assignment #5

1. Discuss why people dance.

People dance for all kinds of reasons, to mourn, to celebrate, to heal, to give thanks, to preserve cultural heritage and treasured legends, to demonstrate physical prowess, to assert individuality, to provoke and to entertain. 

2. Discuss the difference between modern dance and modern ballet.

The first major difference between ballet and modern dance is the attire. Ballet dancers wear ballet slippers or pointe shoes. Modern dancers may or may not wear shoes. Many modern dancers dance barefoot, in jazz shoes or half sole shoes. Modern is open to interpretation, suggestion and change. Ballet is straightforward. Ballet is more demanding on the body, modern dancing is more free. In ballet you have to work more on posture, turn out, core strength.

3. Describe the particular period that dance began in the western world.

American modern dance developed in the early 20th century alongside American music. Among the pioneers of modern dance were Isadora Duncan, the dance company of Ruth St. Denis and her husband-partner, Ted Shawn. The early modern dance makers broke with European classical forms by giving into the weight of gravity, initiating movement from the center rather than the limbs, and emphasizing an emotional directness in their choreography. The term swing dance refers to a group of dances that developed concurrently with jazz music in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. The prototypical swing dance is lindy hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today. African American dances are those vernacular dances which have developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in dance studios, schools or companies. African American vernacular dances are usually centered on social dance practice, though performance dance and concert dance often supply complementary aspects to social dancing.