• Egyptian religious rituals comprised of dance and music where trained dancers were employed.

• Dancers performed acrobatic acts in sacred temples.

• Egyptians ardently believe in resurrection such that funeral dances were adhered to with zealous conformity.

• Dancers don themselves with masks and stunning headdresses, in honor of the gods.

• Even the slaves were trained for home performances.

Egyptian Dance

Acrobatic dancers, KarnakExcerpt from a photo by M.Audrain

Masks and headdresses

Greek Dance• Dancing played a great part in Greek religious

rites.• They believe that dance came from gods, and

such was a gift. Nevertheless, they were realistic enough to acknowledge that it was natural for man to move his body to express his emotions. Thus dancing was regarded both as gymnastic and mimetic, as a means of attaining health in every part of body.

Greek DanceRitual dances:• Thesmophoria – a tribute to Demeter, the

goddess of agriculture and her daughter, Persephone.

• Orgiastic dances – in honor of Dionysus, the god of fertility

• Dithyramb or choral dance – executed with slow rhythmic steps.

Demeter Persephone

Dionysus

Roman Dance• The great contribution of Romans to

dance is the pantomime.• Pantomime is a solo performance

accompanied by a small orchestra, with highly stylized sequence of movements, and with stress on gestures.

Mimes Jean and Brigitte Soubeyran

Roman Dance• It is first seen in 22 B.C., with

performances of Bathyllus of Alexandria and Pylades of Cicilia.

• Pantomime later declined when it became erotic and cheap.

Orestes and Pylades

Medieval Dance

• The period when death was greatly shunned because of the prevalence of bubonic plague that killed rich and poor alike.

Medieval Dance• Danse Macabre or the Dance of Death gained

social significance. It was hysterically gay, which started with animated dancing, until someone would fall to the ground and play dead, while the others would dance around him with mock mourning. If the corpse was a man, he would be kissed back to life by the girls and vice versa, then a round dance would follow. The act of dying and living signified the joy of life.

Medieval Dance• Dansomania – uncontrollable dance craze

that got hold the people during middle ages.• Earole – most popular dance at fairs and folk

festivals. It is a professional dance from Provence dance-song performed only in May.

• During the 12th century, dance was revolutionized by romantic love and chivalry. Politeness and suggestiveness was highlighted.

Medieval Dance• Chivalric dancing was done indoors with a

leading couple, followed by others who stepped slowly around the room in a form of a procession.

• The most significant development during late Medieval period was the distinction between court and folk dancing. The distinction lies in the manner of execution, the former danced in a more refined and restrained manner while the latter in uncontrolled discipline.

Medieval Dance

Renaissance Dance

• Theater Dance was born in the courts of Italian city states, where it was used as a political machinery, to show splendor, wealth and power.

• Entertainment includes masquerades, mummeries, and pageants

• The rustic folk dance was replaced by the more refined and restrained court dance.

• Bassa dance – meaning slow dance, queen of all dances and the most popular

Masquerade ball at the Carnival of Venice

A Venziana mask from Verona, Italy

Classical Dance• Ballet became a spectacle in every

court and public performance during the middle 17th century. This is a mixture of poetry, music, dialogue, and an elaborate design.• Ballets a entrees – classic form of

ballet.

Classical Dance• Minuet – from pas menu or small step, a

dance in moderate triple time became the social dance during the 18th century. The main characteristics include the ceremonies bows, solemn forward, sideward, and backward with graceful steps and gentle sliding.

• Waltz – during the second half of the 18th century, came from the German walzen, to roll or to turn.

Classical Dance• The classical masters of waltz were Josef Lanner,

Johann Strauss and his son Johann Strauss Jr. with his Beautiful Blue Danube, Southern Roses and Tales from the Vienna Woods.

• At 19th century, classical ballet underwent technical perfection such as aerial grace, fairy-tale background, clash of natural with supernatural, mingling of dream and actuality, with the ballerina becoming an idealized perfection of a woman, the unattainable, the dream.

Ballet

20th Century Dance

• Classical ballet continued to flourish.• Jazz became popular together with the

emergence of tap dance.• 1900 – fox-trot, two-step, and Boston• Between 1912-1914 – Castle walk and Castle

polka• 1910 – tango• 1920’s – Charleston

20th Century Dance

• 1930’s – Cuban rumba, and conga (a follow-the-leader dance)

• At the end of World War II – mambo with an interest in calypso and rock n’ roll

• Late 1950’s and early 1960’s – cha-cha-cha and twist

Modern Dance• Isadora Duncan, together with Mary Wigman

of Germany pioneered modern dance in America creating new form of expression. Others were Doris Humprey and Charles Weidman

• Twyla Tharp became the most prominent figure in modern dance in early 1970’s.

• Musical comedies on Broadway began a new era where words and music were integrated.

Modern Dance• Hanya Holm found expression for the dance

in the musicals namely Kiss Me, Kate and My Fair Lady.

• Jerome Robbins, producer of West Side Story, used the dance to further the drama, and so with musicals entitled On the Town, The King and I, and Fiddler on the Roof.

Isadora Duncan Mary Wigman

Doris Humprey and Charles Weidman

Hanya HolmTwyla Tharp

Philippine Dance

• The religious and communal festivities of the Filipinos have a bearing on their traditional dances.

Philippine DanceSome Classification of Philippine Dance:1. Tribal Dance• Ex. Canao (a magic dance of the mountain

tribes)

Igorot men dancing a canao

Philippine Dance2. Imitation of Nature and folk activities• Maglalatik (joys of gathering coconut)

Philippine Dance• Singkil (Muslim wedding dance)

Philippine Dance3. Group dancing in Festivities• Ex. Ati-atihan (Kalibo)

Philippine Dance• Sinulog, hala-bira (Cebu)

Philippine Dance4. Courtship and War Dances (Cordilleras)5. Imitation of animal movements• Tinikling (tikling)

Philippine Dance• Itik-itik (duck)

Philippine Dance

6. Lunsay – a unique and intricate group dance of Jama Mapuns. The participants hold hands forming a circle while they dance and sing to the tune of the accompanying love song. The steps can be slow or fast depending on the mood of the dancers and it may go on for hours.

Philippine Dance

7. Folk Dances• Pandanggo, Surtido and Jota ( Spanish

and Mexican origin)• Polka, Rigodon, and Waltz (European

origin)