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8

Cultural DanceCultural Dance

C H A P T E R

Chapter 8Cultural Dance

Enduring understanding:

People dance all over the world.

Essential question:

How does a cultural dance represent the values and beliefs of a culture?

 

Learning Objectives

• Understand the cultural geographic regions, cultures, and major dance forms.

• Participate in one or more cultural dances using correct footwork, rhythm, and styling.

• Translate cultural dance vocabulary into re-creating one or more cultural dances from different parts of the world.

• Evaluate and respond to cultural dance performances.

“Any problem in the world can be solved by dancing.

--James Brown, 20th-century African American musician, dancer, and activist

Introduction

Dance has been called the universal language; you live in a world that dances.

Appreciating the culture and arts of a people and recognizing their artists makes us global citizens.

Chapter 8 Vocabulary Terms

cultural anthropology

cultural clash

ethnologist

ethnology

ethnomusicologist

ethnomusicology

first people

Cultural Dance

All over the world, dance has been a part of culture from prehistory.

War, migration, and politics changed dances and dance’s role within a culture as a whole or in communities. These changes extended to the people, their values and beliefs, their languages, and their ways of life.

Within geographic regions are distinct differences in dances because of the people’s ethnic and cultural diversity.

In any region dance can be ritual or religious, traditional, historical, or contemporary dance performed as custom, recreation, entertainment, or art.

 

Cultural Geography

Geographers have identified distinct natural and physical features (ecosystems) in regions throughout the world. Studying a geographic region that supports human culture is also known as cultural geography.

Each cultural region contains countries, people of various racial and ethnic groups, and their cultural values.

Cultural Regions

Culture Is . . .

Culture is a community or society’s knowledge, beliefs, values, customs, and common heritage. These commonalities and differences are what makes each country or region unique.

People have many different views about defining and describing dance from geographic or cultural regions of the world. Some people consider dances from across these regions to be examples of world dance, while others might call these dances cultural dance.

Regardless of where you live in the world, you participate in

dances that reflect a lot or a little of the culture.

Common Elements of Culture

• Culture is a way of life, learned and shared with future generations.

• Culture changes with time and is symbolic.

• The economy drives a culture.

Studying Dance in Cultures

When you study dances as part of a culture, you are using different lenses to see each dance in its cultural context, including these:

•Cultural geography

•Cultural anthropology

•Ethnology

•Ethnomusicology

Cultural Dances

Today, in one country you can encounter many cultural dances.

•First people (also called aboriginals)

•Dances of early settlers who migrated to the area in colonial or postcolonial versions

(continued)

Cultural Dances (continued)

• Blended dances created after

– wars that changed a people and their culture (with or without cultural clashes)

– migration of people and their culture to the region or country

• Newer variations of traditional dances that evolve over time

• Dances of tribes, first people, and ethnic groups who strive to keep their ancestral traditions alive in contemporary society

Cultural Understanding

1. Culture is about participating as a community; it can be related to ritual, spiritual, and life events and celebrations.

2. Culture can be defined as a way of life that is learned, shared with future generations, and changes with time.

Explore MoreTake a virtual dance tour on the web resource. See an overview of each country’s geography, history, and some of its most important dances. The section on street dances present a global phenomenon.

Africa

India

Japan

Mexico

Early America

Street Dances

Analyze a Cultural Dance

First, use the dance elements to identify how space, time, energy, effort, and relationships are used in the dance.

Then, answer these questions:

•How does the dance relate to the music?

•Does the dance have a structure?

•What three major features make the dance unique?

Summary

Cultural dance is the enduring memory of humanity that passes from one generation to the next.

Just like many memories, people sometimes contribute their uniqueness to the dance as a result of their experiences or desire to share in the continuation of the dance.