or other daily
prehistoric era performed ways
activities because it focuses
they hoped would appease the
primary on “an aesthetic or even
forces of nature or give them
entertaining experience” (Myers,
new powers of their own. As
2005).
Kraus and Gaufman (1981) said,
 It provide variety of functions
“man danced originally to
throughout history due to its
supplicate the gods on all
multidimensional.
important occasions of life.”
 Although there have been
 The dances during prehistoric
immense comparative
time have not yet been fully
differences in period and culture,
recorded. It was only during the
people still dance mainly for four
pre-Christian era that the real
reasons:
knowledge of dance came
a) To please the goods
about within the great
b) To please others
Mediterranean and Middle
c) To please themselves or self-
Eastern civilizations. Dance
expression
became full blown and was richly
d) To build community within an
recorded in ancient Egypt. It was
ethnic group or social interaction.
reflected in their wall paintings,
 reliefs, and in the literary record in
hieroglyphs. Most of the dances
during this era were chiefly a
medium of religious expression.
 The ancient Greeks also thought
highly of dance. For them, it was
closely linked with other kinds of
experiences. Dancing was taught
as an aid to military education
among the boys in Athens and
Sparta. It was not just for religious
and military training but also a
form of entertainment and display.
 was also commonly used in
education. Greek philosophers
such as Plato, Aristotle, and
Socrates strongly supported this
art as an integration of the body
and soul . Plato immensely gave
importance to dance in
education as stated in his
elucidation on the Laws. He
highlighted the two kinds of
dance and music: the noble ( fine
and honorable ) and the ignoble
( imitating what is mean or ugly ).
 The ancient Rome, on the other
hand, gave less importance to
dancing. It stopped valuing such
qualities in art as the nation grew
wealthy and powerful, The
Romans ceased to create and
perform within arts themselves.
Dance became brutal and
sensationalized as their
entertainers were slaves and
captives form many nationalities
and it was used more often for
gruesome purposes (Kraus et al.,
1981). Dance eventually became
an integral part of the corruption
in the latter days of the Roman
empire, resulting in the
condemnation of dance by the
early Chiristian.
 The development of the catholic
church in Europe following the fall
of Rome transformed the history
of dance. During this time, the
church was the sole custodian of
learning and education as well as
the source of morals. When the
first Christian emperor came,
theatrical entertainment was
prohibited. However, dance still
existed and was performed within
the church during religious
ceremonies. The Christian fathers
approve of the use of
dance, provided that its form
and intent wear holy and
profound. Dances then became
part of worship and church
services.
 Although the church had
condemned dance as
Entertainment, some singers,
dancers, poets, actors , musicians,
and jugglers continued to
wonder during the dark and early
middle ages period they
performed in village squares and
were eventually welcome in the
castle and chateaus of feudal
lords. At the same time , the
common people also amuse
themselves by doing dances that
were social in character. This
marked the beginning of social
dancing. This performed two
basic types of dancing: The round
dance and the couple dance. In
round dance, dancers hold each
other by the hand, forming a
long chain, and move about in
an open or closed circle , or in an
extended line.
Couple dance, at that time, What's
not as popular as round dance as it
was considered scandalous when
first seen.
 Nobility soon followed the
peasants’ lead in dancing but in
a more refined and courtly form.
Court dances emerged as part of
the chivalry way of life. Because
of the noblemen’s and women's
nature of clothing and elaborate
accessories, their dance steps
were limited to gliding, curtsying,
and posing as they were not able
to move freely. The
peasants’ dances, in
contrast, have large movements
and wide-stepping figures. this is
due to their less elaborate
costumes allowing bigger
movements. Additionally, the
peasants danced on grass or on
the beaten earth of the town
while noblemen danced is in
smooth floors or wood or polish
marbled called the ballroom.
 Dance then was fully accepted
in the courts during the early
renaissance as they gradual
increase the capitalist class
produced patrons of learning
and art in Europe. During the
Renaissance, dance, and art, in
general, gained impetus. the old
restraints were loosened and
clerical ideas and purposes no
longer dominate all creative
expressions of the human spirit
(Kraus and Gaufman, 1981). The
entertainers now became a
valuable appendage to the
courts of Italy and France and
they were to serve the secular
goals of the wealthy and
powerful nobles who had
emerged throughout Europe.
 A vast dance movement
occurred throughout the courts
of Europe in the 15th and 16th
centuries. during this time , new
court dances performed by the
nobility came about as well as
the rise of the art of ballet in Italy
and France. from then on ,
several other dance forms
continued to sprout and spread
across several countries. after
the pinnacle of ballet
prominence , contemporary
dances that were stylistic
variations of ballet emerged and
involved in Europe. other dance
forms also came to light and
have been widely recognized
worldwide (Kraus and Gaulman,
1981).
 “Dance is fun! It lifts the spirit,
strengthens the body, and
stimulates the mind. ” - Wayne
Sleep (1986)
 Dancing is one of the oldest and
most popular forms of exercise.
Several forms of dancing are
considered aerobic since they
entail about an hour of
“continuous exercise,
choreographed to music” (Fine,
1981). according to Polly de Mille,
an exercise physiologist at the
Women’s Sports Medicine Center
in New York, the health benefits
gained through dancing are
similar to other forms of activities
that involve sustained effort in the
target zone.
(www.highbeam.com, accessed
January 04, 2016).
 SPECIFIC BENEFITS OF DANCE CHAPTER II - ELEMENTS OF
A. PHYSICAL DANCE
 Develops cardiovascular and
muscular endurance
“Existence is movements. Action is
 Improves coordination, balance,
movement. Existence is defined by
flexibility, and body composition
the rhythm of forces in natural
 Lowers risk of cardiovascular
balance. - Rudolf von Laban”
diseases
 Lowers body mass index
 The human body is living in time
 Lowers resting heart rate
and space, and exhibits some
 Improves lipid metabolism
effect.
 Enables joint mobility (hip motion
 Thus, all movements occur in time,
and spine flexibility)
through space, and with effort
 Helps improve and maintain
(Schrander, 1996).
bone density, thus helps prevent
 Since dance entails a lot of
osteoporosis
movements, it uses the very same
 Helps recover coordination and
elements, space, time, and
neuromuscular skills after injury
energy.
B. MENTAL/EMOTIONAL
 These elements are beneficial to
 Helps keep the brain sharp
anyone interested in recognizing,
 Decreases incidence of
analyzing, or creating
dementia and alzheimer’s
movements.
disease
 Decreases depressive symptoms
I. SPACE
 Increases self-esteem and
 Is the area the performers occupy
improves body image
and where they move.
 Aids in releasing emotional and
 It can be divided into four
physical tension
different aspects, also known as
C. SOCIAL
SPATIAL ELEMENTS.
 Gives sense of togetherness
a. DIRECTION
within a group
 Dance movements can travel in
 Encourages positive social
any direction.
interaction and interpersonal
 The performers can go forward,
relationship in a group
side, backward, diagonal,
 Contributes to the individual’s
circular, and so on.
potential for self-actualization in
 They may also face any direction
society
while executing a single
D. CULTURE
movement or several phrases.
 Promotes cultural values
b. SIZE
 Movements can be varied by
doing larger or smaller actions.
c. LEVEL
 Movements can be done in a
high, medium, or low level.
d. FOCUS
 Performers may change their
focus by looking at different
directions.
II. TIMING
 The movements in timing may be
executed in varying tempo
(SPEED).
 Performers move with the tempo
of an underlying sound, known as
BEAT or PULSE.
 Can be varied by moving faster
or slower than the normal beat.
 When a sequence of a
movement or group of phrases is
done in varying tempos, they
generate rhythmic patterns.
 The addition of silences or pauses
also adds to rhythmic patterns.
III. DANCE ENERGIES
 The movements here propelled
by energy or force. A force can
either initiate or stop an action.
 Dances uses different energies
and a varied use of these
minimizes the monotony of the
movements in a performance.
 6 quantities of dance energy:
a. SUSTAINED
 Movements are done smoothly,
continuously, and with flow and
control.
 It does not have a clear
beginning and ending.
b. PERCUSSIVE
 Movements are explosive or
sharp in contrast with sustained
movements.
 They are accented with thrust of
energy.
 They have a clear beginning and
ending.
c. VIBRATORY
 Movements consists of trembling
or shaking.
 A faster version of percussive
movements that produces a
jittery effect (Minton, 2007)
d. SWINGING
 Movements trace a curved line or
an arc in space.
 The movements are relaxed and
giving in to gravity on the
downward part of the motion,
followed by an upward
application of energy.
e. SUSPENDED
 Movements are perched in
space or hanging on air.
 Holding a raised leg in any
direction is an example of a
suspended movement.
f. COLLAPSING
 Movements are released in
tension and gradually or abruptly
giving in to gravity, letting the
body descend to the floor.
 A slow collapse can be
described as a melting or oozing
action in a downward direction
(Minton, 2007).
IV. BODILY SHAPES
 It refers to how the entire body is
molded in space or the
configuration of body parts.
 The body can be rounded,
angular, or a combination of two.
 Other body shapes can be from
wide to narrow and from high to
low.
a) SYMMETRICAL
 Balanced shape; movements are
practically identical or similar on
both sides .
b) ASSYMETRICAL
 Unbalanced shape; movements
of two sides of the body do not
match or completely different
from each other.
 GROUP SHAPES
 In this element, a group of
dancers perform movements in
different group shapes.
 They are arranged in ways that
are wide, narrow, rounded,
angular, symmetrical, or
asymmetrical.
CHAPTER III - DANCE
APPRECIATION AND
COMPOSITION
TRIVIA:
A. RECREATIONAL DANCE
 is a social activity in which
people of all ages can
participate.
 Come from all over the world and
include folk, cultural, and
historical dances, and social
dances from the past and
present.
 These types of dances use a
variety of steps, figures, and
formations.
 The styles, performance, and
music are related to the cultural
roots, historical eras, and
geographic areas from which the
dance originates.
B. DANCE FITNESS
 Is a fun way to increase
cardiovascular endurance,
strength, flexibility.
 Various dance genres
support fitness.
 Dance-related fitness training
systems, such as zumba
fitness, and cardio dance,
have boomed recently.
 A lot of people enjoy using
dance as a fitness activity.
 What makes a good dance?
 A good dance displays a
significant meaning or conveys a
message.
 Sometimes, it also portrays life
experiences.
 Dance may be presented
abstracting and symbol tickly but
still, convey emotion and
meaning ( Mc-Greevy-Nichols et
al. 2005).
 A good dance lift and transports
the audience from their seats
during the performance.
 It has a beginning, middle, and
end/conclusion.
a. The beginning of dance may
come in a form of a shape, a
post, or an entrance.
b. the middle consists of the
development or the exploration
of the main idea.
c. the ending slash conclusion
should be clear and may be in a
form of a shape, opposed, or an
exit.
 all works, whether it is a sport,
music, or dance, must have a
form brought to their elements by
means of orderly arrangement,
meaning, and purpose (Lockhart,
1982).
 There must be a sense of
direction .
 a good dance, therefore. must
have a shape or a form for its
choreography to be effective.
 What is form?
 A form is an instrument by which
ideas and elements are arranged
or combined into a logical
sequence which results in unity
and consistency, and by means
of which the content or idea can
be expressed and
communicated.
 it is the organizing factor of any
work or dance composition
( Lockhart, 1982).
 The form should progress through
time from the beginning to the
end of the choreography( Minton,
2007).
 Each section is composed of
several units that are smoothly
connected to each other.
 this is small units are called
phrases.
 What is a phrase?
 When you combine one
movement with several others,
they form a unit.
 When units are pieced together,
they make up a section in the
choreography and the sections
together form a whole dance.
 Therefore, “A phrase is the
smallest unit of form in the whole
dance”(Blom and Chaplin, 1988).
 It can be related to a sentence in
writing compositions.
 Choreographers and dancers use
movement phrasing when
working on dances.
 Although Minton (1997) suggests
that movement phrases should
vary in length and shape, most of
the dances these days use
equal-length phrases.
 Commonly, a single phrase
consists of 8 counts.
 it is easier to building routines and
choreography combinations with
an 8-count phrase.
 What is a motif?
 A good dance contains a team
or emotive to be able to convey
its meaning or intention to the
audience.
 a dance without meaning makes
it harder for the audience to
understand; thus, making it
superficial and easy to forget.
 a single movement or a short
phrase of movement that
embodies the style and intention
of the dance are called a motif .
 a good dance uses a motif in
which the movements are
repeated, varied, and developed
by manipulating the movement
components or elements.
 One good example of a dance
with a motif is the itik-itik
Philippine folk dance . it is easy
to identify the motif of this dance
as it simply portrays the
movements of an itik or also
called as a duckling.
 What are the characteristics
of a good dance?
 All this characteristic are
organized to contribute to the
development of meaningful
dance. it is easier to recognize a
good dance when all the
characteristics have been
applied in the choreography .
 as the author of dance
choreography Sarah
Cenry Minton (2007) has pointed
 out,” all phrases in a work should
be designed to form the
integrated section of your dance,
and all the sections of the dance
should be placed in a sequence
that moves towards the
appropriate conclusion period
the development of work should
lead the audience logically from
the beginning through the middle
and on the end of the dance .”
A. UNITY
 The interconnected phases of the
dance are coherent and flow
smoothly together .
 the movements fit together and
each plays an important role that
contributes to the entire dance.
 It is crucial for a dance to have
unity to effectively make the
audience understand the
choreography as a whole .
 it also attracts and holds the
audience’s attention.
B. COMMUNITY AND
DEVELOPMENT
 The phrase of the dance that are
organized progressively, making
each movement praise move
naturally into the next.
 there is a continuous
development of the movement
praise and the audience is swept
along to the end.
 Some dances develop clinically
in much the same way a play or
an oval grows from the process of
the natural unfolding of an idea,
or something it is built upon a
structure ordinary in associated
with poetry ( Lockhart, 1988)
C. VARIETY AND CONTRAST
 Making one or several variations
that highlights a facet of the
motif.
 this provides variety within the
development of dance. It
introduces new material, which is
noticeably different from
anything so first seen in the
dance (Rickett-Young, 1996).
 Variety and contrast in
movement traces add
excitement and flavor in the
dance.
 changing directions, use of
energy, timing of a movement
phrase, and avoiding repeating
them in the exact way our ways
to add brighter to dance.
 examples of contrasting
movements are slow to fast, short
to long, and minimal to large
movement phrases.
D. TRASITION
 This is the link between
movements, phrases, and
sections of the dance.
 it makes the logical progression of
the dance flow smoothly .
 also, it is vital because it it keeps
the unity and continuity of the
dance.
 Transitions may vary from length
and complexity .
 they may be long or short,
gradual or abrupt.
 They may also be simple or
involving an entire phrase of
movement.
E. REPETITION
 Emphasize movements and
phrases that are important to
dance and give a feeling of
closure to a work .
 some phrases need to be
repeated in choreography so
that the audience can see those
movements again and identify its
significance .
 usually, when a certain phrase or
affection of choreography is
repeated, it is the main message
of the dance period dysfunction
to make clearer the meaning or
intention of the dance.
 also, if the audience gets familiar
with the movement it gives them
a feeling of comfort.
F. CLIMAX
 This is where the apex of energy
in dance is rich .
 it is similar to a climax in the story
where a series of events
culminates.
 the climax may be a fast and
enraged Blast of energy and
action, or it could fade away to a
gentle and quiet exit that marks
the end of a particular story
music will often assist both the
choreographer and the
audience when determining this
point of development .