brief history and nature of dance essay

History and Development of Dance Essay

The history of dance can be traced back to the very beginnings of humankind history. Dance is ultimately a social event and signalizes occasions of social interaction: not incidentally, therefore, elements of dance can be observed even in such non-human societies as bee swarms and bird couples.

Initially bearing purely informative meaning in the animal world and the primitive society, dance gradually acquired a more complex meaning and became a means of self expression. Developing from symbolic religious activities, the practice of dancing evolved in a social activity and later obtained the status of performing arts.

As such, dance is movement, and movement is altogether natural to human body. It is observed that at moments of intense joy, people tend to perform an increased amount of movements in order to relieve the brain of the excessive amount of oxygen (Scott 1). Such behavior is especially noticeable about children, since they do not control themselves as much as adults; in this respect, primitive savages are not much different from children.

Those leaping movements of the body are the first prehistoric dance that can be observed both in people and in animals expressing their happiness. But this disarrayed motion does not comply with the comprehensive definition of dance provided by Edward Scott, who interprets dance as “the art and expressing gracefully and intelligibly, by movement and gesture, every emotion and sentiment of which the mind is capable, and every incident possible in human life” (6).

Such was the vision of dancing practiced already among the Ancient Greeks, whose art of pantomime dance was compared by Aristotle to poetry, since it could express not only actions but also manners and passions. The art of dancing was connected by Greeks to the idea of harmony and perfection of human body: therefore, dancing ultimately had to be graceful in order to emphasize and not to destroy the natural human beauty (Scott 38).

Corresponding to the meaning behind them, religious dances, embodying the spirit of tragedy, were dignified and stately; while their opposites, the wild grotesque dance, were not to be danced in sober mind (Scott 41). Combining the features of those two extremes and concluding the three-partite order of dances was the vivid dance. In any case, both stately and wild Greek dances were inseparably linked with their religious practices and bore their peculiarities from the nature of the deity glorified by dance.

Historians state that the Greeks borrowed the art of mimic imitation from the dancing art of the Ancient Egyptians (Scott 21). Together with ritual dances performed at funeral of prominent people and at other religious ceremonies connected with worshipping the astronomic gods, Egyptians took pleasure in entertaining dances, mostly performed by graceful girls in light attire. The character of movements was varied by hired dancers according to the tastes of their employers, and therefore could sink from grotesque to mere buffoonery (Scott 23).

From the above it becomes obvious that the antiquity shaped three visions of dance: dance as ritual, as ecstasy, and as entertainment. The Middle Ages witnessed two applications of dance: in church (sacred dance) and in society (secular). Ceremonial in its nature, religious dance involved solemn movements and symbolic figures that corresponded to the accompanying hymns.

Though provoking controversy as to their appropriateness in the church, sacred dances enjoyed a large variation from May Dances to Dances of Death, each bearing a religious significance (Kassing 73–75). Due to the fact that secular and sacred spheres closely intermingled in contemporary life, dances often ‘migrated’ from church to the worldly life. In addition, the institute of chivalry which prospered at the time positioned dance as a way to express gentility and compliance with etiquette, as well as state the knight’s code of honor (Kassing 72).

Dance was more and more drawn into the sphere of entertainment, since amusements were scarce; travelling performers became especially popular, bringing new dances such as carole, farandole, pavane, and others from court to court. In the Renaissance dances increasingly drifted apart from the sacred sphere and became a token of position and manners for the upper society, and a way of celebrating social and life events for the lower classes.

From the Medieval tradition of Dance Dramas, which represented the lives of saints and martyrs, stemmed the idea of 16th and 17th century ballets, ranging from Ballet-Masquerade to Ballet Pastoral and Ballet-Comique (Kassing 101–105). Moving dance from the court into the theatre, the eighteenth century celebrated the onset of ballet art, mainly in the Paris Opera.

Moving away from the artificiality of court ballet, ballet d’action set the aim of imitating nature, which naturally fostered development of costume and decorations. In addition, the art of pointe-work was initiated as well as capacities of whole body were employed in dancing.

Court ballrooms also witnessed a refreshment of repertoire, with minuet being one of the most popular dances of the period and reflecting the national peculiarities of the places it was danced in: while the French envisaged it as a graceful unhurried dance, emphasizing the male gallantry and the female grace, the Italians imparted a brisk and lively character, as well as faster tempo to it.

The early nineteenth century in Europe was still experiencing the consequences of the French Revolution, and the slogan of freedom applies to women’s clothes as well. The unrestrictive design of the garments allow performing jumping and skipping movements, reflected in such dances as gallop and quadrille. However, the ballet stage witnesses a completely different situation.

The era of Romanticism dictated its ideals to the image of ballet-dancer: ballerina on pointes became a nearly deific, ethereal creature, soaring over the parquet in her magic movements. This fully reflected the tendencies towards fantasy, spiritualism, and emotional perception of world promoted by Romantic ideas. By the mid-1850s, female fashion was characterized by enormous hoop skirts, which in turn promoted changes in dancing techniques and made turning dances, such as waltz, rule the ballroom.

The twentieth century has brought about cardinal social change, which also reflected on the dancing styles. On the one hand, due to efforts of Russian ballet troupes, professional ballet was revolutionized, acquiring new techniques and virtuosic standards of dancing.

On the other hand, social dancing is more than ever the terrain for raving youth who possess enough energy to perform such active dances as Charleston, fox trot, shag, and others. In addition, black society influences the dance room and introduces such genre as swing dancing. By the eng of the century, classical dance is characterized by breath-taking technique and conceptual choreography, while popular culture is organized in the sphere of street-dancing, with hip-hop and break dance ruling the dance floors.

All in all, it appears obvious that the ritual character of dance inherent in it since the first days of its existence shapes itself into two directions: the “self-unconscious act without deliberate aesthetic concerns” that reveals itself in the culture of tribal dances, and the unique experience of individual transformed into the “metaphoric idiom known as art” (Highwater 14).

In the course of historical development, dance demonstrates a clear tendency from the former aspect to the latter, basing on the social influence that affect its development.

Works Cited

Highwater, Jamake. Dance: Rituals of Experience . 3rd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1996. Print.

Kassing, Gayle. History of Dance: An Interactive Arts Approach . Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007. Print.

Scott, Edward. Dancing in All Ages — The History of Dance . London, Hesperides Press, 2006. Print.

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History of Dance

From the earliest moments of known human history, dance accompanied ancient rituals, spiritual gatherings and social events. As a conduit of trance, spiritual force, pleasure, expression, performance and interaction, dance became infused into our nature from the earliest moments of our existence - from the moment when first African tribes covered themselves in war-paint to the to the spreading of music and dance across all four corners of the world. Without a doubt, dancing remains one of the most expressive forms of communications that we know.

The oldest proof of existence of dancing comes from the 9000 year old cave paintings that were found in India, which depicts various scenes of hunting, childbirth, religious rites, burials and most importantly, communal drinking and dancing. Since dancing itself cannot leave clearly identifiable archeological artifacts that can be found today, scientist looked for secondary clues, written word, stone carvings, paintings and similar artifacts. Period when dancing became widespread can be traced to the third millennia BC, when Egyptians started using dance as integral parts of their religious ceremonies. Judging by the many tomb paintings that survived the tooth of time, Egyptian priests used musical instruments and dancers to mimic important events - stories of gods and cosmic patterns of moving stars and sun.

This tradition continued in ancient Greece, where dance was used very regular and openly to public (which eventually brought the birth of the famous Greek theatre in 6th century BC). Ancient paintings from 1st millennia clearly speak of many dance rituals in Greek culture, most notably the one before start of each Olympian Games, precursor to the modern Olympic Games. As centuries went on, many other religions infused dance in the core of their rituals, such as Hindu dance "Bharata Nhatyam" which is preformed even today.

Of course, not all dances in those ancient times were intended for religious purposes. Ordinary people used dance for celebration, entertainment, seduction and to induce the mood of frenzied exhilaration. Annual celebration in honor of Greek god of wine Dionysus (and later Roman god Bacchus) included dancing and drinking for several days. 1400BC year old Egyptian painting showed the group of scantily dressed girls who danced for the wealthy male crowd, supported by the several musicians. This kind of entertainment continued to be refined, until medieval times and the start of the Renaissance when ballet became integral part of the wealthy class.

European dances before the start of Renaissance were not widely documented, any only few isolated fragments of their existence remain found today. The most basic "chain shaped" dance practiced by commoners was most widespread across Europe, but the arrival of Renaissance and new forms of music brought many other styles in fashion. Renaissance dances from Spain, France and Italy were soon surpassed by Baroque dances which became widely popular in French and English courts. After the end of French Revolution, many new types of dances emerged with focused on less restrictive woman clothing, and tendency for skipping and jumping. These dances soon became even more energetic in 1844 with the beginning of so called "international polka craze" which also brought us the first appearance of famous waltz .

After the short period of time when great ballroom masters created wave of complicated dances, the era of modern day 2 person dance started with the careers of famous ballroom dances Vernon and Irene Castle. After those early years of 20th century many modern dances were invented (Foxtrot, One-Step, Tango , Charleston, Swing, Postmodern, Hip-hop, breakdancing and more) and the expansion of musical brought those dances into worldwide popularity.

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Brief History and Nature of Dance

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1.19: Dance History and Styles

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Learning Objectives

• Explain the function of court dance and the development of ballet.
• Summarize the development of ballet from its professionalization through Romantic, Classical, Avant-Garde, Neoclassical, and Contemporary Ballet.
• Associate major ballet milestones with the works and choreographers responsible.

“Nothing resembles a dream more than a ballet, and it is this which explains the singular pleasure that one receives from these apparently frivolous representations. One enjoys, while awake, the phenomenon that nocturnal fantasy traces on the canvas of sleep; an entire world of chimeras moves before you.”

-Theophile Gautier, French poet

What is Ballet?

Ballet is the epitome of classical dance in Western cultures. Classical dance forms are structured, and stylized techniques developed and evolved throughout centuries requiring rigorous formal training. Ballet originated with the nobility in the Renaissance courts of Europe. The dance form was closely associated with appropriate behavior and etiquette. Eventually, ballet became a professional vocation as it became a popular form of entertainment for the new middle-class to enjoy. Ballet spread throughout the world as dance masters refined their craft and handed their methods down from generation to generation. Over 500 years, it has developed and changed. Dancers and choreographers worldwide have contributed new vocabulary and styles, yet ballet’s essence remains the same.

Ballet Characteristics

Codified technique.

Ballet is a codified dance form ordered systematically and has set movements associated with specific terminology. Ballet is a rigorous art and requires extensive training to perform the technique correctly. The first ballet creators’ principles have survived intact, but different regional and artistic styles have emerged over the centuries. Ballet classes follow a standard structure for progression and are comprised of two sections:

The first part of ballet class typically begins with a warm-up at the barre. The barre is a stationary handrail that dancers hold while working on balance, allowing them to focus on placement, alignment, and coordination. The second half of the ballet class is performed in the center without a barre. Dancers use the entire room to increase their spatial awareness and perform elevated and dynamic movements.

Alignment and Turnout

Ballet emphasizes the lengthening of the spine and the use of turnout, an outward rotation of the legs in the hip socket. This serves both to create an aesthetically pleasing line and increase mobility.

Foot Articulation

Ballet demands a strong articulated foot to perform demanding movements and create an elongated line.

Pointe shoes, a ballet staple, add to the illusion of weightlessness and flight. They are constructed with a hard, flat box to enable dance on the tips of the toes; it is a technique called en pointe that requires years of training and dedication to develop the needed strength in the feet, ankles, calves and legs.

Elevated Movement

Traditionally, ballet favors a light quality, called ballon, with elevated movements. Dancers seem to overcome gravity effortlessly and achieve great height in their leaps and jumps.

Pantomime and Storytelling

Ballet can tell a story without words through a language of gestures called pantomime. Some movements are easily understood or have simple body language, but more abstract concepts are given specific gestures of their own to convey meaning. The facial expressions, the musical phrasing, and dynamics all play a role in communicating the story. Pantomime developed in ballet’s Romantic period and was further incorporated during the Classical era.

The Royal Ballet dancers demonstrate and decode ballet pantomime for Swan Lake. David Pickering addresses the audience in the basics of pantomime, and audience members mimic the movement. In the second part of the clip, principal dancers Marianele Nunez and Thiago Soares reenact Act 2 as David Pickering narrates the pantomime.

Court Dance: Italy and France

In medieval Italy, an early pantomime version featured a single performer portraying all the story characters through gestures and dance. A narrator previewed the story to come, and musicians accompanied the pantomime. Pantomimes were quite popular, but they were sometimes over-the-top in their efforts to be comedic, often resulting in lewd and graphic reenactments. Dance was a part of everyday life. Peasants danced at street fairs, and guild members danced at festivals, but it was in the royal courts that ballet had its genesis.

European Renaissance: Ballet de Cour

Catherine de’ medici.

Catherine de’ Medici, a wealthy noblewoman of Florence, Italy, married the heir to the French throne, King Henri II. In 1581, she went to Paris for a royal wedding accompanied by Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx, a dance teacher and choreographer. Catherine de’ Medici commissioned Beaujoyeulx to create Ballet Comique de la Reine in celebration of the wedding, and it became widely recognized as the first court ballet. The ballet de cour featured independent acts of dancing, music, and poetry unified by overarching themes from Greco-Roman mythology. The ballet included references to court characters and intrigues. After the Ballet Comique de la Reine production, a booklet was published with libretto telling the ballet story. It became the model for ballets produced in other European courts, making France the recognized leader in ballet.

King Louis XIV

During King Louis XIV’s reign, France was a mighty nation. King Louis XIV kept nobility close at hand by moving his court and government to the Palace of Versailles, where he could maintain his power. At court, it was necessary to excel in fencing, dance, and etiquette. Nobility vied for an elevated position in court as one’s abilities in the finer arts reflected success in politics.

King Louis XIV was a great patron of the arts and vigorously trained in ballet. He performed in several ballet productions. His most memorable role was Apollo, gaining the title the “Sun King” from “Le Ballet de la Nuit,” translated to “The Ballet of the Night.”

Louis XIV’s love of dance inspired him to charter the Académie Royal de Musique et Danse, headed by his old dance teacher Pierre Beauchamps and thirteen of the finest dance masters from his court. In this way, the king assured that “la danse classique,” that is to say, “ballet,” would survive and develop. The danse d’ecole provided rigorous training to transition from amateur performance to seasoned professionals. This also opened the door for non-nobility to pursue ballet professionally. For the first time, women were also allowed to train in ballet. Women were only allowed to participate in court social dances until this point. Men performers took on all the roles in court ballets, wearing masks to dance the roles of women.

Transitioning from the ballet de cour, dances of the Renaissance ballroom grew into the ballet a entrée, a series of independent episodes linked by a common theme. Early productions of the academy featured the opera-ballet, a hybrid art form of music and dance. Jean-Philippe Rameau served as both composer and choreographer for many early opera-ballets.

At this time, there was a differentiation of characters that dancers assumed. These roles were generally categorized as:

• danse noble : regal presentation suitable for roles of royalty
• demi-charactere : lively, everyday people; “the girl next door”
• comique : exaggerated, caricatured characters

Some significant developments aided in the progression of ballet as an art form at the Académie Royale de Musique et Danse. Pierre Beauchamps significantly contributed to ballet by developing the five basic positions of the feet used in ballet technique. He also laid the foundation for a notation system to record dances. Raoul Auger Feuillet refined the notation and published it in 1700; then, in 1706, John Weaver translated it into English, making it globally accessible.

In this split-screen, Feuillet’s dance notation is shown on the left side while dancers perform the Baroque dances on the right side.

The Académie Royale de Musique et Danse was the place to train classical dancers. Dancers and dance masters alike traveled to the great centers of Europe, bringing French ballet to the continent. Today’s Paris Opera Ballet is the direct descendant of the Académie Royal de Musique et Danse.

The TED-Ed animated video clip summarizing the origins of ballet.

Dance in The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was a philosophical movement that emphasized freedom of expression and the eradication of religious authority. These ideas caused criticism among philosophers who believed art forms should speak to meaningful human expression rather than ornamental art forms.

Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810)

Ballet master and choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre challenged ballet traditions and made ballets more expressive. In his famous writings, Letters on Dancing and Ballet, Noverre rejected dance traditions at the Paris Opera Ballet and helped transform ballet into a medium for story-telling. The masks that dancers traditionally wore were stripped away to show dramatic facial expressions and convey meaning within ballets. Pantomime helped tell the story of the ballet. In addition, plots became logically developed with unifying themes, integrating theatrical elements. From Noverre’s concepts, ballet d’action emerged.

Carlo Blasis (1797-1878)

Carlo Blasis was particularly influential in shaping the vocabulary and structure of ballet techniques. He invented the “attitude” position commonly used in ballet from the inspiration of Giambologna’s sculpture of Mercury. He published two major treatises on the execution of ballet, the most notable, “An Elementary Treatise Upon the Theory and Practice of the Art of Dancing.” Blasis taught primarily at LaScala in Milan, where he was responsible for educating many Romantic era teachers and dancers.

Costume Changes

During the Renaissance, men and women wore elaborate clothing. Women wore laced-up corsets around the torso and panniers (a series of side hoops) fastened around the waist to extend the width of the skirts. Men wore breeches and heeled shoes. The upper body was bound by bulky clothing and primarily emphasized footwork. By the 18th century, there were changes in costuming. Two dancers helped revolutionize costumes.

Marie Sallé (1707-1756)

Marie Sallé was a famous dancer at the Paris Opera, celebrated for her dramatic expression. Her natural approach to pantomime storytelling influenced Noverre. She traded the elaborate clothing that was fashionable at the time to match the subject of the choreography. In her self-choreographed ballet “Pygmalion,” she wore a less restrictive costume, wearing a simple draped Grecian-style dress and soft slippers. This allowed for less restricted movement and expression.

Marie Camargo (1710-1770)

Marie Camargo, a contemporary of Sallé, exemplified virtuosity and flamboyance in her dancing. She shortened her skirt to just above the ankles to make her impressive fancy footwork visible. She also removed the heels from her shoes, creating flat-soled slippers. This allowed her to execute jumps and leaps that were previously considered male steps.

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Romantic Ballet

From France and the royal academy, dance masters brought ballet to the other courts of Europe. These professional teachers and choreographers attended London, Vienna, Milan, and Copenhagen, where the monarchs supported ballet. During the 18th century, the French Revolution ended the French monarchy, and Europe saw political and social changes that profoundly affected ballet. By the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution resulted in middle-class people working in factories. Art shifted from glorifying the nobility to emphasizing the ordinary person.

The Romantic era of ballet reflected this pivotal time. Ballets had now become ballet d’action , ballets that tell a story. ballets that tell a story. The Romantic era was a time of fantasy, etherealism, supernaturalism, and exoticism. Artistic themes included man v.s. nature, good vs. evil, and society v.s. the supernatural. The dancers appeared as humans and mythical creatures like sylphs, wilis, shades, and naiads. Women were the stars of the ballets, and men took on supporting roles. Choreography now included pointework, pantomime, and the illusion of floating. Romantic ballets most often appeared as two-acts. The first act would be set in the real world, and dancers would portray humans. In contrast, the second act was set in a spiritual realm and often would include a tragic end.

Theater Special Effects

The opera houses featured stages with prosceniums, a stage with a frame or arch. The shift of performance venues had a significant effect on ballet in the following ways:

• In ballrooms, geometric floor patterns were appreciated by audiences who sat above. The audience’s perspective changed to a frontal view with the introduction of the proscenium stage, and the body became the composition’s focus.
• Turned-out legs were emphasized, allowing dancers to travel side-to-side while still facing the audience. This required dancers to have greater skill and technique.
• The proscenium stage separated the audience and performers, transitioning from its social function to theatrical entertainment.
• Curtains allowed for changes in scenery.
• The flickering of the gas lights in the theaters gave a supernatural look to the dancing on the stage.
• Theaters also enabled rigging to carry the dancers into the air, giving the illusion of flying.

The stagecraft of the time lent itself to creating the scenes that choreographer Filippo Taglioni would use in his ballets.

La Sylphide

In 1824, ballet master Filippo Taglioni (1777-1871) choreographed La Sylphide. His daughter Marie portrayed the sylphide, an ethereal, spirit-like character. Marie Taglioni (1804-1884) wore a white romantic tutu with a bell-shaped skirt that reached below her knees, creating the effect of flight and weightlessness. Taglioni also removed the heels from her slippers and rose to the tips of her toes as she danced to give her movement a floating and ethereal quality. Taglioni is recognized as one of the first dancers to perform en pointe.

La Sylphide features a corps de ballet , a group of dancers working in unison to create dance patterns. Because the corps de ballet is dressed in white romantic tutus (as is the norm with sylphs, fairies, wilis, and other creatures that populate the worlds of Romantic ballet), La Sylphide is known as a ballet blanc .

WATCH this video of the Royal Scottish Ballet that describes and shows excerpts from La Sylphide

Auguste Bournonville (1805-1879)

Auguste Bournonville, a French-trained dancer, served the Royal Danish Ballet as a choreographer and director. Four years after the original La Sylphide production, Bournonville re-choreographed the ballet. Bournonville’s dances feature speed, elevation, and beats where the legs “flutter” in the air. He also expanded the lexicon of male dancing by adding ballon for men and stylized movements for women that portrayed them as sweet and charming. Bournonville created many dances for the Danish ballet, and the company has preserved his choreography through the centuries.

The Bournoville variation from Napoli demonstrates movements of elevation

Essay on Dance

500 words essay on dance.

Dancer refers to a series of set of movement to music which we can either do alone or with a partner. Dancing helps us express our feelings and get active as well. If we look back at history, dance has been a part of our human history since the earliest records. Thus, an essay on dance will take us through it in detail.

My Hobby My Passion

Dance is my favourite hobby and I enjoy dancing a lot. I started dancing when I was five years old and when I got older; my parents enrolled me in dance classes to pursue this passion.

I cannot go a day without dance, that’s how much I love dancing. I tried many dance forms but discovered that I am most comfortable in Indian classical dance. Thus, I am learning Kathak from my dance teacher.

I aspire to become a renowned Kathak dancer so that I can represent this classical dance internationally. Dancing makes me feel happy and relaxed, thus I love to dance. I always participate in dance competitions at my school and have even won a few.

Dance became my passion from an early age. Listening to the beats of a dance number, I started to tap my feet and my parents recognized my talent for dance. Even when I am sad, I put on music to dance to vent out my feelings.

Thus, dance has been very therapeutic for me as well. In other words, it is not only an escape from the world but also a therapy for me.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Hidden Language of the Soul

Dance is also called the hidden language of the soul as we use it to express ourselves when words fall short. The joy which comes with dancing helps us get over our sorrow and adversity sometimes.

Moreover, it is simply a translator for our hearts. What is most important to remember is that dance is not supposed to be perfect. There is no right way of dancing, as long as your heart is happy, you can dance.

When we talk about dance, usually a professional dancer comes to our mind. But, this is where we go wrong. Dance is for anybody and everybody from a ballet dancer to the uncle dancing at a wedding .

It is what unites us and helps us come together to celebrate joy and express our feelings. Therefore, we must all dance without worrying if we are doing it right or not. It is essential to understand that when you let go of yourself in dance, you truly enjoy it only then.

Conclusion of the Essay on Dance

All in all, dance is something which anyone can do. There is no right way or wrong way to dance, there is just a dance. The only hard part is taking the first step, after that, everything becomes easier. So, we must always dance our heart out and let our body move to the rhythm of music freely.

FAQ of Essay on Dance

Question 1: Why is Dance important?

Answer 1: Dance teaches us the significance of movement and fitness in a variety of ways through a selection of disciplines. It helps us learn to coordinate muscles to move through proper positions. Moreover, it is a great activity to pursue at almost any age.

Question 2: What is dancing for you?

Answer 2: Dancing can enhance our muscle tone, strength, endurance and fitness. In addition, it is also a great way to meet new friends. Most importantly, it brings happiness to us and helps us relax and take a break from the monotony of life.

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Best Dance Essay Examples

The nature of dance.

343 words | 2 page(s)

Dance remains one of the most versatile and beautiful creations of human beings. While the definition, as discussed below, may vary among different people, there are several attributes of dance that are correlated and that we cannot ignore. This paper will be discussing the various viewpoints on dance.

Among the most common attributes of dance is the fact that it involves a body movement. Actually, every quote that talks about the aesthetic value of dance mentions the fact that the body has to be in motion. The difference between this type of body movement and essentially that of walking is the fact that there is more to do with rhythm and an expression of an individual’s innermost feeling. As stated by Walter Sorell, “movement is the essence of life, dance is its ultimate expression.” This particular quote underscores the importance of movement in dance.

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A given similarity notable in most quotes on dance is the happiness and the beauty associated with dance. For most people, dance is entertainment. Alvin Ailey thinks that the central role of dance should be to entertain.

Conversely, there exist differences between how different people view dance. While it is conventional that dance involves movement, people such as Jose Limon believe that dance has to be intensely human and not just rhythmic movement of the body. If it deviates from that, then it becomes empty and pure mechanics or in some cases, gymnastic.

In my thinking and as stated above by Limon, dance should not be dance if it lacks life in it. The individuals have to enjoy whatever they are doing in that they connect to not only the song, but their dance reflects whatever is intrinsic to them and the allure of life itself.

Jose Limon was one of the most successful and famous dancers of the 20th century. His biggest accomplishment was introducing the Limon technique that is famous even today. Some dance schools teach the style. Among his most famous work, The Moor’s Pavane (1949), was based on Othello, a play by William Shakespeare.

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Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

4 Instructional Strategies Teachers Can Count On

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Today’s post is the latest in a series sharing effective instructional strategies that can be used across content areas.

‘The Spacing Effect’

Neven Holland is a Ph.D. student at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, a contributing writer for Edutopia , and has served as a tenured elementary teacher at Treadwell Elementary in the Memphis-Shelby County schools in Tennessee. He is also a 2022 Tennessee state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching:

Instructional strategies that improve student outcomes are the heartbeat of any classroom. Knowing when and when not to use specific strategies is part of the craft and precision of teaching. As a mathematics teacher, I have tried the same and different strategies depending on the students in my care each year to maximize their potential to engage with the practices for mathematical standards .

One strategy that stands out is the spacing effect, which applies across multiple content areas and grades. There is a temptation among school leaders, district leaders, education consultants, and other stakeholders to put tremendous amounts of pressure on educators to elevate student achievement and knowledge in a short amount of time.

Understanding spacing has been a hallmark of helping my students remember and understand the content. With spacing, researchers define this as “studying information across two or more sessions that are separated (i.e., spaced apart or distributed) in time.” They found that students remember more and are likely prepared for their final assessment when information is strategically revisited throughout the school year. The Edutopia article “Why Students Forget—and What You Can Do About It” was helpful with additional strategies to support student retention of knowledge.

I can help my students retain and grasp information with proficiency before they enter the next grade. I saw that students could understand more challenging concepts like multidigit division or how to break down multistep word problems when they had multiple opportunities to practice the content and see how it related to other standards and concepts.

Apart from just preparing for an end-of-year assessment, students can take in the content when they do not feel pressure to master something in a couple of days or within a week. Sometimes, educators must ask themselves how many things they have mastered in a few days. I suspect most people will find very few things in their arsenal that they can perform with 100 percent proficiency and accuracy. But we expect that students will somehow be able to do this.

Suppose students struggle to integrate and evaluate literacy content in diverse media and formats, the differences between force and motion, or the American Revolution. Mastery, then, is a marathon, not a sprint. Some students will understand it immediately, but others may need more productive struggle and more opportunities to review the content over the semester, quarter, or year. Just because we taught it in October within our instructional unit, students likely still need a refresher in February, for example, on how this connects to the bigger picture concerning the state standards. Students naturally forget like adults, and relying on the fact that we have already taught it is not enough.

Spacing can also be cleverly executed if a curriculum links prior lessons to the current one, where students can see relationships between the more significant ideas and see how lessons build on each other in complexity. As researchers on the spacing effect found, many curricula do not offer this opportunity for spacing with an embedded review for each lesson, so teachers may need to supplement from previous lessons where they find time during morning meetings, warm-up activities, Do Nows, academic support periods, small groups, or during review days or weeks.

Spacing is one instructional strategy that left me less worried and stressed if students were not grasping the content immediately. Understanding that I may need to space out and revisit some standards periodically gave me hope that genuine, deeper learning is not a microwave process.

‘Speed Dating’

For 16 years, Diana Laufenberg taught grades 7-12 students social studies in Wisconsin, Kansas, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. In 2013, she partnered with Chris Lehmann to start Inquiry Schools , a nonprofit working to create and support student-centered learning environments that are inquiry-driven, project-based, and utilize modern technology. She currently serves as the executive director and lead teacher for Inquiry Schools:

I love the function of speed learning (speed dating knockoff) for a number of reasons. It is incredibly simple, fast, and requires all students to actively participate. Tips for setting up speed dating:

• It is best to use this strategy when students have something unique to share. This could be the first day of a research project where they are all spitballing ideas for research, it could be mid-project when they are needing feedback. Perhaps each student was required to review a unique current event, and they would share their takeaways or each student identified a particular moment in the text that was evidence of x or that resonated with them or they use it to discuss the solution to a unique math problem, or, or, or. The most important piece is that each student has something unique to share.
• I often lined up desks or had students sit across from each other at tables. The best situation is a classroom configuration of seats that allows for relatively easy movement.
• Only one side of the desks or tables is in motion and always in the same direction. One trick is to encourage students to sit next to their friends (not across from), which will then set them up not to actually talk to said friends during the activity.
• Create a graphic organizer or something that can collect some takeaways for the students. If this is used for project feedback, students could use the rubric to give specific suggestions and feedback for each person.
• Set a timer. Do not just wing it here. Keeping a nice pace and regular movement is important. I would often have students chat for no more than five minutes (often less) and then shift.
• Set a limit. Students will do this with a decent amount of intention for about 4-5 switches, then (at least my students) started to lose interest.

I love this as a strategy because it forces each student to engage in 1:1 conversation with a range of classmates. There is nowhere to hide in this activity, but it isn’t “public” so the potential for students to participate is high. I wouldn’t recommend doing this more than once a month (or so) as it can feel overly formulaic if used too frequently.

Keisha Rembert is a lifelong learner, equity advocate, and award-winning educator. She is the author of The Antiracist English Language Arts Classroom , a doctoral student, and an assistant professor/DEI coordinator for teacher preparation at National Louis University. Prior to entering teacher education, Keisha spent more than 15 years teaching middle school English and U.S. history:

Every lesson, every part of my lessons are tied to visuals. In a highly visual world, I am constantly leveraging and fortifying students’ visual thinking and literacy. I realize that being able to process and understand images is something this generation of students has been doing since birth. While not an easy skill, it is one that is second nature for them, so I am using this skill to connect visuals in all their forms—pictures, art, media, etc.—to concepts as referents and scaffolds for the learning to come. In our classroom, visuals become the frame through which we explore learning.

I have witnessed the transformative impact of visual imagery across various subjects. When teaching writing, visuals serve as powerful prompts, inspiring students’ imagination and helping them generate ideas. In my history class, visuals bring historical events to life, enabling students to empathize with the past and make connections to the present. When paired with complex literary texts, visuals provide contextual cues and enhance comprehension for students who may struggle with language or comprehension difficulties.

Integrating visual imagery and thinking into my lessons makes the content more relatable, accessible, and enjoyable for students. I also find it naturally acts as a bridge for technology integration and for students to bring other texts and connections into the lessons.

Some of my favorite visual-literacy strategies are:

• Sketch to write
• Beauty and Truth
• Visual Thinking Strategy
• OPTIC strategy

In a world of where YouTube is the second largest search, NFT’s (non-fungible tokens) hold more value than homes, and AI can generate images and tell stories in a matter of seconds, visual thinking cannot be ancillary to learning—it is integral to it. I find that visual-thinking and -literacy strategies lead to more active engagement; innovative, critical, and collaborative thinking; enhance inquiry and communication skills; and enable students to make connections among concepts and the complex visual landscape they encounter daily. Visual thinking not only enhances the learning experience in the classroom but also equips students with vital skills for the future.

Arts Integration

Kelly Mancini Becker, Ed.D., is an educator, researcher, and performing artist, currently teaching preservice teachers at the University of Vermont how to integrate the arts into classroom instruction. She is the author of Learning Through Movement in the K-6 Classroom: Integrating Theater and Dance Across the Curriculum :

In a 6 th grade science class, students enter the room and are greeted with a statement on the board: “Do you know that the water you drink today could be the same water that dinosaurs drank 65 million years ago? How might this be?” Then students are tasked with exploring how this could be possible through a creative process. Students are put into groups of five or six, given a visual model of the water cycle with a basic definition of each stage, and provided time and space to create a movement piece that models this process. Students get right to work! Students are fully engaged using their bodies to show, for example, rain and discussing the various ways they can show precipitation. One group is discussing evaporation and after reviewing the definition, decides that they need someone to act as the sun in their model.

In all cases, students are active, discussing ideas, and using scientific terminology as they work through the challenge. After about 10 minutes, students are invited to present their work. As they do, the rest of the students act as observers and are asked to identify what they are seeing, responding to prompts such as: “How does this group show precipitation?” or “What did this group add to their model that was different from the previous group?” As each performance is discussed, it is a chance to repeat terminology, clarify meaning, and engage students in meaningful dialogue about the subject area. This acts to reinforce ideas, acknowledge and celebrate student work, and improve long-term retention. At the end of this process, the initial question is revisited, and students are invited to share their thoughts on how water today could be the same as in prehistoric times.

This is an example of an arts-integrated lesson, a type of instructional strategy that utilizes the arts as a vehicle for learning. It is the best instructional strategy that I use in my classroom and can be applied to any content area. The Kennedy Center, a leader in the field, defines arts integration as “an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both” (kennedy-center.org) . Other examples of arts-integrated lessons are creating a song based on the moon cycle, a pioneer musical about Westward Expansion, photo journals about the elements of a story, or a math dance that explores shapes through movement. Why do I think it’s the best instructional strategy?

Because it is:

• Student-centered: Students get to approach the creative process or challenge in their own way, often focusing on the part of the content that most interests them.
• Engaging : Students are on their feet and fully active in the learning process, doing and creating rather than listening and consuming information.
• Fun : Students get to collaborate with their peers and perform.
• Inclusive: It provides an opportunity for all students to succeed, allowing for varied students to shine because a nontraditional method is being utilized, and students get to bring their whole selves to the learning process.
• Increases retention : Students are using a multimodal approach, which is known to improve long-term retention.
• Improves learning : It makes complex concepts more tangible or understandable, and students have to grapple with concepts not just consume information.
• Allows for movement: Using theater and dance gives students a chance to move their bodies, which is good for their bodies, minds, and well-being.
• Results in deeper learning: Students are making things that are real world and relevant, which requires creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

If you do not have a lot of experience working with the arts, it may seem daunting to integrate them into lessons. However, once you gain a few key concepts and skills in this practice (i.e., using gestures, creating movement pieces based on key ideas of a subject area, or having students create scripts based on their learning about any given content), you can adapt it to any content area or lesson. The Kennedy Center has lots of resources on their education site.

Thanks to Neven, Diana, Keisha, and Kelly for contributing to today’s post.

Guests answered this question:

What is the best instructional strategy that you have used that can be applied across multiple content areas?

In Part One , Abeer Ramadan-Shinnawi, Donna L. Shrum, Kanako Suwa, and Cindy Garcia shared their answers.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email . And if you missed any of the highlights from the first 12 years of this blog, you can see a categorized list here .

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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The Amplifier

Madonna’s hits-filled celebration tour, dissected.

Hear five standouts from the set, and six we wish she’d played.

By Caryn Ganz

Dear listeners,

Lindsay is desperately seeking some time off this week, so I am the first of your guest playlisters: Caryn, the pop music editor. I’m going to tell you a secret — you could consider it one of my confessions on a dance floor. I saw Madonna’s Celebration Tour seven times; eight if you include the livestream from Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night, where the Queen of Pop wrapped her first-ever retrospective with a free show before an estimated 1.6 million people on Copacabana Beach.

Some have asked why, so a brief explanation: I believe Madonna is the most important and influential solo figure in pop history, and I don’t skip opportunities to see her onstage, where she has innovated and thrilled throughout her four-decade career. (If you’re wondering who was behind “ 60 Times Madonna Changed Our Culture ,” wonder no more.) I was too young to catch the Virgin or Who’s That Girl tours — and nobody took me to Blond Ambition or the Girlie Show (ahem, parents) — so my live history begins with Drowned World in 2001 and I have done my best to catch up.

The Confessions Tour from 2006 is the best I’ve seen in person, the Tears of a Clown revival at Art Basel in 2016 was the zaniest, and Celebration is the first one I’ve reviewed (on its U.S. leg’s opening night in October). Repeated viewings haven’t changed my initial critical overview, though some parts of the show grew on me, some vocal performances sharpened up, and some of the extemporaneous speeches Madonna gave during the two breaks each night designed for them were stunningly raw and moving. (See Bonus Tracks below for more on that.)

But the point of today’s playlist is to take a deeper (and deeper) look at the songs Madonna did — and didn’t — select for the tour. The first five tracks are my favorites from the show, which has a lot to do with how she staged them. The second six are songs that were sorely missed, so should you ever do a Celebration 2, M, please consider them official requests.

Crazy for you,

Listen along while you read.

1. “like a prayer”.

The Celebration Tour stage encompassed 4,400 square feet, including a spinning circular platform that was the focal point for several songs — including this standout, performed on a carousel that rose into the air as shirtless dancers in loincloths and masks draped themselves in crucifixion-like poses. The entire show was set to backing tracks rather than a live band, and for this 1989 hit, it was a remix featuring booming bass and a few seconds of Sam Smith and Kim Petras’s “Unholy” at the beginning and end. (The precise mix isn’t available, but the “7” Remix” edit gets you close.) Chills, I tell you! ▶ Listen on Spotify , Apple Music or YouTube

2. “Live to Tell”

Much has been written about the stunning performance of this 1986 song, which Madonna staged as a tribute to victims of AIDS. She floated above the crowd in a rectangular box gazing at black-and-white portraits of those lost to the disease (including many of her friends and collaborators) on massive screens around her, which multiplied to demonstrate the scale of the epidemic. Each night I saw the show, she had a genuine emotional response and delivered her strongest vocals here.

▶ Listen on Spotify , Apple Music or YouTube

3. “Nothing Really Matters”

Madonna started the show with this song from “Ray of Light” (1998), using it as a table setter before she went back in time and revisited the story of her career. It was a striking entrance: She held a few poses on the spinning platform at the base of the stage, and slowly rotated out toward the audience in a black kimono and halo headpiece. As a song choice, it was a pointed opening statement about maturing, life choices, different kinds of love, and beginnings and endings.

4. “Don’t Tell Me”

The videos for “Don’t Tell Me” and “Hung Up” feature my favorite Madonna choreography, and while I was extremely happy to get them both live on this tour, they were both abbreviated! (So were a lot of other songs, but these felt especially egregious.) Still: I love this one’s stubborn message, and it was a blast to see the group number recreated on the Celebration stage — and a reminder that Madonna, always ahead of the curve, went cowboy chic back in 2000.

5. “Open Your Heart”

The section of the show dedicated to Madonna’s early days in New York and her first hits underscored the grit it took to get noticed and the glee she took in escaping on the dance floor. “Everybody” and “Holiday” were delightful, but her live performance of “Open Your Heart” made me discover the song anew: beautifully constructed, simple and still dramatic in the best ways, a real piece of pop perfection.

OK, now for the requests: This 2000 song joined the set list for the finale in Rio, but it should have been there the whole time! It’s a statement of purpose that encapsulates Madonna’s entire career. It is electrifying heard over the speakers of an arena — we know this, because it was the centerpiece of her Confessions Tour, when she performed it as an ecstatic roller disco in a crisp white suit.

7. “Secret”

Personally, I would have traded “Human Nature” for this “Bedtime Stories” single, which has one of the more unusual chord progressions in the Madonna catalog — a satisfying blend of major and minor that actually sounds mysterious and alluring.

8. “Oh Father”

Motherhood was the defining theme of the Celebration show, a thread that ran from the opener “Nother Really Matters” through the many moments featuring Madonna’s children (four of them went on the road and appeared each night). She performed “Mother and Father,” a song about loss from her 2003 album “American Life,” with her son David, and it did grow on me as a result. (I would have preferred “Hollywood,” but that’s a whole other mood.) Still, I missed “Oh Father,” the dramatic ballad from “Like a Prayer” that was a highlight of Blond Ambition.

9. “Material Girl”

We had a lot of early hits in the show, so I get why it didn’t make the cut, but I will say this: Someone was playing this 1985 smash on a sound system outside of Barclays Center after the second show I saw in Brooklyn, and watching the crowd dance and shout along, I realized I missed this moment during the concert. Still a certified banger!

10. “Beautiful Stranger”

Some of Madonna’s best songs have arrived on soundtracks (that’s where we got “Vogue”!) and I have an enduring love of this kicky little tune from the 1999 album that accompanied “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

11. “Frozen”

Madonna performed “Frozen” a handful of times on Celebration, subbing it in for “Rain,” but I got “Rain” all seven times and was thirsty for this “Ray of Light” track instead. It’s a masterpiece of downtempo electro with a beautiful vocal and ear-tickling synth flourishes. It brings the drama we crave! Next time, Madonna, please?

The Amplifier Playlist

“Madonna’s Hits-Filled Celebration Tour, Dissected” track list Track 1: “Like a Prayer” Track 2: “Live to Tell” Track 3: “Nothing Really Matters” Track 4: “Don’t Tell Me” Track 5: “Open your Heart” Track 6: “Music" Track 7: “Secret” Track 8: “Oh Father” Track 9: “Material Girl” Track 10: “Beautiful Stranger” Track 11: “Frozen”

Bonus Tracks

As I mentioned above, Madonna addressed the audience for two extended periods during each show. On Jan. 23 at Madison Square Garden, she spoke about AIDS in New York in the 1980s, singling out Ellen Matzer and Valery Hughes in the audience — two nurses, “heroes,” she said, on the front lines of the epidemic, working in wards where “there were no visitors.” She went on, describing her own stop in a hospital room where she encountered a young man on the brink of death. “I laid down on the bed next to him, and he held my hand and he said, ‘Mother, thank you for coming,’” she said, her voice starting to break. “And it just made me think, these women here tonight, they did this every [expletive] day. And they got no thanks. So please say thank you to them right now.” It was a moment of gratitude that had most of the arena in tears.

Also, Madonna used “I Don’t Search I Find” as the soundtrack to a spectacular video montage near the end of the show that captured what made her inescapable — and irresistible to the media — throughout her career. It’s the best song from her most recent studio album, “Madame X,” and I recommend it.

Caryn Ganz is The Times’s pop music editor. More about Caryn Ganz

Find the Right Soundtrack for You

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