For as long as there has been a beat there has been dance. Dance is one of the oldest forms of art. People dance to express themselves, for religious reasons, to celebrate their culture, to be with other people, for exercise, or just to have fun!
Religious dances are forms of prayer. Native Americans may dance to ask for help in hunting, farming, or war. They may imitate animals by moving like them or wearing masks. Folk dance celebrates a group’s history and traditions. Folk dancers may wear colourful costumes. Many folk dances are easy to learn. People may join hands or move in a circle. Other folk dances are full of energy and passion and the dancers must be very athletic.
We may go to a theatre to see dancers who have been specially trained to perform a kind of dance. Ballet is the oldest kind of dance performed in theatres. It began in the 1400’s at the courts of princes, dukes, and other rulers in what is now Italy. For hundreds of years, ballet dancers have made beautiful movements as they leap and twirl across the stage. Female ballet dancers, called ballerinas, dance on the tips of their toes in special shoes. Ballet movements are very difficult. But when they are done well, they look graceful and easy.
In the late 1800’s, some dancers thought that the movements in ballet were too unnatural. One of these rebels was an American dancer named Isadora Duncan. Instead of ballet steps, she made natural movements that imitated the wind and the waves. Her ideas inspired a new art form – modern dance. Several American women, including Martha Graham, continued Duncan’s work. Today, even ballet dancers borrow ideas from modern dance.
Another dance developed in the U.S.A. is tap. More than 100 years ago, African Americans combined steps from African dances, the Irish jig, and a British dance called the clog. The first “theatres” for tap dancers were taverns and street corners. But by 1870, the dancers were tapping onstage.
The musical is another mostly American form of theatre dance. It tells a story through songs and dance. The dancing may have a beat, like tap, or it may move like ballet. The American film Singin’ in the Rain, for instance, features dancing that combine parts of ballet, jazz, modern dance, and tap.
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