Search results
May 27, 1999 · Dance, the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself. Learn more about the history, styles, and aesthetics of dance in this article.
- Types of Dance
Dance - Ballet, Tap, Jazz: The division of dance into types...
- John Martin
In dance. John Martin, the 20th-century dance critic, almost...
- The Aesthetics of Dance
Dance - Movement, Expression, Art: One of the most basic...
- Igor Youskevitch
Other articles where Igor Youskevitch is discussed: Alicia...
- Indian Classical Dance
The six recognized schools of Indian classical dance...
- Basic Steps, Formations
Basic steps and formations Ballet and modern dance. The...
- Drama
Dance - Drama, Expression, Movement: Throughout history...
- Choreography, Process, Phases
The music determines the structure of a dance work, too—by...
- Theatre Dance
Dance - Theatre, Performance, Expression: Ballet has been...
- Social Dance
Dance - Social, Ritual, Performance: When the early European...
- Types of Dance
- Overview
- What makes a dance a folk dance?
- Operational definitions
folk dance, generally, a type of dance that is a vernacular, usually recreational, expression of a past or present culture. The term folk dance was accepted until the mid-20th century. Then this and other categories of dance were questioned and their distinctions became subject to debate.
For the purposes of this article, the designation folk dance will be used for convenience, without the extended discussion of terms that a more scholarly treatment would require. It is important, however, to examine other ways to write and think about the types of dances that might be characterized as traditional. It is also essential to note that people in many non-Western cultures do not themselves describe any activity as dance in the way that English speakers do. This article examines possible ways to look at and define folk dance, how various groups might conceive of their dances, and how the study of folk dance was born and developed. See also dance, for a general treatment of dance as an art form. For further treatment of the folk arts, see folk music; folklore; folk literature; folk art.
Logically speaking, the adjective folk should modify the noun dance to indicate a certain kind of dance and dancing and perhaps the style or some other distinguishing feature of the dance or performance. It should also imply who the performers are. However, the term folk dance, which has been in common use since the late 19th century, along with its parent term folklore, which was coined in 1846, is not as descriptive or uncontroversial as it might seem. Much of the problem lies in the attitudes and purposes of early scholars and their audience.
Usually, the designation folk was used by those who did not consider themselves to belong to the folk and were confident that they knew which other people were the folk. Some of these observers described folk communities with condescension as peasants, simple or quaint people who were illiterate and unselfconscious, carrying on supposedly unsophisticated and ancient traditions. Such writers concluded that “true” folk dances were created anonymously and transmitted from person to person. Many scholars of the late 19th and early 20th centuries postulated a sort of Darwinian social evolution that passed from imagined beginnings through existing folk dances to arrive at modern recreational dances. This attitude, which fell out of favour by the 1930s, was part of a larger worldview that sometimes went so far as to place certain other groups of people farther down the human evolutionary tree from themselves and their peers.
Not surprisingly, a backlash developed, and since the middle of the 20th century the word folk has often been avoided because of the condescending attitude its use is thought to represent. Many cultural groups around the world demanded that their performing arts not be characterized by the term. Thus, some archives and organizations found it expedient to change the word folk to traditional in their names. For example, in the 1960s the Folk Music Archives at Indiana University was renamed Archives of Traditional Music. Similarly, in 1980 the International Folk Music Council, a nonprofit organization supported by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), changed its name to International Council for Traditional Music. Its study section on dance broadened in scope from folk dance to ethnochoreology, the study of all dance forms in a culture.
Although many academics in the 21st century avoid any use of the word folk because of its past misuse and possible offensiveness, those who do accept the term often mean “traditional,” “authentic,” or “from olden times.” Those who want to avoid implying that culture is static may refuse to use any such categorical term.
Students save 67%! Learn more about our special academic rate today.
Learn More
Of major significance, a point that is critical to the understanding of folk dance is the following fact: folk dance is not a universal genre of dance. When folk dances are compared from one culture to another, they have in common no universal movement, figure, form, style, or function. Neither does a specific movement, figure, form, style, or function identify a dance as a folk dance. The simplest approach to definition might be to say that folk dances are those dances identified with and performed by folk dancers. By the same reasoning, folk dancers are those persons who perform folk dances.
Yet these circular definitions are inadequate. Some persons who perform what outsiders define as folk dances do not themselves identify their dances as folk dances. And some persons who perform such dances do not identity themselves as folk dancers. Others reject the word folk entirely, as having nothing to do with who they are or what dances they do.
Mar 19, 2015 · While there is no inter-culturally valid definition of music, and the cover term music is found in only selected cultures, a number of presumptive universals indicate that musicality is a prominent and distinctive characteristic of humankind. All peoples engage in activities that we would call music, often in relation to play, and everywhere in ...
- Sandra E. Trehub, Judith Becker, Iain Morley
- 2015
Aug 14, 2018 · Research about music has generated diverse beliefs, views, and theories that explore its nature and meaning. A recurring theme in the early literature on this topic is the view that the particular cultural context that surrounds a distinct music practice influences the music produced within those cultural boundaries (Herndon & McLeod, 1982; Lomax, 1976; Merriam, 1964; Nettl, 1992).
- Georgina Barton
- 2018
People also ask
What is the purpose of dance?
What is a universal definition of dance?
Does music create cultural meaning?
What is folk dance?
6 days ago · Music, art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody, and, in most Western music, harmony. Learn about the history of music and about theories of musical meaning since the 19th century.
- Gordon Epperson
Sep 1, 2012 · Music is a cultural activity universally present in all human societies. Several hypotheses have been formulated to understand the possible origins of music and the reasons for its emergence.
Nov 12, 2019 · The Cultural Significance of Dance. by Abril Brito Mones | November 12, 2019. The definition of dance has evolved throughout the centuries. “The early western Greek theater consisted of dancing and singing and speaking, all together.
