DANCE 100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Sacred Dance, Greek Dances, Terpsichore
Document Summary
Dance 100 chapter 2 dance and religion. Dances of imitation: movements of living things or natural phenomena inspiration for dance, animal, event, make an outcome more likely to happen. Commemorative dances: often entire community, important events, preserve history of a group, milestones: birth, initiation into adulthood, marriage, death, apache indians: purify girls reaching puberty and prepare them for womanhood, rituals to test individual"s worthiness, knowledge, endurance. Dances for spiritual connection: reaching more spiritual plane, connecting with gods or spirits, expressions of gratitude toward a deity, whirling, trace-like state, dance until exhaustion. Earliest form of dance came from egyptian tombs. Romans adopted many greek dance characteristics, changing names of gods and keeping their characteristics. Sacred dance a part of earliest civilizations. Bharata natyam (performed by women primarily): bliss of union with god. Kathakali (performed by men) relate stories of the gods: word and hand gestures. References to dancing in the old testament.
