Dance
1- How does social dance reflect the values of American society today? Include social, political, religious, and general cultural ramifications/effects in your discussion. Keep in mind that club dancing is not the only type of dancing that is happening, and that American society covers a broad range of cultural communities. Draw on as diverse a range of examples as possible.
If there is just one thing you could say about the people of the United States of America, it would be that they are diverse. The United States is one of the most multiethnic countries in the world. This translates to the fact that there are so many different cultures and traditions resident in the country.
One major aspect of this is that there are so many different dance forms in the United States, many of which originated right in the country. The United States is credited with the origin of many popular dance forms such as the Swing Dance, the Square Dance and the Jazz Dance and has been the native place of many renowned dancers in the history of the world like Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Donald O’Connor. Another important thing worth noting is the significance of dance in an average American’s life. Being a good dancer serves you well through your school and college days. In popular music culture, it is very rare that a singer becomes popular without being a good dancer themselves or at least having music videos featuring good dances. Many of the most popular pop singers in American History Michael Jackson, Madonna, the artist formerly known as Prince are excellent dancers. And at the same time international singers like Ricky Martin and Shakira who are good dancers as well found easy success in the United States.
It is also interesting to see how many forms of dance have evolved through the years. This can especially be observed in Hip Hop dancing (Old Skool to da New!) this has undergone dramatic changes in four decades from its birth as African American dancing. Club dancing is also another variant of dance that is enjoyed by the American society regardless of age, race or sex. But obviously dance in general goes way beyond people dancing at night clubs and discos. Dance is taught as a compulsory subject as part of Physical Education in Junior High School, something you do not see in the curriculums of most other countries. This alone should show how much importance the nation gives to dance.
At the same time, America is known for the number of movies about dance that are released there, and how successful they are commercially (Dirty Dancing, the Step Up series and Footloose just to name a few). Also television series about dance (So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Best Dance Crew etc) have been running successfully on TV for many years now.
Thus it is easy to see how much influence dance has on the American society. Dance often serves as a connecting link between the many people of different ethnicities that have made America their home, and their love for dance crosses the social, economical and political barriers while uniting them as citizens of the same nation with its extensive love for the Arts.
2-Imagine that you are a community leader in a neighborhood that has recently become integrated for the first time. Although there hasn't been any open violence, the tension in your community is strong. What activities/projects could you implement that would include dance to help reverse this situation and promote better understanding? Remember that not all cultures share the same ideas about dance, male/female interaction, and appropriate behavior on the dance floor.
Although the merging of the East and the West Wings of our little town was initially welcomed by our people, and even supposed to be a significant move in promoting the harmony of this area, many of us are not so sure anymore and some doubt if the move was a hasty one or even a mistake. As the elected representative of this area I believe it is my duty to come up with a good solution to the obvious restlessness and distress in the community.
One thing I can be sure about this place is that with the support of the higher authorities, we have very good infrastructure for sports. And indeed this is just the place where it is hardest to balance the different crowds. The African-Americans dominate in pretty much all the sports while the Asians have a very hard time trying to match up with them. At the same time Asians students in the local school always get very good grades though they have to work really hard to keep up with the competition in the sports area. So to balance between good grades and physicals, I had to think about a method which would effectively be both interesting and challenging to all the different communities in the area. This is when I decided that dance is probably the best way out.
Ours is a town that was always actively interested in dancing. There have been quite a few professional dancers from our town and more importantly there are a few places in the area which we can convert to dance halls without much renovating. I had the feeling that this is the one thing that we could use to ease the cold war between the wings.
Now we had our own problems. Many of the Asian communities are conservative and they may not be exactly comfortable with the kind of dance floor interaction between the sexes that the native white for example do not have a problem with at all. We decided to bring in a few people who could teach dance to the ones who are not very good at it now, and to educate everyone generally about how they are expected to conduct themselves on the dance floor. Another possible issue concerned the type of music. Obviously each ethnic group would prefer to have their own favorite music played. We decided to allot time for each genre and also use more songs that would please more than one group at the same time.
In the end now it is looking like a pretty good plan. Once the dance teachers have given their necessary lessons and the people are ready to have fun and make friends at the same time, we are going to have a nice time “getting in our grooves”.
3-"Culture is a response to what you're surrounded by. Dance can connect us with the richness of our culture." Discuss what you have read in the book: "Dancing: the pleasure, power and art of movements, by Gerald Jonas." Use specific examples to illustrate your point.
The dictionary definition of dance is, to move your hands and feet rhythmically usually to music. This may be quite what a layman can understand from the term. How many people will be surprised to learn about the many thousands of books, videos and internet articles have been made about dancing? Did you know that there are close to thirty thousand people working in the dance industry in the United States alone? Did you know dance is on the top ten professions that kids of the United States want to take up when they grow up?
The influence that dance has on the society is general is often easy to overlook. If you look at the various people idolized in the music industry and the movie industry, you will find that being a good dancer while not being a prerequisite quality, is a very desirable and a very useful one when it comes to getting popular. Indeed dance may be one of the art forms of the world which is difficult to isolate and popularize. Most famous dancers have gotten the help of music or the movies to achieve fame.
The biggest reason why Art still appeals to people even after business and technology seem to have robbed most of the world of time is that it helps them identify with their roots, their cultures. This is also the reason why the so called ‘Modern Arts’ and ‘Modern Dances’ are still nowhere as popular as their cultural counterparts. Each respective form of dance is most famous at the places of their origins. Although there are forms of dances that invite love, respect and admiration from all over the world, generally each form is most welcome in their home towns. People regard their native art forms very highly and dance offers no exception, especially in countries with very old traditions like Egypt and India.
After a phase in time where arts did not seem to be appreciated enough, now is the time where arts is making a huge comeback into the educational system. In many places all over the world arts were ignored and children were taught more in terms of getting jobs and surviving, but nowadays arts has managed to find its place in the curricula of most junior and high schools. Many school diplomas require the student to have basic knowledge in the theories of art, music and dance, which is definitely a very positive thing to do when you think in terms of keeping our culture alive.
The number of jobs that the arts offer is obviously much lesser than the other industries, and so there are very few people who actually follow the artistic routes and become successful making a living out of them. But reminding the people of their artistic and cultural roots may be even a greater thing to do than produce successful artists. While at the same time, the current educational system makes sure to an extent that the very best artists do pass through the barriers with help of hard work and determination, to eventual success and fame.
Works Cited:
Foord P. “Dance in the United States”. Bukisa. Web. 1 August 2011
Kassing G. “History of Dance, An interactive approach”. Web. 7 May 2007
Hope J. “Top Professions Kids want to be they grow up”, Web. 18 Jan 2011
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008
