Dance Essay, Research Paper
Throughout the course of human history, dance has been a part of cultures around the
world. The purpose and style of dance varies from culture to culture. Perhaps in this
article, dance can be divided into two parts: Eastern versus Western dance. I believe that
what the author wants to accomplish in this article is to break down barriers in people s
thoughts toward what is dance and what isn t dance and bridge the gap between
Eastern and Western dance. The author gives her approach to this and hits on some very
complicated and sometimes confusing issues. In this article, the author states that
much of what is written by historians whose main concern is with Western art dance.
These critics see dance in two ways:art or primitive. The problem with this is that more
often than not, these people do not have a background in dance so already they have a
superficial and biased view of certain forms of dance. On the other hand the dance
ethnologist is more than likely experienced in dance and usually does not have all the
barriers in their mind as the average person or a historian.
As the article continues, Snyder seems to stress the importance of making a
mind/body connection. She feels that being in a certain way of t
an experiential state is central and important to the dance experience. She feels that this
can take one to another reality , often a higher reality. This can cause even the
non-dancer to feel exhilarated and want to join the dance. Snyder talks about different
parts of the brain and their role in achieving this experience. Eastern cultures are more
open to being in a different state of mind than people in Western cultures and this often
shows in the dance forms and their movements. Snyder feels that the way we use our
brains is a hiderance in uniting Eastern dance and Western dance. It is said in this article
that people in Western Cultures function only using half of their full brain capacity.
Snyder feels that being in a certain mind frameduring a dance causes an integration
between left and right brain and a connection between inner and outer space.
Snyder feels that dance needs to respond to this new age and needs to be looked
at and approached from this perspective. At least that is the impression that I got from
reading this. She feels that three important factors play a key role and they are, relative,
industrializtion, and the written word. All of these play a role in the constant changes in
dance.