duomind
SITE LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Hello Bea, what are you doing?
what’s up? I’m dancing along some tunes; it helps me to express myself! Why?
Expressing yourself with dance? Could you explain it better?
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Sure! Let’s go to the world of dance then! Here we are and welcome to the world of dance. Before I begin introducing the topic, I'll ask a few questions: do you dance?
No.
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Okay…but, have you ever wondered why a dancer makes a specific expression or chooses a particular movement?
No.
No? Well, allow me to explain. What the dancer is doing is using their body and face to express ideas and feelings through dance, using a language we call "body expression".
But what is body expression and how does it relate to dance?
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You are quite an impatient bear, aren’t ya? Body expression is a form of non-verbal communication that uses gestures, posture, eye contact, and facial expressions to convey more or less intimate feelings.
Think of body expression as a silent dialogue the dancer has with the audience, where even without words, the dancer tells a story solely through their movements.
I still don’t understand it very well…
Hmmm… let me divide into several categories to help:
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Gestures, which encompass all body movements used to express ideas, emotions, and intentions.
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Posture, which refers to the position of the body in relation to the environment and other people, conveying information about emotional state, attitude, and personality.
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Eyes, which involve eye contact or lack thereof, eye expressions (such as widening), and eyebrow movement to express emotions.
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Facial expression, which plays a crucial role in conveying feelings through facial movements like smiles or furrowing the brow.
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Movement fluidity, which, if more fluid, adopts a certain lightness that can convey either joy or sadness depending on the context, or more abrupt which conveys the heavy character of feelings like anger and fear.
Oh, I see it now… how about dance?
Dance is the art of moving the body rhythmically, often to music, in a way that exposes feelings, ideas, and intentions. Dance goes beyond mere artistic expression; it is a vehicle for creativity and a vital form of communication. Through dance, an individual can articulate their state of mind and connect with viewers on a more intimate level.
How did dance originate?
It’s time for an history class now!! Dance has been with us as a society since prehistoric times, serving as a protective ritual during hunting and fishing, with its earliest records dating back about 9000 years. In ancient Egypt and Greece, dance was a cultural and religious manifestation.
In the Middle Ages, it took the form of community rituals, often disapproved of, or reserved for the nobility. The Renaissance saw the birth of ballet in Italian courts, and in the 19th century, this style gained popularity. From the 20th century to the present day, new genres of dance have emerged, including contemporary dance or "lyrical dance".
I’ve heard about that “lyrical dance”. What is it about?
Let me explain what contemporary dance is: As the name suggests, it's a genre that adopts characteristics from various types of dances; from the technique and lightness of ballet to the sensuality and firmness of jazz, to the "Groove" of hip-hop. Many choreographers of this genre, like Ryan Heffington...
...OH, I KNOW RYAN!! Isn’t he the choreographer of many dances featured in SIA's music videos? I’ve heard that he claims to use the lyrics of the songs they are choreographing to relate their feelings to the movements they will frame in the piece they are creating.
Hey Zari!! how did you get here?
Dancing!!!
Well, you are correct about Heffington. Plus, dance takes on a more personal and introspective character, as it is a raw interpretation of the individual's feelings.
So how do dance and body expression combine?
The body plays a vital role in dance, and the fluidity of movement is crucial for expressing someone's feelings.
For example, if a dancer adopts elongated, undulating, and light movements, it can lead to two situations that are usually deciphered by facial expression or the music playing: in one of them is the scenario of innocence, happiness, love, but in the other situation, there are feelings like sadness, isolation, longing.
However, if the individual wants to adopt short, rigid, and abrupt movements, it usually refers to an exhibition of more negative feelings like anger, fear, and hatred. However, in a single choreography, it is possible to see how fluid and rigid movements coexist in perfect harmony, thus showing several emotions simultaneously, giving a personal character to dance
BUT WHAT IF I WANNA DANCE LIKE THIS? *Makes the same move countless times*
You are repeating that movement a lot, Junior…However, like fluidity, the repetitions of certain movements in a choreography also have their importance.
That is, repetition in dance serves to emphasize and highlight the emotions and ideas that the individual wants to convey.
For example, if in a movement composition, there is always the repetition of one, either in its entirety or by movements like the original, the message that the dancer wants to convey to the audience will have much more impact if the movements were not repeated.
Then why do I see so many dancers making sad faces while dancing?
Great question Junior!! Among many aspects that dance encompasses, facial expression is one of the most important details in a choreography since with the same movement, but with different expressions, different feelings can be interpreted.
Taking the example of the famous dancer Maddie Ziegler, one of the main reasons why she won many dance competitions was precisely because of the facial expression she made.
By using her face to convey what she feels, she gave dance a completely different value, enriching it both emotionally and introspectively.
The question now is why is it so good to express ourselves while dancing?
Let me explain… When we listen to music, we stimulate an area of the brain called the primary motor cortex and consequently, we are driven to move according to the rhythm of the song we are listening to.
In addition to the cortex, we also stimulate the limbic system, associated with reward and emotions. This system is responsible for the release of hormones that make us feel good like serotonin!
So, even if we are sad, after dancing, we usually feel lighter because of the releasing of those hormones?
Exactly zari!! Well, enough theory and let's talk a bit from my personal point of view.
For those who don't know, I have been dancing since I was 3 years old and have gone through some styles from ballet to hip hop and Broadway dances. Now I have been doing contemporary dance for 4 years, although not continuously.
Unfortunately, I had to stop last year because the class I was in was going to end, and I couldn't find any place to dance again. I use dance to express what I feel since sometimes it can be difficult for me to express some emotions and those dance classes were my emotional escape. As I stopped having them, I stopped having that escape, which made me more sensitive and made me start having worse results in school.
At first, I didn't understand this relationship between the lack of dance and the results in school; However, after returning to dance this year and seeing that my results improved, I realized that dance was the best mechanism I had to release all the thoughts I had throughout the day or week.
Woah, I didn’t know that expressing yourself through dance would be so good for you. I might try sometimes.
That’s good to know Fals! Let’s all dance now! See you later!!
