Dance is art. Dance is performance. Dance is entertainment. Dance is therapy. Dance is spiritual. Dance is cultural. Dance is exercise. Dance is expression. Dance is educational. To me dance is all of these things and so much more. It not only a study that encompasses a whole person, but also a whole people. When you study or perform a dance you are learning about people as a whole and you are learning about yourself. I have learned that dance can have a connection to anyone and anything. Over the course of this semester in Orientation to Dance I have realized how true this really is.
At the beginning of this semester we wrote down some short definitions of dance and art and what it means to us. I defined art as “expressive body movement.” I still think this is very true. I think that any kind of movement can become dance, but in order for it to become dance it needs to be an expression of something. It can be an expression of a feeling, an idea, a culture, or anything. Dance has expressed many things for me. Daily dance classes are often an expression of how I feel that day. Performances have been an expression of a story or idea that my choreographer wants to get across. I have been able to see how dance can be an expression of culture mostly through world dance. Over this last year dance has also become an expression of my spirituality and my love for this wonderful gift of a body that my heavenly father has given me.
In the April 2010 Ensign the visiting teaching message titled “Seeking and Receiving Personal Revelation.” One of the quotes from this message is a powerful example of the power of dance, it states, “In it’s more familiar forms, revelation or inspiration comes by means of words or thoughts communicated to the mind, by sudden enlightenment, by positive or negative feelings about proposed courses of action, or even by inspiring performances, as in performing arts. As President Boyd K. Packer… President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has stated, ‘Inspiration come as more as a feeling than a sound.’” (Ensign 7) Dance is a powerful performing art that can be a manifestation of the spirit. In just one year at BYU I have already heard numerous stories of how the touring dance groups have performed in several countries and the people there have felt the power of the spirit through our dancers. Even though there are language barriers in other countries dance and the spirit are universal languages that can be understood by anyone who speaks any language.
Dance has also been an excellent way for me to explore and express my appreciation for the human body. Martha Graham said “In a dancer, there is a reverence for such forgotten things as the miracle of the small beautiful bones and their delicate strength.” (Graham 118) Over the past couple of years I have had an increased curiosity and passion for learning about the human body. I have accumulated anatomy textbooks, taken anatomy classes, and have strived to use this knowledge in my dancing. Learning about human anatomy has given me the knowledge to have better and more efficient movement. As I understand the body better I understand how to manipulate it better. This not only applies to my dancing, but also my every day life. I am constantly in tune to what my body is telling me and I understand what I need to do to keep my body happy which keeps me happy. My knowledge of anatomy not only helps my movement and my body, but also my spirit and my testimony. As I learn anatomy and apply knowledge of anatomy to my movement I become increasingly aware of how truly incredible it is and how great a gift it is from my Heavenly Father. There is no way that all of the elements of a human body could be put together so gracefully and intricately to create something so magnificent without divine design by my Heavenly Father.
Over the course of this semester I have begun to study American Sign Language (ASL). This has sparked an interest in me in the connections between dance and sign language. In a sense ASL is a form of dance. It is movement with the intention of conveying a thought, idea, or story. ASL incorporates use of the whole body to convey meaning. Often times people who haven’t learned sign language believe that it is a set of hand gestures based on the English language, but this is entirely false. ASL is it’s own language with its own set of grammar and rules separate from the English language. ASL incorporates the whole body. Not only hand gestures, but also body position and facial expression are crucial to understanding meaning in sign language. The meaning of a sign changes with differences in these other areas. The tone of each of these words also changes with the intent of the action of the sign. This is the same for dance. It is not only about the movement that we perform, but also about how we perform it and with what intent.
Not entirely related to this idea that dance and ASL are so similar, in the future I would like to do some research or some work in the area of teaching dance through sign language. This semester I had the opportunity to tutor my sign language TA in swing for his social dance class. I have never spoken with my TA, only signed. The appointment to practice was set up in ASL and the practice session was conducted in ASL. I have only been a student in ASL for one semester making me feel entirely inadequate in any conversation with someone who would be considered fluent in ASL. However, it was a successful practice. I was able to get my point across using a combination of signs that I knew and made up gestures. Because we both had an understanding of movement (both in dance and ASL) we could understand each other even though we were not fluent in each other’s language. As I worked with my TA to help him understand the movement that was required for the class I realized I could be much more efficient in my teaching if I knew the signs for dance specific words. Often in ASL there isn’t a sign for certain words in a special jargon or brand names of things. It would not surprise me if many of the words related to dance you would have to fingerspell or find a similar word for. I think it would be interesting to go through a wide range of dance terminology and determine the appropriate signs for such terms. I’m not entirely sure how much research has already been done in this area and what there already is out there, but I think it would be very interesting to find out.
I also find it very interesting to explore the opinions of people on dance. I have found it very interesting to compare the opinions of dance from the perspective of dancers and non-dancers (non-dancers being people who do not dance and study dance on a regular basis.) Just in discussions with multiple friends on the same performance this weekend, Ballroom Dance in concert, I have gotten very reactions from dancers and non dancers. A fellow dancer, Rachelle Baker, and I agreed that we didn’t particularly enjoy a dance entitled Macgalaxy. We both felt that it was an interesting concept, but it felt unfulfilling to us as dancers because we were at a ballroom concert and expected to see ballroom dancing. The dance lacked a formal presentation of what we know to be ballroom dancing which has a very specific structure, style, and technique to us. In talking to another girl in my ward, Miranda King, she got enthusiastic to discuss her favorite piece of the entire performance. She was thrilled with the creativity and the uniqueness of the dance. She did not care that it wasn’t a representation true to the ballroom style. She just cared that the dance was interesting to her. I’m not saying that either of these perspectives is wrong, but shows the differences in how each individual can view a dance differently based on their specific knowledge and experience
Another friend, Zac Evans, who is not a dancer made an analogy I found very interesting. Curious as to what he would say, I asked him what was something random I could relate dance to. His response was “popcorn.” When I didn’t respond for a second he explained himself. “popping popcorn is just like dance... they spin and they spin and they spin and then they kinda leap into a beautiful beautiful thing.” I think he has an interesting point. It’s true that people, normal, everyday human beings, go through learning movement and they practice and perfect it until it has truly become this beautiful beautiful thing called a dancer. Through training and refinement of all this spinning and leaping and popping around we can create beautiful dancing dances that are works of art.
To me the art of dance is the art of living. Dance and living are forever intertwined within me. I love another quote by Martha Graham which says “I am a dancer. I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living.... In each it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes in some area an athlete of God. “ (Graham 118) I also love another quote by Havelock Ellis. It states, “Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself.” Dance can encompass every part of you. It supports anything and everything you do and live. I do not think that there isn’t anything in your life that will not benefit from dancing.
I would like to conclude with a quote by Peter Saint James. “Talk about dance? Dance is not something to talk about. Dance is to dance.” I think the most important thing about dance is to dance. It is a lofty endeavor to explain dance. It can be difficult to express a reason we dance, or what dance is. It is important that we understand how to articulately defend dance, but the most important thing to me is that I keep dancing.
Baker, Rachelle. Telephone interview. 10 April 2010.
Evans, Zac. Skype interview. 11 April 2010.
Graham, Martha. "I Am A Dancer." Dance 261 Packet Readings Fall 2004:
118-120. Print.
King, Miranda. Personal interview. 11 April 2010.
"Seeking and Receiving Personal Revelation." Ensign of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints April 2010: 7. Print.
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