Physical Education (Dance)

to please the gods to please others to please themselves or self-expression to build community within an ethnic group or social interaction

4 reasons people still dance

Three types of Life-Cycle Dances

Coutship Dance, Wedding Dance, and Funeral Dance

Space Timing Dance Energies Bodily Shapes Group Shapes

Elements of Dance

Pre historic era Pre-Christian Ancient Greeks Education Ancient Rome Catholic Church Renaissance

History of Dances

Noble Ignoble

Plato highlighted two types of music and dancing:

Education

Plato, Aristotle and Socrates are Greek philosophers who strongly asserted that dance is an art as an integration of body and soul.

Direction Size Level Focus

Spatial Elements

Folk dance

a form of dance developed by a group of people that reflects the traditional life of the people of a certain country, region or community

Ethnic dances or Ethnological dances

are those performed in primitive tribes have retained their close kinship with religious ritual and community custom. They can be performed in three different categories, namely ritual, life-cycle, and occupational.

Symmetrical

balanced shape; movements are practically identical or similar on both sides.

Dance

been a major form of religious and social expression within primitive cultures

Physical Mental/ emotional Social Cultural

benefits of dance and creative movements

Direction

dance movements can travel in any direction. The performers can go forward, side, backward, diagonal, circular, and so on.

Renaissance

dance then was wholly accepted in the courts during early renaissance as the gradual increase of the capitalist class produced patrons of learning and art in Europe. During this era, dance and art in general gained impetus. The entertainers now became valuable appendage to the courts of Italy and France and they were to serve the secular goals of the wealthy and powerful nobles who had emerged throughout Europe.

Dance Energies

dance uses different energies and a varied use of these minimizes the monotony of the movements in a performance

Ritual and Ceremonial dances

dances performed as part of the rituals and ceremonies of a certain tribe or group of people.

Festival dances

dances that are religious or secular and are connected with the celebration of recurring events of special significance.

Occupational dances

dances that depict the means of livelihood of the Filipino people.

Social amenities dances

dances that express social graces, hospitality and offerings of gift to friends. According to Aquino (1979) it is performed by people from high social standing in the community during special occasions honouring high government officials and church dignitaries.

Mimetic or drama dances

dances that mimic animals, inanimate objects, or other people. The dancers get into roles other than themselves and become actors totally immersed in the story the dances tell.

Life-cycle dances-

dances that serve as ritual as one passes to a different stage in life such as from birth to childhood to adulthood; from singlehood to marriage; and from life to death. Below are the different dances that portray life cycle

Catholic Church

dances then became part of worships and church services.

Ancient Greeks

dancing was taught as an aid to military education among boys of Athens and Sparta, not just for religious and military training but also for entertainment and display

Dance

differs from athletics or other daily activities because it focuses primarily on "aesthetic or even entertaining experience"

Noble

fine and honourable

Ignoble

imitating what is mean and ugly

Group shapes

in this element, a group of dancers perform movements in different group shapes. They are arranged in ways that are wide, narrow, rounded, angular, symmetrical or asymmetrical and are viewed together as a total picture or arrangement within a picture frame

Bodily Shapes

it refers to how the entire body is molded in a space or the configuration of the body parts. The body can be rounded, angular, or a combination of two. Other boy shapes can be from wide to narrow and from high to low. They can be symmetrical and asymmetrical.

Pre historic era

man danced originally to supplicate the gods on all important occasions of life

Pre-Christian

most of dances in this era were chiefly a medium of religious expression

Sustained

movements are done smoothly, continuously, and with flow and control. It does not have a clear beginning and ending.

Percussive

movements are explosive or sharp in contrast with sustained movements. They are accented with thrust of energy.

Suspended

movements are perched in a space or hanging on air. Holding a raised leg in any direction is an example of this movement

Collapsing

movements are released in tension and gradually or abruptly giving in to gravity letting the body descend to the floor. A slow collapse can be described as a melting or oozing action in a downward direction.

Size

movements can be varied by doing larger or smaller actions

Vibratory

movements consist of trembling or shaking. A faster version of percussive movement that produces jittery effect.

Swinging

movements traced a curved line or an arc in space. The movements are relaxed and giving in to gravity on the downward part of the motion, followed by an upward application of energy

Sustained Percussive Vibratory Swinging Suspended Collapsing

six qualities of dance energies

Timing

the movements timing may be executed in varying tempo (speed).

War dances

these dances are representation of performers illustrating struggle in a combat or duel. According to Lopez (2006) these are dances that express feud and enmity wherein two male dancers engage in physical combat Spartan-like intensity.

Ancient Rome

they gave less importance in dancing. It stopped valuing such qualities in art as the nation grew wealthy and powerful. The romans ceased to create and perform within the arts themselves. Dance became brutal and sensualized since the performers are slaves and captives from many nationalities, and it was used more often for gruesome purposes. Eventually dance became part of corruption resulting in the condemnation of dance by early Christians.

Space

this is the area the performers occupy and where they move. It can be divided into four different aspects also known as spatial elements.

Asymmetrical

unbalanced shape; movements of two side of the body do not match or completely different from each other.

Dance

used as a way of expressing and reinforcing tribal unity and strength, as an approach for courtship and mating, and as a means of worship and communication, and therapeutic experience