History of Dance
What is dance? Why do we love to do it, and more importantly where did it come from?
Dance is the way we move our bodies to the rhythm and sound of the music. It’s not just a form of exercise; it is a passion, the feeling of expressing yourself through movement. It is art. There are several types of dance such as jazz, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, African, along with many other genres. I will give you a general history from where dance came from, and then be more specific when I talk on a certain type of dance. Since the beginning of time there have been rituals of song, dance, and a story to go along with it. In a lot of ancient civilizations dancing for the gods was an important ritual. At Egyptian funerals they would dance to show the grief of the mourning people. In sacred happenings such as the games held in Greece, they were welcomed with dancing. In India they made formal hand movements that express significance. That dance is still used today by practitioners. As you can see dance comes from everywhere around the world expressing their own and unique movements. It was believed that dance brought peace, love, harmony, and beauty to the arts. Ballet is probably the most well-known dance out there and has been around for centuries. Ballet came from the Renaissance in France and Italy. It involves performers dancing usually to celebrate something such as one of the royals getting married. The love of dance carries throughout the centuries. A large part of the pleasure from the people was seeing the dancers prance in extraordinary costumes. King Louis XIV was a big fan of ballet. To show it to his friends he decided to bring the best dancing masters to form the Royal Academy of Dance, and later the Royal Academy of Music. These two institutions eventually join together to form the Paris Opera which still exists today! This is probably the earliest known ballet company. One of the world’s first prima ballerinas was names Mille de Lafontaine. She
Dance is the way we move our bodies to the rhythm and sound of the music. It’s not just a form of exercise; it is a passion, the feeling of expressing yourself through movement. It is art. There are several types of dance such as jazz, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, African, along with many other genres. I will give you a general history from where dance came from, and then be more specific when I talk on a certain type of dance. Since the beginning of time there have been rituals of song, dance, and a story to go along with it. In a lot of ancient civilizations dancing for the gods was an important ritual. At Egyptian funerals they would dance to show the grief of the mourning people. In sacred happenings such as the games held in Greece, they were welcomed with dancing. In India they made formal hand movements that express significance. That dance is still used today by practitioners. As you can see dance comes from everywhere around the world expressing their own and unique movements. It was believed that dance brought peace, love, harmony, and beauty to the arts. Ballet is probably the most well-known dance out there and has been around for centuries. Ballet came from the Renaissance in France and Italy. It involves performers dancing usually to celebrate something such as one of the royals getting married. The love of dance carries throughout the centuries. A large part of the pleasure from the people was seeing the dancers prance in extraordinary costumes. King Louis XIV was a big fan of ballet. To show it to his friends he decided to bring the best dancing masters to form the Royal Academy of Dance, and later the Royal Academy of Music. These two institutions eventually join together to form the Paris Opera which still exists today! This is probably the earliest known ballet company. One of the world’s first prima ballerinas was names Mille de Lafontaine. She