Trevor Georgi Dec 18th, 2012 Dance Through History 1.

Lineage based culture: Dance in a lineage based society was just a part life to them. It was a daily routine, something you could see happening on any corner. It was used for many different purposes; courtship, religious ceremonies, education, healing. It was a tool for teaching medicinal techniques, teaching morals and principals, to gain spiritual power and become connected to the spiritual nature of life. The ritual was the most important thing for these societies, and they would perfect their different dances and rituals. They didn't have a written form for their languages, so they would pass down their dances and rituals orally. That is what i believe these societies greatest pass down trait was: orally passing down traditions. In our society we learn quite a bit through books and schools, however, we also obtain a large percentage of what we learn orally. Egyptian Culture Dance was something that was done by everyone, even the Pharaohs would dance. Egyptian culture was extremely afterlife oriented. Their funerals were extremely fancy, usually consisting of a person dressing up as the deceased person, dancing, procession etc. Often times these funeral ceremonies would last for days on end. Women were highly empowered in the Egyptian culture, they often took care of household affairs while the men were working or in battle. However, they still wouldn't dance together with the men. One of the largest contribution this culture gave to the world down to us was creating the first dance companies. These dance companies started out as being salve groups, but they quickly became prominent professional groups. Ancient Hebrew Culture:

The Hebrew culture is chalk full of dance being everywhere. They were a prized nation for their performing arts: dance and music. Their culture in dance can be described by the bible and the original translations for the word "dance". There were 12 different verbs that were translated from dance that we now see in our bible. These words are now found as "praise", "joy", "play" and many other words. The Hebrews danced to show their appreciation to God, they danced to show their happiness. They believed dance was a spiritual experience and blessed by God. Their celebrations and ceremonies involved dancing, their daily life involved dancing. Dance was a huge part of their lives. The biggest contribution to dance the hebrews gave to us was their belief that dancing was joyous and blessed by God. I've met so many people who believe that dancing is evil, or that it is a waste of time and effort. If only they knew that the bible specifically had so many references to dancing as good, then they would know that dance was a good thing. Dance is starting to become something that is joyous and wonderful in our society today, something that hasn't happened in our society for some years. Ancient Greek Society. "If you don't understand beauty, you cannot truly learn." This phrase sums up beautifully the Greek's belief system for dance. They believed that dance was divinely inspired, and that only when a person truly understood, or did something beautiful could they truly learn and obtain knowledge. They believed that their Gods Apollo and Dionysus blessed and helped them through dance. They also believed that if people could dance like the cosmic bodies in heaven, then they could bring harmony to the world (Cosmic dance). Dance was a source of joy for their culture. Dance was also used as a teaching tool for young men to grow and learn how to be warriors. The Pyrrhic dances were dances that were designed to train the body through mock fighting styles and movements. I believe that the greeks have passed down to us their love and beauty for dance. Dance has been through some wonderful and also some rough patches through out history, but it has always remained beautiful, and wondrous to those who watch. This is what they passed down to us.

Ancient Roman Society: Dance in Roman culture is hard to explain. They were antagonistic to it, but they also still had dance involved in their festivals. Even some of their Gods participated in dances, only not as extravagant as the myths that came out of Ancient Greece. One form of dance that developed from the Romans was Pantomime. It was a wordless dance and it became extremely popular in their society. One thing that I believe was passed down from the Roman culture was the dislike for dance in general in their society. Our culture today has a very similar mindset to dance: a dislike, almost fear of dance, and yet we still continue to have dancing in certain situations. Clubs, parties, and formal gatherings often times have some form of dancing, and yet I still hear people all of the time being scared and confused at what we as dancers do.

3. The medieval era versus the Renaissance era is an interesting topic. First let's look at the medieval era. The main belief during that time period was that the body was impure, it needed to be punished to cleanse it to achieve spiritual purity. This was a process called flagellation. These people would starve themselves, beat themselves, even whip themselves to

punish the body. They abstained from things that were good for the body or that brought pleasure to one's soul. Their dance came in many different forms. They had dances for death, such as the dance of macabre. They also had dances for their higher class, and also dances for their peasant class. Their dances were attempts at keeping spirits somewhat high, but their focus on punishing the body would be my guess as to what helped keep them "in the dark" for so long. This type of belief system along with their extensive way of treating the body, is a complete 180 degree change from how the renaissance viewed life and dance. Dance was more than just an escape from life for this time period, it was a time for flourishing. First off, the term that sticks out so much for this time period is Humanism. Humanism, is simply a return to the belief that people are worth something- that people can interpret right from wrong for themselves. This mind set was founded in the belief that the body should be nourished, it should be upheld as a wonder, instead of something that is evil and impure. Humanism helped the body become something that was cherished again. The higher class pampered themselves, they took care of their bodies. Flagellation events and processions were no longer performed. Even the peasant class tried to take care of their bodies as best they could. In this era, dance really took flight especially with the arrival of the Medicii family, and then later King Louis the XIV. Both of these monarchs/families helped dance become something that was wonderful and inspiring. They both created ballet's and comedies that were the envy of countries. The body, was the mode for the beauty of the dances that came about, and as the Greek's belief system went, "beauty" is the epitome of all things. The renaissance was the beginning of this transformation of dance, and also the body to something pure and wholesome.