Sunday, 21 November 2010

Line Of Inquiry


I have been really interested in some of the lines of inquiries others on the course have come up with but have struggled to focus on one for myself. I wanted it to be relevant to what I am doing now and something that I can really get stuck in to.

As I have been teaching people of all ages in a number of community dance sessions lately, it made me think about Social Dance. What role does dance play in society and how has it changed over the years? How and why is it different between different cultures and ages groups?

As performers a lot of us dance because we have a passion for it and it’s something we love.  But what other benefits does dance have?

  • Its great exercise.
  •  It can build confidence.
  • Increases coordination/flexibility.
  •  Its fun.
  • It’s a great way of socialising.
Shows like strictly come dancing have bought dance back into the public eye. It’s become popular again; people are inspired to want to learn to dance.

I attended a Scottish friend’s Wedding at the beginning of the year in Edinburgh.  To kick of the evening entertainment they had a Kay lee band playing (which at the time I hadn’t heard of). All the Scottish guests new these set dances and had us all up participating too. It was so much fun! I was dancing with people I hadn’t even spoken to throughout the day and it was a great way to bring everyone together, and get the party started.

Another great experience I had with social dance was when I was out rehearsing in LA. We knew a guy who took salsa classes so a few of us went along and learnt the basics then after the class the whole place filled up with people and everyone danced the night away. I got asked to dance with so many different people, who I had never met and will never see again but it was so enjoyable. We didn’t stop dancing all night; I was exhausted by the end, but had had the best time. I have never experienced anything like that in this country where there is such energy and a passion for dance from the public. I don’t think it is in our culture.



3 comments:

  1. I think this would be an interesting subject to explore looking at the way different cultures express themselves through dance. Dancing is a big element of many events and celebrations. It is a way that we express ourselves as well as a great tool for social interraction. Animals and humans have used it for mating as well! You could go into the history of dance, how it has developed and how social dance is different around the world.
    Your comment on the English not being passionate I would slightly disagree with. Our history in dance was that of English country dancing and ballroom which have a very different style to salsa. Salsa originated from Cuba and is a dance of passion and intimacy compared with our English traditions of country and ballroom dancing that are more reserved in nature.

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  2. Thanks for your comments.
    Perhaps i was too quick to judge British society when it comes to dancing! I realise we have different traditions so perhaps its just that ours have changed more over time? You dont tend to see people out dancing in our traditional ballroom way whereas from my experince people from Latino countries love to still dance salsa and feel that rhythm no matter who they are, its like its in their blood!

    Could it be that the change in popular music is what has influenced our dancing styles over the years?

    Just some thoughts!

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  3. Thank you for sharing this, it made me think about why people dance, all over the world, and throughout time.
    I recently had a chance to attend a lecture on dance history;it was interesting to learn that
    The origin of dance is found in religious/spiritual ceremonies, as a prayer,or communication between god/supernatural existence.
    The other fact that fascinated me was that people were 'prohibited to dance' at some point during the middle ages.

    'Social dance' seems to be an excellent line of inquiery, I look forward to reading your further thoughts!

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