25 Mar 2022

504

Dance as a form of entertainment

Format: MLA

Academic level: College

Paper type: Personal Reflection

Words: 1006

Pages: 2

Downloads: 0

Entertainment denotes a type of activity which holds the interest and attention of a spectator or gives delight and pleasure. Entertainment may be a task or an idea but tends more to be among the events or activities which have evolved over thousands of years precisely intending to capture a spectator’s attention. Even though persons’ attention is captured by diverse things, since individuals have dissimilar likings in entertainment, most kinds are familiar and recognizable. Dance, music, storytelling, drama and diverse forms of performance exist in every culture, were maintained in royal courts, improved into refined versions and over time were obtainable every citizen. The practice has been speeded up in contemporary eras by an entertainment business which documents and retails entertainment merchandises. Entertainment transforms and could be modified to fit all scales, ranging from a person who prefers private entertaining from a currently vast range of pre-documented merchandises; to a banquet modified for dual; to any type or size of festivity, with suitable dance and music; to concerts planned for a huge number of persons; and even for an international spectator. The current paper seeks to discuss dance as a form of entertainment.

Hardt define dance as the sequence of patterned and rhythmic bodily movements often performed to music (30). The numerous categories of dance entertain every culture and age group. Dance can be provocative; it may be serious in tone, for instance when utilized to convey a history of a culture or vital tales; or it could put in the comedy service (Kassing 67). Because dance integrates numerous types of entertainment –movement, music, theatre, storytelling – it gives an incredible example of the different manners that these types may be joined to generate entertainment for diverse audiences and purposes.

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Dance denotes a kind of cultural representation which includes not only dancers but also audience members, choreographers, impresarios and patrons, stemming from across the world and from massively diverse eras (Zbikowski 150). Whether from Europe, Asia or Africa, dance is always negotiating the worlds of artistic, social, political and spiritual influence. Despite the fact that dance customs could be limited to a single racial community, they all advance. For instance, there exist Masai dances, Hausa dances, Dahomean dances, etcetera in Africa. Similarly, Ballet is a case of a greatly advanced Western type of dance which progressed to the playhouses from the French law court in the era of Louis XIV, the performers turning into professional stage dancers (Hardt 28). Certain dances, for instance, the quadrille, the square dance which arose in the Napoleonic times in France and other country dances were formerly common at social assemblies such as balls, nonetheless, they are nowadays hardly performed. On the other hand, numerous folk dances (for instance Irish dancing as well as Scottish Highland dancing), have transformed into competitions that, by adding to their spectators, has augmented the value of their entertainment. What is more, Irish dance theatre, that at times presents customary Irish music and steps, has evolved into a key type of dance with a worldwide reputation. 

Because dance is normally connected to the females' experiences and female body, female performers, who dance for entertainment, have in certain instances been considered to be different from "decent" females since they utilize their physiques to make money rather than hiding their bodies as much as conceivable (Kassing 70). Attitudes of the society towards female dancers are influenced by the entertainment industry itself, the culture and its history. For instance, whereas certain cultures consider any dance by females to be the most disgraceful kind of entertainment, others have developed venues like strip clubs in which purposely erotic or sexually provocative dancing for example striptease are danced in public by trained female dancers for principally male viewers (Zbikowski 150).

Several political governments have pursued to ban or control dancing or particular forms of dancing, at times due to condemnation of the song or attires linked to it (Sagiv 95). Racism, authoritarianism and nationalism have contributed to prohibition in dancing or dances. For instance, for the duration of the Nazi government, the U.S. dances like swing, perceived as entirely un-German, had turned into a community offense and required to be forbidden (Kassing 74). By the same token, during the 1930s, in Shanghai, China, nightclubs and dancing had come to signify the excess which overwhelmed Chinese culture and bureaucrats questioned whether other entertainment types like brothels needed also be prohibited (Hardt 28). Prohibition had the impact of making the dancing in thing even more. Within Ireland, the year 1935 Public Dance Hall Act forbidden – however did not end – performing at the crossroads and additional common dance types like barn and house dances. With America, several dances were formerly forbidden, either for the reason that just as the Twist, they were linked to African Americans or for the reason that, just as burlesque, they were evocative (Sagiv 96). Before the Civil Warfare, Black American performers were normally forbidden to dance in minstrel concerts.

Dances may be played solo; in duos; in teams; or by massed dancers (Kassing 76). Dances may be greatly choreographed or improvised; a private spectator; spontaneous for private entertainment, (for example when kids start dancing for themselves); a compensating spectator; a globe viewer; or a viewer concerned with a specific dance type. Dances could be an aspect of a festivity, for instance, New Year or a wedding; or a traditional ceremonial with a particular purpose, for example, the dance by fighters such as a haka (Hardt 28). Certain dances, like a customary dance in one and ballet in two, require an extremely high level of training and skill; other dances, for instance, the can-can, necessitate an extremely high level of physical health and energy. Entertaining the spectators is a typical aspect of dance but then again its physicality also creates enjoyment for the performers themselves.

In a nutshell, dance has developed in so numerous different aspects however it is all termed as dance. The enjoyment and passion that stem from dancing for numerous dancers drives them past the disappointment of learning a different move. The performers genuinely enjoy dancing. Regardless of if it was a time of war or whether it was merely youth rebellion, dancing was a seepage to numerous persons. The dance is an approach to convey feelings. It is a vital aspect of life which has been witnessed in all generations. This commonality demonstrates the importance and permanence each generation has offered to dance. Whereas the universe offers human beings numerous reasons to find disparity and differences between one another, dance denotes a commonality which persons could revel in; withstanding race, time, age, and gender, dance denotes a joining aspect in every single life, whether one performs or privately dance indoors, everybody is a performer. 

References

Hardt, Yvonne. "Staging the Ethnographic of Dance History: contemporary dance and its play with tradition." Dance Research Journal 43.1 (2011): 27-42.

Kassing, Gayle. History of dance: an interactive arts approach . Human Kinetics, 2007.

Sagiv, Tamar. "Reinvesting dance with meaning: Authenticity and ingenuity in the artistic dance field." Handbook of organizational and entrepreneurial ingenuity . Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014.

Zbikowski, Lawrence M. "Music, dance, and meaning in the early nineteenth century." Journal of Musicological Research 31.2-3 (2012): 147-165.

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StudyBounty. (2023, September 17). Dance as a form of entertainment.
https://studybounty.com/dance-as-a-form-of-entertainment-personal-reflection

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