Lord of the Dance
Egungun
Dance Drama
Oriki
praise songs to specific deities.
The Cosmic Dance
which among other things symbolizes the blessing of release from worldly cares dance, brings
Purpose of Dance Drama
Dance drama properly performed "emboldens the weak, energizes the heroic, enlightens the ignorant and imparts erudition to the scholars" by showing humanity the divinity as they really are.
Eastern Attitudes
Dance plays a central role in worship
Egungun
Dancers are treated as the ancestors come to life. Using distinctive hand gestures and steps to express the personality of the ancestor. The body serves at the conduit to the realm of the spirit as the Egungun maskers conceals all evidence of his identity
Hinduism
- suggests that two realms are in essence one, and that one of the ways to affirm the underlying unity of creation is through dance.
Musike
> Ancient Greek word for song, dance and instrumental music.
Early Christian Attitudes and Practices
> Had a love-hate relationship to the body > Thought to live a pure life that required denial of the body. > Believed that the body was inferior to the spirit. >Only a body properly purified could perform sacred dances
Aristotle
> He understood the representation of the actions and passions of men through rhythmic movements. > He thought all Greek citizens had an obligation to attend dance performance, which could teach important lessons through imitation of real-life events - purging or catharsis. > He feared the corrupting influence of a life devoted to dance and urged that professional dance be reserved for slaves and foreigners.
Acceptable
> Labyrinth dances, morality and mystery plays
Reciprocal Relationship
> The relationship between deity and devotee is reciprocal > In return for devotion, orisha will protect the devotee, drive away disease, ensure healthy children and the like. > Deities that are not regularly fed and honored by devotees will "die" > "Without human beings there would be no gods"
Communication
> Worshipers communicate with gods and ancestors through both words and dance. > Communal gatherings that involve drumming, dancing and chanting >When properly invoked, gods enter the human community by possessing certain priests and priestesses who have been initiated into the service.
Mounted
> by the god- Possession of dancer by god- "make a god within one's own body"- Trance > This experience brings spiritual and material benefit to the individual and entire community.
Hot=
> capricious gods
Orisha
> gods of Yoruba pantheon
Choral dance
> modest, beautiful movement that made manifest to the dancer the order of the universe.
Cult of Dionysus
> nature god identified with the vine, came from the "East".
Cool=
> predictable
Bharata natyam
> solo for a highly trained female dancer that traces it origins to the devotional dances of Hindu temples.
Devadasis
> temple servants/dancers and first dancers. A varied and sordid reputation.
Rasika
> the knowledgeable spectator
Yoruba cosmology recognizes two loosely related realms of existence which were?
> the tangible world of the living and >the invisible realm of gods, ancestors and other spirit-beings.
Thunder god Sango
> tragic story of ambition p.51. Possession dance
Rasas
> universalized emotional states that reveal what is common in everyone's experience.
Philosophical Debate
>Philosophers consider dance Constructive and Disruptive- recognized the power of dance but disagreed on how the power could be wielded safely under the control of reason >Was aware of both the positive (reinforcing community, order, structure) and negative (wild energies toward chaos) possibilities of dance.
Pyrrhic dance
>keep body strong, supple and ready for war, weapon dance or
Pantomime was what?
A movement form that conveyed complex narratives through gesture alone.
Natya Shastra
A treatise that describes and analyzes the techniques employed in the Sanskrit plays of the time. A theatre manual that defines the costumes, mudras, movements and costuming A hallowed text of Hindu tradition
Unacceptable
Anything associated with trance or possession was excluded form the church. >Secular- dance mania and festivals >Sensuality was denounced and the mortification of the body (flagellants, hair shirts etc.) was encouraged
Beliefs
Believe in the underlying unity of existence Belief in a determination to exclude no aspect of life in search for the meaning of life.
Ancient Romans Attitudes and Practices
Early Romans are not partial to dancing and only after Greek influence did it become a widespread practice to send your children to learn dancing. Dance became featured at the public games.
Ancient Hebrews
Emerged in a time where "dance was a means of influencing the invisible powers and of establishing contact with them" They shared this view but also strove to distance themselves from the practice of their neighbors.
India
Hinduism
Early Christians
Inherited ambivalence about dance from Hebrews Also inherited a similar ambivalence from Greek and Romans Christianity's denial of the body as something holy in and of itself.
Jewish Social Dance
Jews were commanded to dance at Weddings in praise, which led to the rise of professional dancing masters. Dancing masters played a role in the spread of social dancing in the early Renaissance.
Western European Attitudes
Judeo-Christian worldview is ambivalent about the religious uses of dance. This reflects a deeper ambivalence about the body that dances.
Yoruba- Sub Saharan Africa
Strong tradition of religious dance that traveled throughout the Western Hemisphere with the transit of African slaves
Religious Dance
The basic vehicle of dance is the human body. When and how people dance is determined by their attitudes toward the body; such attitudes are powerfully shaped by religious beliefs.
A Clear Divide
The efforts of medieval church officials to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable dance had consequences for European society at large.
Words vs. Movement
The emphasis throughout Hebrew scripture is on approaching the divine through words rather than movement. The reference to dancing in everyday life in the scripture is both modest and restrained compared to the detail of other activities. Perhaps the Jew hierarchy was trying to discourage the fervent/frenzied dancing associated with other religious worship especially with men and women together (depress sexual excitement).
Plato
The true purpose of art is to reveal the good or beautiful. Disagreed with dance drama because it showed events contrary to fact. It is not a true experience or expression. Deplored "Dirty Dancing" and banished professional dancers from his ideal republic. Believed that every man should be able to dance gracefully
Greek Attitudes and Practices
Used dance as integral element of society to mark events of life passage, community celebrations, religious rites, war, fertility etc. The status of dancers rose and fell depending on who danced and who watched The debate over the proper relationship between the word and the body was never ending.
Cicero believed what?
Thought that real men did not dance unless they are drunk or insane.
In India the Gods Dance
When gods dance it's not surprising that the dance itself is an offering to them. The dancing body is both a source of pleasure and a vehicle of worship
Kathakali
a dance drama in which troupe of highly trained performers enacts stories about heroes, deities, and demons from great epics of Hindu Mythology. > Traces history to an ancient tradition of presenting Sanskrit plays as votive offering in temples along the Malabar cost, Kerala. > Performers were all male, highly trained from the local military caste. Very athletic and physical. > The "people's theater" as the troupes performed in public areas turning the powerful for m of dance drama in religious context into a popular appeal.
Osun
cures the sick-
Vishnu
takes on human form as Krishna and dallies with village milkmaids inspiring a sensual devotion to dance. This devotion to dance is found in dance dramas around the Southeast Asia.
Shiva
the Hindu god of creation and destruction is represented as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance.
