CHAPTER 8

DANCE

Dance

Dance involves a series of bodily

movements rhythmically performed and
timed music.
Dance connects people, even if
unconciously to the rhythms of nature.
Dance is said to be the oldest of the arts.
Troughout the ages, the dancing body has
inspired the composer, singer, sculptor and
painter in creating their works of art.
For these reasons, dance has been called
the mother of the arts.

Subject Matter of Dance

1.

2.

3.

Abstract motion is the interrelationships of

bodies in motion, often producing remarkable
abstract shapes and patterns. The medium of
dance is the human body whose movements on
stage often produce sympathetic movements in
the audience.
Feeling (emotions) is shown vividly in the
movements and gestures. The body exhibits less
abstractedly in music . Pleasure and pain are
normally portrayed.
State of Mind involves attitudes, tendencies
that produce certain feelings on the appropriate
occasions.

Dance as an Art and a Form of Recreation

Dance is both an art and a form of recreation.

As an art, a dance may tell a story (as
normally seen in an interpretative dance), may
set a mood or express an emotion.
A ballet dancer`s movements can effectively
portray the sharp and sly movement of a wolf or
the light and graceful movement of a swan .
As a form of recreation, dancing has long
provided fun, relaxation and companionship.
Dance likewise springs from human desire for
personal expression and social connection.

Basic Elements of Dance

Theme is a important element of the dance. It is
the content or the main ingredient of the dance. It
tells us what a dance is trying to tell or convey. It
has something to do with the message or what the
dance communicates.
2. Design is the planned organization or pattern of
movement in time and space.
a. Pattern in time provided by rhythm, groups
the unaccented beats of movements into measures.
b. Pattern in space created by floor pattern (the
path traced by the dancer`s travelling feet) and
planes (the levels on which one moves).
1.

3. Movement is the action of the dancers as they

use their bodies to create organized patterns.
Body movement can be divided into steps, facial
expressions and the gestures of arms and hands.
4. Technique is the ability in executing
movement. A technically proficient dancer has
complete control over the muscles of his or her
body.
5. Music plays an important role in the dance to
which it is closely related. It is something melodic
and harmonious usually used as an
accompaniment. Music motivates the movements
of the dancers. It is generally serves as
background that further captivates the spectators.

6. Costume is the clothing worn by a dancer when

performing before an audience. A dance costume
may be costume designed for use in a specific
dance work, or it may have a traditional design, such
as those used in some ceremonial and folk dances.
7. Choreography is the art of designing sequences of
movements in which motion, form, or both are
specified. Choreography may also refer to the
design itself. A choreography is one who creates
choreographies by practicing the art of
choreography.
8. Scenery refers to the setting or background
establishing the place of action of any dance in
order to make the dance more realistic and
beautiful.

Three Dance Traditions

1. Folk Dance

2. Ballet

3. Modern dance

Elements of Dance

Space the dancer moves in through space. Dance

movement takes up space, and a dance is
performed in a space.
Time this is second element of dance. The dancer
moves with or against time. Dance movement takes
up time, and a dance is performed in a prescribed
amount of time.
Dynamics it is the third element of dance.
It has two main components: release of energy and
weight or force. Dynamics is the interrelationship of
force, the release of energy and time. How these
factors are utilized produces a movement quality.

Other Types of Dance

1. Jazz

2. Tap

3. Hip-Hop

4. Swing

5. Contra Dance

6. Country and Western Dance

7. Belly Dance

8. Flamenco

9. Contra

10. Zumba

11. Tango

12. Philippine Folk Dances

13. Traditional Folk Dances of the Philippines

a. Tinikling

b. Itik-Itik (Birds Dancing Over Bamboo)

c. Idudu

d. Dinuyya

e. The Sayaw sa Bangko

f. Binasuan

g. The Pandanggo sa Ilaw

h. The Maglalatik (The Dance of War)

i. The Kuratsa

j. Kappa Malong-Malong

k. The Habanera Botolena

l. The Pantomina

m. The Cariosa

n. Maria Clara

o. Rigodon de honor

p. The Singkil

National Artist in Dance

1. Alice Reyes (2013)
- Founder, Artistic Director
Emeritus and Rama Hari
choreographer and
director.
- Alice Reyes is the
visionary founder of Ballet
Philippines under the
Cultural Center of the
Philippines who propelled
the company into a
national arts institution we
can all be proud of.

2. Ramon Obusan () (2006)

- A dancer, choreographer,
stage designer and artistic
director.
- He achieved phenomenal
success in Philippine dance
and cultural work.
- He was also acknowledged
as researcher, archivist and
documentary filmmaker who
broadened and deepened the
Filipino understanding of his
own cultural life and
expressions.

3. Lucresia Urtula () (1998)

- Choreographer, dance instructor and
spent almost four decades in discovery
and study of Philippine folk and ethnic
dance.
- She applied her findings to project a
new example of an ethnic dance culture
that goes beyond simple preservation
and into creative growth. Over a period
of three years, she choreographed
suites of mountain dances, Spanishinfluenced dances, Muslim pageants
and festivals, regionall variations and
dances of the countryside for the
Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company
of which she is the dance director.

4. Leonor Orosa Goquingco () (1976)

- Dubbed the Trailblazer of Philippine

Theater Dance and Dean of Philippine
Performing Arts Critics,
- a pioneer Filipino choreographer in balletic
folkloric and Asian styles, has produced for
over 50 years highly original, first-of-a-kind
choreographies, mostly to her storylines
- Her ambitious work is the dance epic
Filipinescas: Philippine life, legend and lore
-She was the Honorary Chair of the
Association of Ballet Academies of the
philippines (ABAP) and was the founding
member of the Philippine Ballet Theater

5. Francisca R. Aquino
- Acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer.
- This Bulakena began her research on Folk
dances in the 1920`s making trips to remote barrios in
Central and Northern Luzon.
- Her research on the unrecorded forms of local
celebration, ritual and sport resulted into a 1926 thesis
titled Philippine Folk Dances and Games, and
arranged specifically for use by teachers and
playground instructors in public and private schools.
- In the 1940`s, she served as supervisor of
physical education at Bureau of Education that
distributed her work ad adapted the teaching of folk
dancing as medium making young Filipinos aware of
their cultural heritage.
- In 1954, she received the Republic Award of Merit
given by the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay for
Outstanding contribution toward the advancement of
Filipino culture, one among the many awards and
recognition given to her.